Europe needs to reconcile its two faces

EU institutions resemble a Janus head with two faces looking in opposite directions - one calls for more budgetary discipline and austerity, the other warns of the dramatic social consequences and risks of a deep recession of just such austerity. The two faces must urgently be reconciled.\n \nA simple comparison of conclusions by different ministerial meetings makes this very clear. While finance ministers call for tougher fiscal consolidation by cutting unemployment benefits, employment and...