Across Europe, people are being hit by increased food, fuel and electricity bills. Even before the war in Ukraine started, the price of energy was rising. European leaders insist they will not waver in their support to Ukraine. They admit that helping Kyiv will come at a cost to European consumers. But what sort of cost, and potentially for how long? Arancha Gonzalez Laya has had top jobs in the field of international trade at the European Commission, the World Trade Organization, and at the United Nations. She also served as Spain's foreign minister from 2020 to 2021, a period marked by a diplomatic crisis with Morocco. She is now the Dean of the school of politics and international studies at Sciences Po university in Paris – and the first woman to lead that school. She spoke to FRANCE 24 about the economic challenges facing Europe.
From post-Covid economic recovery plans to dealing with the fallout of the conflagration caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, European leaders face considerable challenges. For this week’s guest, Arancha González Laya, that means Europe and the world are now confronted with a triple economic threat: inflation, slowing growth, and rising national debt: “We have to act on all three and to act on all three, you need to find a good balance. Inflation cannot be dealt with in a vacuum, you have to deal with inflation in a context and the context is one of keeping growth – because that is what will keep helping us add jobs to the job market.”
