Competition vs unemployment

I am referring to a letter by Eddy Privitera (March 16) who mentioned his disappointment with the EU Commission's decision to rule against companies and regions (countries eventually) that do not work according to the laws of fair competition.

Of course a good number of jobs were created in Charleroi (Belgium) when low-fare airline Ryanair started using the city's airport as their European hub. But can Mr Privitera say how many jobs were lost because of this at other places all across Europe? The number is also big, maybe even bigger than the number of jobs that were created.

Fair competition is what keeps jobs and what creates new jobs as well.

Competition also ensures technical and social development. Take the example of Ryanair: Ryanair receives massive state aid, like subsidised landing fees. Because of this they can offer even cheaper flights. People see this and book a Ryanair flight to save money. They book this flight with Ryanair instead of Air France, Swiss, Lufthansa, SAS, Alitalia or Air Malta.

So other airlines lose passengers, lose business. They have to reduce the number of flights and so the number of staff they need. Because of this there is also less traffic at other airports. So even there people lose their jobs.

Now let me ask Mr Privitera: Does he still believe that fair competition is responsible for unemployment? I say: Unfair competition kills jobs!

Unfair competition like illegal subsidies, creation of syndicates offering prices that were agreed between the member companies, or simple monopolies make things much more difficult for workers and puts them in danger of losing their jobs!