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Austerity anger grows in Europe
AFP - 2 hours 43 minutes ago
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MADRID (AFP) - – Tens of thousands of Spanish public workers went on strike Tuesday and Germany's powerful unions warned of anti-austerity protests as Hungary became the latest debt-ridden nation to order drastic cuts.
Tensions also mounted between European Union governments over how to slash spending with Britain rejecting an EU plan for all national budgets to be seen by other nations before they are passed.
Garbage was left uncollected and high-speed trains delayed in Spain as civil servants stopped work to protest spending cuts by the Socialist government.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who is traditionally close to unions, has ordered an average pay cut of five percent for public sector salaries this year, and a freeze next year.
Unions said roughly 75 percent of the 2.6 million public workers heeded the strike call but the government put participation at just 11 percent.
Spain has ordered 65 billion euros (78 billion dollars) of spending cuts in a bid to slash the public deficit to the EU limit of three percent of gross domestic product by 2013 from 11.2 percent last year.
Hundreds of people staged a rally outside of the economy ministry in Madrid chanting "Zapatero resign!". The two largest unions, the CCOO and the UGT, have threatened a general strike if the government imposes labour reforms.
Spanish public workers strike against government cuts
In Germany, industry, trade unions and the media criticised Chancellor Angela Merkel over the 86 billion euros of budget cuts she ordered between 2011 and 2014.
"It is not the poor who have lived beyond their means -- it is the rich who have," said the head of the German Federation of Trade Unions, Michael Sommer.
The leader of the Paritaetische association of charities, Ulrich Schneider, slammed the cuts as "indecent".
Even big business joined the assault, with German banks and the airline industry slamming a tax on financial transactions from 2012 and a levy on flights.
"These are serious times, these are difficult times. We cannot afford everything we would like if we hope to plan for the future and that is why the budget has been laid out like this for the coming years," Merkel told reporters as she announced the cuts Monday.
Merkel slammed over 'visionless' German austerity drive
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban stepped into the budget slashing fray, unveiling swingeing public spending cuts amid concern on European and international markets that Hungary's situation was comparable to that of debt-stricken Greece.
At the same time Orban proposed tax breaks for families and a flat-rate tax of 16 percent for individuals, while imposing a new levy on the finance sector.
"Eighteen months ago, the state came to the aid of banks which then made significant profits in 2009. Now it's the banks' turn to do their bit to help solve the current problems," Orban told parliament.
European finance ministers on Monday agreed a new 525 billion dollar fund for debt hit nations and EU president Herman Van Rompuy said they also agreed a right to oversee national budgets, but Britain rejected any such move.
"The budget will be presented to parliament first," British Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Mark Hoban, insisted in a statement as EU finance ministers held the second day of a meeting in Luxembourg.
France had demanded that Britain fall into line with other EU nations.
However, Fitch Ratings warned Britain that it needs to put its public finances in order much quicker as it faces a "formidable" fiscal challenge.
Britain's finances need a "faster pace of deficit reduction than set out" in April by the previous Labour government, the international ratings agency said.
Britain's top AAA rating "is supported by its strong policy institutions, advanced, diversified and flexible economy, exceptional financing flexibility and historical track record of fiscal consolidation.
"However, the rise in public debt ratios since 2008 is faster than any other AAA rated sovereign and the ... adjustment required to stabilise debt is amongst the highest of advanced countries," Fitch noted in a statement.
The new British government of Prime Minister David Cameron announced Monday that Britain's finances were "even worse than we thought" as he warned of "painful" cuts to tackle the record deficit he estimated at 770 billion pounds (1.12 trillion dollars, 930 billion euros).
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