歐盟承認 繁榮建立在中國和俄羅斯的基礎上 能源、勞力、大市場

歐盟承認“我們的繁榮建立在中國和俄羅斯的基礎上”：廉價能源、低薪勞動力、大市場

https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2022/10/18/eu-prosperity-china-russia-energy-market/

歐盟外交政策負責人 Josep Borrell 承認，西方的新自由主義經濟模式“基於來自俄羅斯的廉價能源”、“進入中國大市場”和低薪中國工人。歐洲現在已經失去了這一點，因此陷入了危機。

作者：Ben Norton 2022-10-18

歐盟財富中國俄羅斯歐盟最高外交政策官員 Josep Borrell 承認，1991 年第一次冷戰結束後，西方的經濟繁榮建立在新自由主義資本主義經濟模式之上，而這種模式隻有在從中國和俄羅斯榨取財富的情況下才有可能實現。

“我們的繁榮建立在中國和俄羅斯——能源和市場的基礎上，”Borrell 說。

中國為美國和歐盟提供了巨大的市場、低薪勞動力和廉價消費品。蘇聯解體後，俄羅斯大規模私有化並逐步融入西方，幫助歐洲獲得大量廉價能源。

但中國工人生活水平的大幅提高，以及烏克蘭的代理人戰爭和歐盟相應抵製俄羅斯天然氣和石油的承諾，大大提高了歐洲的生活和經商成本，使其產品在全球市場上失去競爭力。

這使跨大西洋資本主義體係陷入了深刻的危機，促使新自由主義西方對北京和莫斯科發動新冷戰，希望重新控製中國的市場和勞動力以及俄羅斯的自然資源。

歐盟外交政策負責人在 10 月 10 日於布魯塞爾舉行的 2022 年大使會議上發表演講時承認了這些事實。

博雷爾的言論讓人想起法國總統埃馬紐埃爾·馬克龍 8 月份的言論，他警告新自由主義“富足時代”即將結束。

“我們的繁榮建立在中國和俄羅斯的基礎上——能源和市場”

博雷爾解釋說，“我們的繁榮建立在來自俄羅斯的廉價能源的基礎上。俄羅斯天然氣——廉價且據稱負擔得起、安全且穩定。”

“還有進入中國大市場的渠道，包括出口和進口、技術轉讓、投資和廉價商品，”他補充道。

歐盟外交政策負責人表示，“我認為，中國工人的低工資在控製通脹方麵做得比所有央行加起來還要好得多。”

博雷爾總結道，“所以，我們的繁榮建立在中國和俄羅斯的基礎上——能源和市場。”

這種繁榮現在正在消逝。

由於對莫斯科在烏克蘭的代理人戰爭中實施毀滅性製裁，並承諾抵製俄羅斯能源，歐洲失去了其最大的天然氣和石油供應國。

歐盟現在正在尋找新的能源來源，並從美國進口價格高得多的液化天然氣 (LNG)，這導致歐洲公民和企業的電費飆升。

現在，中國和俄羅斯已成為歐盟的地緣政治對手，博雷利認為歐洲“將需要對我們的經濟進行強有力的重組”。

“調整將是艱難的，這將產生政治問題，”他說。

“我認為，我們歐洲人正麵臨著這樣一種境況，即我們承受著持續多年的過程的後果，在這一過程中，我們將繁榮的源泉與安全的源泉脫鉤，”他承認。

歐盟外交政策負責人承認美國在安全方麵不可靠

歐盟在 1990 年代采用的新自由主義經濟模式依賴俄羅斯的廉價能源和中國的消費品、勞動力和市場。

另一方麵，歐洲的安全政策以美國和北約為基礎。

但博雷爾承認，美國不是一個可靠的安全夥伴。

他說，目前，美國和歐盟比以往任何時候都更加緊密。然而，這種聯盟並非牢不可破，在不久的將來可能會發生變化。

博雷爾解釋說：

另一方麵，我們將安全委托給美國。雖然與拜登政府的合作非常出色，跨大西洋關係從未像今天這樣好——[包括]我們與美國和我的朋友托尼 [安東尼] 布林肯 [美國國務卿] 的合作：我們的關係非常好，合作很多；誰知道兩年後，甚至 11 月會發生什麽？

如果白宮不是拜登，而是特朗普或像他這樣的人，會發生什麽？美國對烏克蘭戰爭的回答是什麽？在不同情況下，我們的回答是什麽？這些都是我們必須問自己的問題。

對我來說，答案很明確：我們需要自己承擔更多的責任。我們必須在確保安全方麵承擔更大的責任。

你們——團結起來

國家——照顧我們的安全。你們——中國和俄羅斯——為我們的繁榮提供了基礎。這個世界已經不複存在了。

博雷爾還承認，歐盟的安全問題不僅僅是外部的。在內部，歐洲正麵臨“極右翼”的威脅。

“這是一個根本性的轉變，極右翼在我們的民主國家中正在民主地發展，”他說。博雷爾沒有試圖將此歸咎於外國妖魔，而是承認這種極右翼的轉變“不是任何強國強加的”。

“極右翼正在加強對歐洲政治的掌控，”他補充道。歐盟的“內部凝聚力受到威脅。”

