The German government is preparing to propose measures in six points to support growth in struggling eurozone countries. The plan provides for the establishment of sepcial economic zones, according to the weekly Der Spiegel, published on 25 May.

The magazine holds – not citing its sources – that Berlin is in favour of the creation of such zones in the eurozone member states that are most affected by the crisis in order to attract foreign investors through tax rebates and less restrictive rules. This project would also seemingly have member states in crisis reform their labour market – aligning it with the German model by making the law protecting workers against dismissals more flexible, or by reducing wage and salary costs.

To overcome these difficulties, these states could also put in place bodies in charge of privatising public enterprises, a model favoured by Germany post-reunification so as to divest itself of ex-German Democratic Republic (GDR) assets.

Another plan is to develop the system of training young people the German way, in other words prioritising training within companies.

When asked about this project, a spokesperson of the European Commission indicated that the executive had not received details of this plan, and that therefore no comment would be made at this stage.