From: Peter Mandelson < To: Jeffrey Epstein <[email protected]> Subject: FW: Guardian Date: Sun, 13 May 2012 12:13:51 +0000 Attachments: Balls-PM_article.docx What do you think ? From: Peter Mandelson Date: Sun, 13 May 2012 13:12:34 +0100 To: Ed Balls <edballsPedballs.co.uk> Subject: Guardian Guardian Article By Ed Balls & Peter Mandelson The coming months are critical for the future of Europe. Jobs and business investment - in Britain and across the Euro area - depend on Europe's leaders choosing the right course. There is now a real danger that Europe will get locked into a sterile argument between growth and deficit reduction. The truth is that we need the right combination of both - action now to get Europe's economies growing and creating jobs, tough medium-term action to get publicfinances back into shape and a long term strategy for growing the continent's productivity and skills base. It is true that the two of us disagreed on the case for British membership of the single currency. We agree however that the single currency needs to survive and succeed and we are worried that Europe has so far identified only half the solution. There is a real danger that binding countries which are struggling to reduce their deficits by ever larger cuts and tax rises to meet the new structural deficit and debt targets will become self-defeating - economically and politically. A collective strategy too focused on cutting away at the demand created by public EFTA00647710