'No evidence of recovery,' says former top EU commissioner

Former EU commissioner Peter Sutherland says there are "no short-term solutions" to the economic crisis.

Speaking at a key debate in Brussels, the Irishman said there was "absolutely no evidence" of a recovery.

His comments come after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Monday this week that the US economy will recover more strongly and more quickly, than it previously thought.

It now believes that the world's largest economy will grow by 0.75 per cent next year, rather than the 0 per cent it forecast earlier this year.  The IMF also thinks that the US economy will shrink less sharply this year.

Sutherland served in the first Jacques Delors commission in the 1980s and was the youngest-ever EU commissioner.

The economic downturn, along with the stalled Lisbon treaty, are the two key issues on the agenda for this week's EU summit in Brussels which started on Thursday.

Addressing the European Policy Centre's showpiece 'state of the union' debate on Wednesday, he said, "Despite what we are hearing there is no objective evidence to prove that a recovery is on the way.

"On the contrary, I believe unemployment will continue to rise and protectionist measures will be greater in six months' time than they are now."

Sutherland, who played a crucial role in opening up competition across Europe, warned,"This will be a real challenge for the new commission when it takes up office later this year."

Another speaker was John Palmer, who, for 20 years was the Guardian's correspondent in Brussels.

He said the low-turn out in the recent European elections highlighted the democratic deficit between citizens and the EU.

"People are, clearly, losing their faith in the relevance of the EU. One of the reasons is that they do not see any debate about Europe taking place," said Palmer, who helped launch the EPC in the late 1990s.

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