The Euro Plus Pact was approved by 23 EU countries in March 2011 and came into force shortly afterwards. The Pact stipulates a range of quantitative targets meant to strengthen cost competitiveness with the aim of preventing the accumulation of external financial imbalances. This paper uses...

In 2010, hourly labour costs in the German private sector increased by only 0.6 per cent. In contrast, the average increases of the EU countries and the countries in the euro-zone were 1.7 and 1.6 per cent, respectively. Thus, even in a year with strong economic growth in Germany, the long term...

Die Arbeitskosten in der privaten Wirtschaft sind in Deutschland 2010 lediglich um 0,6 Prozent gestiegen. Im Durchschnitt der EU-Länder nahmen die Arbeitskosten hingegen um moderate 1,7 Prozent und im Mittel des Euroraums um 1,6 Prozent zu. Damit hat sich in einem Jahr mit starkem...