Everything comes. In March it seemed that the June summit to compare notes on the Euro Plus Pact (that pact with the name of a washing machine that has given so much to talk about and demonstrate recently) would never come. And here we are. As anyone would expect from a student who knows he has not done his homework properly, there is a lot of nerves and some last minute effort to go over the most important... just in case it comes out.

In this case, among the most important are the issues of public finances and, especially, competitiveness. Let's remember that the original name of the pact was going that way, until it was changed because many people thought that so much competitiveness sounded too German. In addition to these two priority objectives, the promotion of employment and financial stability are also prominently added.

If all this sounds familiar, it is because these four issues have been the core topic of discussion in most of our recent economic policy (or lack of policy). Let's focus on the two most talked about in our country: competitiveness and employment. As usual, reforms are slow and insufficient. We do them late, in fits and starts, and we tend to leave the most important ones behind. The thought that these difficulties could have been avoided to a large extent if things had been done differently six or seven years ago is neither a consolation nor a consolation. We are here, now, and we are still doing nothing.

The competitiveness that is supposed to be the panacea does not necessarily imply lower wages. But, let's not kid ourselves, it is the most likely scenario. If it is not done directly, then it is likely that inflation will be responsible for lowering real wages. There could be complementary measures, aimed at improving other aspects of business flexibility, but it seems that this front is (at least for the moment) blocked.

No one will be surprised to hear that we are failing on employment , and by a long way. Examining the youth and long-term unemployment fees of our Economics is going to expose our embarrassment, and the labor reform continues the trend of non-reform that, like Don Quixote, looks like a national ensign. If Spain, as a country, had a "facebook", I would say that we should join a group of which I have been told recently: "I also said I am on my way and I had not even left". I don't know what its "grace" will be, but the degree scroll is nailed to us.