While the European Union makes a huge effort to discover a common denominator of the European Culture, international operating companies are currently defining it through cheapness. Spoiled throughout the fat years after the war, Europeans got used to chic clothes, good food and two times vacation a year. Cuts in the social welfare throughout the 1990´s made it more and more difficult for the huge European middleclass to sustain its standard. The system had to adapt.
The first check in for an easyJet flight ten years ago, on the 18th of October 1995 could be seen as the start sign for the ultimate triumph of cheapness. Ever since then Europe grew together at an enormous speed. From Hammerfest to Palermo we eat at the same IKEA table our noodles from Aldi, read the daily news in the Metro and travel with easyJet cheaply throughout Europe.

IKEA is a Swedish home furnishings retailer. 159 of its 202 stores are in Europe occupying a surface of 3, 7 million square meters. The founder and owner Ingvar Kamprad (80) is world’s fourth richest person. The IKEA Catalogue, containing about 12,000 products, is reputedly the second most widely distributed book after the Bible with a hundred million copies produced every year.

easyJet is a UK based low-cost airline founded by Stelios Haji-Ioannou (38). easyJet is part of the London based easyGroup. After easyJet Stelios set-up in the year 1999 the easyInternetcafé followed by easyCar in April 2000. Today 15 different easy companies are providing services for an “easy living”:
(easyJet, easyInternetcafé, easyCar, easyValue, easyMoney, easyCinema, easyBus, easyHotel, easy4men, easyJobs, easyPizza, easyMusic, easyCruise, easyMobile, easyWatch

Skype is an online-telephone network, founded by Niklas Zennström (39) and Janus Friis (29), the creator of KaZaA (world’s most downloaded Internet music-software).The Skype software enables free calls between Skype users online. Skype’s premium services provide low-cost connectivity to traditional fixed and mobile telephones. Skype already has 54 million members in 225 countries and territories. eBay has recently agreed to acquire Skype for approximately €2.1 billion which is comprised of €1.1 billion in cash and the rest in shares of eBay stock.

Media Markt is a Germany based electronics store that was founded in 1979 by Walter Gunz, Leopold Stiefel, Erich and Helga Kellerhals in Munich. Since 1990 it belongs to the METRO Group and is currently operating 375 stores in 14 countries throughout Europe.

Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) is a Swedish clothing company established in 1947 by Erling Persson. The Church of Sweden is a major shareholder in the chain. H&M operates 1100 shops in 20 European countries and around 100 shops in North America, employing more than 50.000 people. In Autumn H&M will open two franchises in the Middle East (Kuwait and Dubai).

Aldi is a German supermarket chain founded in 1946 by the brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht. Aldi consists of Aldi Nord owned by Karl Albrecht (85) and Aldi Süd owned by Theo Albrecht (83). Accumulating their fortune of $ 34, 0 billion would make them world’s third richest person. Aldi operates about 5200 shops in Europe and 800 in USA and Australia

Metro is a Swedish media company that runs the worlds largest chain of newspapers. 61 daily Metro editions are published and distributed in 88 major cities in 19 countries in 18 languages across Europe, North & South America and Asia. Metro reaches a daily readership of approximately 18 million people.

2006