歐盟越來越依賴美國能源
歐盟外交政策負責人同樣承認，雖然歐洲不再依賴俄羅斯能源，但它越來越依賴美國的液化天然氣出口。

博雷爾警告說，這本身就帶來了新的安全問題：

前幾天，在布拉格 [歐洲] 理事會上，法國總統馬克龍明確表示：我們不能用一種依賴關係來替代另一種依賴關係。

我們很高興從美國進口了大量液化天然氣 (LNG)——順便說一句，價格很高——並用美國和挪威的天然氣或阿塞拜疆的天然氣替代俄羅斯天然氣——好吧，來自阿塞拜疆的天然氣數量很少。

但是，如果美國換了新總統，明天決定不再對歐洲人那麽友好，會發生什麽？為什麽不呢？你可以想象，我們對來自美國的液化天然氣的嚴重依賴也可能陷入危機。

或者，明天我們沒有鈷，我們沒有來自剛果民主共和國、南美、阿富汗的稀有材料——它們對我們來說和石油和天然氣一樣重要。

烏克蘭代理人戰爭、中美競爭、糧食和能源危機、經濟衰退導致世界陷入混亂

博雷爾警告稱，世界陷入混亂，並列舉了幾個主要原因：北約與俄羅斯在烏克蘭的代理人戰爭、“中美深度競爭”、糧食和能源危機以及迫在眉睫的經濟衰退。

博雷爾表示，破壞歐洲穩定的不僅僅是烏克蘭的代理人戰爭，還有“中美深度競爭”。

他承認，美國政府對將局勢推向戰爭邊緣負有責任。

博雷爾表示：“台灣緊張局勢的升級是由一位名人的個人旅行引發的，他將台灣海峽推向了——我不會說是戰爭，但——許多戰爭遊戲。”

他指的是眾議院民主黨議長、美國政府第三高級官員南希·佩洛西的旅行。

博雷爾說，這些衝突加上不斷上升的通貨膨脹和“糧食和能源危機”，已經形成了一場“完美風暴”。這將不可避免地導致經濟衰退：

這是一場完美風暴。首先，物價上漲。其次，美國中央銀行的反應是提高利率。每個人都必須跟進，否則他們的貨幣就會貶值。每個人都在努力提高利率。這將導致世界經濟衰退。

世界跟隨美聯儲（美國聯邦儲備委員會），世界實施相同的貨幣政策——因為沒有其他辦法，否則資本就會外流——這讓我想起了歐元出現之前歐洲發生的事情，當時每個人都必須遵循德國製定的貨幣政策。

因為如果你不做同樣的事情，資本就會外流，你就必須這麽做，即使出於內部原因，這不是正確的政策。歐元出現之前我們之間發生的事情，今天正在世界舞台上上演。

EU confesses' our prosperity was based on China & Russia' : cheap energy, low-paid labor, big market

https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2022/10/18/eu-prosperity-china-russia-energy-market/

EU foreign-policy chief Josep Borrell confessed the West's neoliberal economic model was “based on cheap energy coming from Russia,” “access to the big China market,” and low-paid Chinese workers. Europe has now lost that, and is thus in crisis.

 By Ben Norton 2022-10-18

 

The West's economic prosperity following the end of the first cold war in 1991 was built on a neoliberal capitalist economic model that was only made possible due to the extraction of wealth from China and Russia, the European Union's top foreign-policy official, Josep Borrell, has confessed.

“Our prosperity was based on China and Russia – energy and market,” Borrell said.

China provided the US and EU with a massive market, low-paid labor, and cheap consumer goods. And after the Soviet Union was overthrown, mass privatizations in Russia and steps at integrating it into the West helped Europe secure huge amounts of inexpensive energy.

But the significant rise in workers’ living standards in China, as well as the proxy war in Ukraine and the EU’s corresponding pledge to boycott Russian gas and oil, have greatly increased the cost of living and doing business in Europe, making its products uncompetitive in global markets.

This has plunged the trans-Atlantic capitalist system into a deep crisis, motivating the neoliberal West to wage a new cold war on Beijing and Moscow in hopes of reasserting control over China’s market and labor and Russia’s natural resources.

The EU’s foreign-policy chief acknowledged these facts in a speech at the 2022 Ambassadors Conference in Brussels on October 10.

Borrell’s remarks were reminiscent of comments made in August by French President Emmanuel Macron, warning of the end of a neoliberal “era of abundance.”

‘Our prosperity was based on China and Russia – energy and market’

Borrell explained, “Our prosperity has been based on cheap energy coming from Russia. Russian gas – cheap and supposedly affordable, secure, and stable.”

“And the access to the big China market, for exports and imports, for technological transfers, for investments, for having cheap goods,” he added.

