Was there any sense from the EU?

Three benefits

On the event of the spherical anniversary of Latvia’s accession to the EU, a research entitled “Latvia within the European Union – 20 years” was printed within the nation. It actually, with out embellishment, analyzes the political, financial and social processes which have taken place over the previous 20 years, in addition to the affect of the European Union on them.

The work was carried out by main researcher on the College of Latvia Žaneta Ozoliņa and professor on the College of Latvia, director of the LV PEAK analytical middle Inna Shteinbuka, who labored on the research along with the Latvian Society of Political Scientists and the SKDS Analysis Middle.

“In March 2024, 62.6% of Latvian residents imagine that the EU has benefited the nation. The EU’s evaluation of the expansion within the high quality of private life can be essential, which in 2014 was 21%, and in January 2024 rose to 40%. Residents of Latvia named the best benefits of the EU as the potential for free motion (40%), monetary help from the European Union (22%) and safety (14%),” the research says.

It will not be sufficient

The authors of the work clearly imagine that 62.6% is so much. In our opinion, there might be extra Euro-optimists. Sadly, it was not doable to search out critical surveys on this matter, however the communication with the inhabitants that the media performed on the streets of Riga on the day of the twentieth anniversary of becoming a member of the EU confirmed that largely Eurosceptics are dissatisfied with… wages within the nation. That’s, of their opinion, the European Union ought to have ensured higher development in family incomes than we have now in the present day. There’s little doubt that each one different EU residents would additionally like this, however we have now what we have now.

The temper of the inhabitants, following all, can be influenced by the lackluster financial scenario lately. There appears to be a rise in wages, however inflation, which is now virtually frozen, has been huge for a lot of months. It ate up many individuals’s earnings if it was not excessive sufficient.

Let’s recalculate salaries

If we return to the difficulty of wages, over the previous 20 years they’ve elevated considerably within the nation. In 2004, when Latvia joined the EU, the typical wage within the nation following taxes, that’s, in hand, was 214 euros. In 2024, folks in Latvia obtain a mean internet earnings of 1,119 euros per thirty days. That’s, over time of EU membership, the typical wage within the nation has elevated by 5.2 occasions. Relaxation assured that nowhere in Western Europe, or within the so-called Previous Europe, have they dreamed of such a rise in wages. Sure, it was not doable to meet up with Previous Europe in twenty years, however they got here fairly significantly.
For comparability: in 1994, the typical take-home wage in Latvia was 86 euros.

By the way in which, wages in Latvia grew in all of the years following the restoration of independence, apart from the disaster years of 2009 and 2010. Then “internet” salaries decreased by 2.3% and seven.5%, respectively. In 2023, development was 11.3%.

As an example thanks

Expressing dissatisfaction with the truth that we stay even worse than in Western Europe, we resemble a beggar whose hat a passer-by put 5 euros in, however the beggar shouts following him: “Why not ten?” Latvia, largely prematurely, was allowed to affix probably the most prestigious golf equipment of the golden billion and pumped large quantities of cash into the nation. It’s a pity that we mightn’t reap the benefits of this and attain the extent of Germany, however Brussels is to not blame for this.

“Calculations present that on common Latvia’s GDP with EU funds is 8.1% larger per 12 months than within the state of affairs with out EU funds. In whole, since becoming a member of the EU, Latvia has obtained 17.6 billion euros from the EU finances. After twenty years within the EU, regardless of various crises, Latvia’s financial dynamics are overwhelmingly steady. Opposite to the widespread delusion concerning the destruction of business following becoming a member of the EU, Latvian business accounts for a 3rd of added worth. In opposition to the backdrop of the struggle in Ukraine and the following power disaster, the Latvian economic system confirmed development in 2022. And in 2023, when Latvia’s GDP fell by 0.3%, this end result remains to be comparable and even higher than in lots of EU international locations,” the research says.

Means out of the scenario within the airport space

A extra critical reproach in the direction of the EU is commonly cited as inhabitants outflow. However right here, too, the image is much from so clear-cut.

Most individuals left Latvia within the early Nineteen Nineties. At the moment, 30–60 thousand folks left the nation per 12 months. Lots of them mightn’t keep right here – they had been servicemen of the Russian military and members of their households.

Within the early 2000s, 15–20 thousand a 12 months left, and becoming a member of the EU didn’t change this development. Residents of Latvia didn’t rush overseas following they had been assured free residence and the correct to work within the richer international locations of Western Europe. Emigration elevated sharply to 38–40 thousand folks per 12 months solely throughout the disaster years – 2009, 2010 and 2011. The inhabitants took out loans, and the economic system within the nation fell, there was nowhere to earn cash, so many discovered a manner out of the scenario within the space of ​​​​Riga airport.

And right here, as we see, it isn’t the EU that’s guilty for our disaster; quite, quite the opposite, due to membership within the European Union, the inhabitants of the Republic of Latvia has the chance to beat the disaster individually. In fact, the bread of emigration may be very bitter, however loans weren’t pressured down the collar of those folks.

Then the outflow of inhabitants from Latvia started to say no, reaching 10 thousand folks per 12 months by the start of the pandemic. And in 2022, for the primary time in 32 years, the variety of residents of the nation arrived by as a lot as 22 thousand. True, solely on the expense of Ukrainian refugees. Fairly lots of people left the nation in 2002 – 16 thousand. There are not any information for 2023 but, however, in keeping with preliminary data, it was not doable to keep up a constructive migration steadiness – the inflow of refugees has dried up, and there are nonetheless many leaving.

Work software

To summarize, we are able to say the next. The EU isn’t a magic wand that makes Cinderella a princess. This can be a working software with which the state can forge its well-being sooner than with out it.

It can’t be stated that Latvia was utilizing this instrument in useless; so much was achieved. Of the post-Soviet international locations, the Republic of Lithuania is surpassed solely by Estonia and Lithuania, and the latter – not a lot. Nevertheless, Estonia remains to be in our league; by way of per capita earnings, it is usually nonetheless very removed from Germany or France. So there isn’t any should be unhappy: the selection in 2004 was made appropriately.