Don’t Pass The Buck, Eu Told Civil Servants Attack Cutbacks For Single European Currency

With European Union leaders expected to formally agree on a single currency pact next week, German police and firefighters protested Tuesday against austerity measures the government says are needed to qualify for the economic marriage.

In Paris, tens of thousands of workers urged EU leaders - particularly France’s new leftist premier - to make jobs the top priority.

Traffic slowed to a crawl in Bonn outside the offices of Chancellor Helmut Kohl as some 6,000 men and women in uniform rallied at a busy intersection, angrily insisting they would not foot the bill for Germany’s entry into the single currency.

Kohl has ordered cuts in public spending to help Germany meet fiscal criteria for the currency known as the euro, which is scheduled to debut on Jan. 1, 1999.

The government plans to cut the pay of firefighters and police officers, raise their retirement age by two years and reduce their Christmas bonuses.

The police and firefighters set off deafening blasts from portable sirens and blew whistles aimed toward Kohl’s office.

“Kohl and his government have only one political goal, cost what it may - the euro,” Dieter Berberich, an executive with the German Police Union, told the crowd.

The demonstrators said Kohl should not expect such sacrifices from civil servants who risk their lives to keep the peace and protect the public.

“The government is reaching for the last pennies in our pockets,” said Andre Geissler, a fireman for the past 13 years.

All Germans are being affected by cost-slashing measures as the government struggles to bolster the economy and combat record-high unemployment.

In France, which is battling a 12.8 percent jobless rate, protesters marched to the National Palace to remind new Premier Lionel Jospin of his campaign promise to put job-growth ahead of euro-mandated austerity measures.