The EU foreign-policy chief observed, “I think that the Chinese workers with their low salaries have done much better and much more to contain inflation than all the central banks together.”

Borrell then summarized, “So, our prosperity was based on China and Russia – energy and market.”

That prosperity is now slipping away.

By imposing devastating sanctions on Moscow over the proxy war in Ukraine, and by pledging to boycott Russian energy, Europe has lost its larger supplier of gas and oil.

The EU is now looking for new sources of energy, and is importing much more expensive liquified natural gas (LNG) from the United States, which has caused electricity bills to skyrocket for European citizens and businesses.

Now that China and Russia have become the EU’s geopolitical adversaries, Borrell argued that Europe “will require a strong restructuring of our economy.”

“The adjustment will be tough, and this will create political problems,” he said.

“I think that we Europeans are facing a situation in which we suffer the consequences of a process that has been lasting for years in which we have decoupled the sources of our prosperity from the sources of our security,” he conceded.

EU foreign-policy chief acknowledges the US is not reliable for security

The EU’s neoliberal economic model adopted in the 1990s relied on cheap energy from Russia and China’s consumer goods, labor, and market.

On the other hand, Europe’s security policy was based on the United States and NATO.

But the US is not a reliable security partner, Borrell acknowledged.

At the current moment, the US and EU are closer than ever, he said. However, that alliance is not ironclad, and it could shift in the near future.

Borrell explained:

On the other hand, we delegated our security to the United States. While the cooperation with the Biden Administration is excellent, and the transatlantic relationship has never been as good as it is today – [including] our cooperation with the United States and my friend Tony [Antony] Blinken [US Secretary of State]: we are in a fantastic relationship and cooperating a lot; who knows what will happen two years from now, or even in November?

What would have happened if, instead of [Joe] Biden, it would have been [Donald] Trump or someone like him in the White House? What would have been the answer of the United States to the war in Ukraine? What would have been our answer in a different situation? These are some questions that we have to ask ourselves.

And the answer for me is clear: we need to shoulder more responsibilities ourselves. We have to take a bigger part of our responsibility in securing security.

You – the United States – take care of our security. You – China and Russia – provided the basis of our prosperity. This is a world that is no longer there.

Borrell also conceded that the EU’s security problems are not just external. Internally, Europe is facing a threat from the “radical right.”

“There is a radical shift, and the radical right is increasing in our democracies, democratically,” he said. Instead of trying to blame this on a foreign bogeyman, Borrell admitted that this far-right shift “is not an imposition from any power.”

“The radical right is increasing their grasp in European politics,” he added. The EU’s “internal cohesion is under threat.”

EU is becoming dependent on US energy

The EU foreign-policy chief likewise acknowledged that, while Europe is no longer dependent on Russian energy, it is becoming dependent on US liquified natural gas exports.

This poses its own, new security problem, Borrell warned:

The other day, at the Prague [European] Council, President [of France, Emmanuel] Macron said that very clearly: we cannot substitute one dependency by another.

We are happy that we are importing a lot of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from the United States – at a high price, by the way – and substituting Russian gas by American and Norwegian gas, or Azerbaijani gas – well, from Azerbaijan it’s a small quantity.

But what would happen tomorrow if the United States, with a new president, decided not to be so friendly with the Europeans? Why not? You can imagine the situation in which our critical dependency from LNG coming from the United States could also be in crisis.

Or that, tomorrow we do not have the cobalt, we do not have the rare materials that [come from] the DRC, South America, Afghanistan – they are [as] critical for us as oil and gas.

World is in chaos due to Ukraine proxy war, US-China competition, food and energy crises, economic recession

Borrell warned that the world is in chaos, and he named several main causes: the NATO proxy war with Russia in Ukraine, the “deep US-China competition,” food and energy crises, and an impending economic recession.

It is not just the proxy war in Ukraine that has destabilized Europe, Borrell said, but also the “deep US-China competition.”

He acknowledged that the US government bears responsibility for pushing up to the brink of war.

“The escalation of tension in Taiwan,” Borrell said, “was triggered by an individual travel of a personality that brought the Taiwan Strait at the edge of – I would not say a war, but – a lot of war games.”

He was referencing the trip taken by Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives, the third-most senior official in the US government.

These conflicts, compounded by rising inflation and “food and energy crises,” has created a “perfect storm,” Borrell said. This will inevitably lead to an economic recession:

This is a perfect storm. First, the prices increasing. Second, the reaction of the central banks raising interest rates in the United States. Everybody has to follow, because otherwise their currency will be devaluated. Everybody is running to raise interest rates. This will bring us to a world recession.

The world following the Fed [the US Federal Reserve], the world implementing the same monetary policy – because there is no other way, otherwise the capital will flow – reminds me of what was happening in Europe before the euro when everybody had to follow the monetary policy dictated by Germany.

Because if you did not do the same thing, the capital was flowing, and you had to do it even if it was not the right policy for your internal reasons. What was happening among us before the euro is happening today on the world stage.