EU Commission warns social gap widening in EU
While debt-laden countries in the EU's southern periphery had sunk deeper into economic depression in 2012, their wealthier European neighbors to the north had made huge strides with regard to social progress. The findings - which were released on Tuesday - stemmed from a report on employment and social analysis by the European Union's executive Commission.
The future looked bleak with regard to overcoming the socio-economic differences, as the gap between rich and poor EU member states had widened dramatically in the past five years, according to Social Commissioner Lazslo Andor.
"Peripheral states appear to be caught in a downward spiral of falling economic output, rapidly rising unemployment and eroding individual incomes," Andor told reporters in Brussels.
Andor noted that unemployment in the 27-nation bloc had climbed to 11.8 percent in November 2012. But while joblessness used to be more or less evenly spilt among all EU members, the rates in the northern and southern Europe were now 7.5 percent apart, he said.
http://www.dw.de/eu-commission-warns-social-gap-widening-in-eu/a-16505581