Final Word from Tuesday, November 18, 2003
President Ernest-Antoine Seilliere of Medef, the French Business Confederation, said in Prague on Fri. that the "delocalization" of EU production from France and other EU countries to the CR is in general a positive thing. He suggested that the EU should be viewed as whole, much like Nafta in North America, because the enlargement will lead to greater overall GDP in the EU, even if it means some job losses within existing member-states. The enthusiasm with which he praised the low-cost Czech environment was remarkable. Meanwhile, ČMKOS labor leader Milan Štěch said in Právo today that the CR needs to move away from low wages, because it can't depend on them forever. If there are local companies that are just as productive as those in Western Europe and that are earning huge profits, he asked, why shouldn't the wages of their workers be rising faster? Bohemian-Moravian Confederation of Labor Unions