indeed, the facts...
Maybe we can start your debate with straightening out your own facts: There's no such thing as "Europe's economy" (it's debatable, I know), simply because there is no overall economic policy except for a common currency. The northern part of Europe is doing pretty well, in fact, all these economies are continuing an upward trend for the past few years.
All the countries that are mentioned in the article are in... northern Europe.
Just wanted to set your facts straight...