Can Europe Overcome its Conservatism? – Future of Europe from a Japanese Perspective

The agenda of the recent European Summit shows that the discussion is no longer dedicated entirely to the Euro crisis, and the efforts to stabilise the markets after the Euro crisis are finally starting to pay off. However, the question of whether and how Europe could return to growth and improve its competitiveness is still unanswered – and unless the European governments can deliver a credible solution to this question, it is unlikely that foreign investments, including those by Japanese businesses, will increase in Europe – and without investments, the alarming rate of unemployment cannot be reversed.