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“A monetary union that relies on a austerity policy and downward pressure on wages and working conditions is not sustainable,” said Oliver Roethig, UNI Europa Regional Secretary during the debate.



The European Central Bank stressed the importance of structural adjustments. Yet too, recognised the problems of broad tax increases, deflation of wages and the credit crunch.



Heiner Flassbeck pointed out that monetary union would not work if there was competition on competitiveness among countries. Even small annual differences in productivity gains accumulate over years as the current situation shows. The result would be a vicious circle of wage cuts and drop in domestic demand. For Greece, for instance, wage cost needed to drop by 30% before products become competitive. What was needed was wage increases in surplus countries.



Flassbeck characterised the current approach as trying to solve the problem by first killing the patient and then addressing the problem.



There was a comon view emerging among participants that major changes were required and a clear vision by the European Council on where we would be with Economic and Monetary Union in five years.



During separate sessions, participants looked at the impact of the crisis on working conditions at the ECB and national central banks. It was clear that workloads and working time has increased. Staff was very motivated. The crisis enhances cooperation within the ECB and within the entire ESCB (European System of Central Banks).



Roethig warned however: "Even with good will from all sides, one needs to be careful with the increased workload. The length of the crisis brings the danger that stress and stretched staff becomes chronic. More staff resources are urgently needed."