"Expansionary Austerity" and "structural reforms" are the two pillars in the Europe which has lost its social dimension and does not pursue income and employment growth. The "European Recommendations" do not contrast the crisis, but worsen the crisis. On the labour market they ask for real wage decreases and reductions of the role of bargaining. The cornerstone is the idea of alignment the nominal wage dynamics to real productivity, stressing the role of firm and individual bargaining, decreasing the room for national contracts at the sectorial level and eliminating any automatism linking wage to inflation to maintain its purchasing power. A change in the route of economic policy is suggested, based on a new bargaining model on wages and productivity, and on industrial policy focused on innovation with a strong role for public intervention within the European industrial compact.
Keywords: Expansionary fiscal consolidation, European Economic Policy, Wages, Productivity, Bargaining.
Jel Code: E61, J08, J38, O47.