Why should the government NOT accept Macron's ultimatum?

Както вече със сигурност сте разбрали, преди няколко дни новият президент на Франция Еманюел Макрон бе на посещение в България и при личната си среща с премиера Борисов постави следния ултиматум:

France will support Bulgaria's interests within the EU and in particular our possible candidacy for entry into the Eurozone (and Schengen), but only if we support the proposed regulations against the so-called "social dumping" of cheap labor from Eastern Europe to countries like France. This is an ultimatum that the Bulgarian government should categorically not accept for a number of reasons - on the one hand because it contradicts the principles on which the EU is built, but above all because it is entirely detrimental to the interests of our citizens.

Macron contradicts the principles on which the EU was founded

First, it has already become obvious that Macron's attitude towards Bulgaria, and towards the EU as a whole, is hypocritical and betrays the basic principles of the union. The most basic goal of the EU, since its very inception more than half a century ago, is to be a union for the free movement of capital and labor. The right of citizens of EU member states to freely trade and exchange their labor with each other is the foundation on which this union is built, and anyone who in any way tries to limit and hinder the exercise of this right is opposing the main goal of the EU in general.

This is exactly what Emmanuel Macron is doing through his attempts to push through the so-called "anti-dumping" regulation, seeking support from Eastern European member states such as Bulgaria. A person who opposes the foundations of the EU cannot be considered the great sympathizer of the European idea, as Macron was presented during his presidential campaign. Even less can he be considered a liberal (classical), as he was also proclaimed to be.

Ironically, much of Macron’s popularity during his presidential campaign was due to his distancing himself from the protectionist and socialist policies of his main opponent, Marine Le Pen. Now, however, he is lobbying for exactly the same policies: protectionism against Eastern European workers and socialism for French workers.

From the biggest advocate of free trade, the French president has become the biggest protectionist

Naked protectionism hidden behind "anti-dumping" rhetoric

But let's leave principles aside. It is clear that their place in politics, unfortunately, is limited to election billboards. Let's talk about interests. Whose interests does Macron protect and can the French president really help achieve the interests of Bulgarian citizens?

Let's first clarify what the word "dumping" means. Basically, in economic terminology, "dumping" occurs when, in free trade between two countries, one subsidizes or otherwise supports exports to the other in order to give an artificial advantage to its producers and push foreign ones out of the market. However, this is not the case here. The reason Bulgarian (and other Eastern European) workers in the transport and construction sectors are pushing French workers out of their own local market is that they are simply more competitive.

Simply put – they do more work for less money. That's it. There is no state subsidy or support, i.e. there is no dumping. What Macron calls "dumping" is pure and simple free movement and trade of labor. Yes, that's right - one of those fundamental principles of the EU that was discussed above. Being against free trade and movement of labor, of course, does not sound good, so Macron needs to dress his protectionism in more acceptable rhetoric. And that's why he talks most shamelessly about "dumping".

It is strange that we have not yet heard any European politician seriously criticize the absurdity of using this term in this context. Perhaps it is appropriate to replace the term "free movement of workers" in the EU treaties with "social dumping".

Bulgarian citizens will gain absolutely nothing from the introduction of such regulations, they can only lose.

These regulations are actually detrimental to French citizens as well.

The regulations that Macron is defending would limit the ability of our workers to travel and work in France. This is the main goal - to protect French workers from the more competitive Eastern Europeans. Bulgarian citizens will gain absolutely nothing from the introduction of such regulations, they can only lose. The irony is that imposing such restrictions would also harm French businesses and citizens, as usually happens when restricting free trade and introducing protectionism.

The introduction of the anti-dumping restrictions in question would in practice raise the cost of labor in certain sectors of the French economy completely artificially, which would force companies there to either limit their production, or raise their prices, or would simply lead them to bankruptcy. Whatever it is, French business loses, and subsequently the French consumer too. Because when business costs increase, sooner or later this will lead to scarcer local production and, accordingly, higher prices.

With this ultimatum, Macron is actually only protecting the interests of a small, but quite politically well-connected, part of the French population – the trade unions. And French businesses and consumers are losing out along with Bulgarian workers.

Is the deal proposed by Macron worth it?

Okay, it’s clear that this regulation is detrimental to our workers, but maybe the sacrifice is worth it to join the Eurozone and Schengen? Is it? First, it’s not clear that we even want to join the Eurozone. The EU’s monetary union has so far proven itself not as some kind of success that we should logically strive for, but as a tragedy that we should avoid. The problems of the Eurozone and why joining this monetary union would be a mistake is a very deep topic that we have discussed before anyway, so we will skip delving into it here.

Let's just not forget that the fundamental structural flaws of the Eurozone led to one of the biggest debt and banking crises of all time, which spread not only to Greece but also to a number of other southern European countries. These flaws are still there and they cannot be otherwise, because they are embedded in the foundation of any such monetary union. Do we really want to risk following the fate of countries like Greece, especially considering how high the level of corruption is in our country?

That aside, even if we wanted to join the Eurozone, Macron's support is absolutely unnecessary. We already meet the two key requirements– our deficit is below the maximum allowable level, our national debt too. The French president has practically nothing to offer us, unless he tries to threaten us that he would block our eventual entry into the Eurozone just because we did not support his protectionism. However, this would look extremely unfortunate and would seriously damage France's reputation, not to mention that it would call into question the entire concept of the EU as a union of equal states, built on rules and principles that cannot be arbitrarily distorted by larger and stronger member states.

The government is obliged to protect the interests of Bulgarian citizens

Given that much of his remaining good reputation is built on his image as a defender of EU principles and values, Macron would be unlikely to want to violate those same principles and values and risk appearing like an unprincipled opportunist. Given his rapidly declining popularity in France, the president needs all the support he can muster from outside.

So, Macron's "ultimatum" is completely hollow. And not only hollow, but also brazen, because it seems that the French president thinks he can manipulate the Bulgarian government into supporting regulation to the detriment of his own citizens, when he himself can actually offer nothing in return. The duty of our current government is not to succumb to such manipulations and to protect the interests of its own citizens.

Unfortunately, however, it seems that it is about to do exactly the opposite. Borisov has already hinted that Bulgaria will support Macron's regulations, in exchange for support for our entry into the Eurozone and Schengen plus the preservation of funding through the European Structural Funds. Funding, which due to the notorious irregularities and abuses in the process of offering and implementing public procurement, is "absorbed" mainly by politically connected individuals and companies. Funding from which the ordinary citizen has seen almost no benefit, on the contrary - it pushes out authentic private investments and gives the friends of the powerful in parliament an artificial advantage in the market.

That is, the Prime Minister is about to sell the interests of the citizens of Bulgaria in exchange for money (for his people). How banal, right? This should not be allowed at any cost. If Borisov's government bends to Macron's "ultimatum", it will prove to be completely spineless and incapable of protecting Bulgarian interests within the EU.

Image source: Dnevnik.bg, TheDailyBeast.com, Brussels-star.com

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