Of course, the costs of such protection have to be borne by consumers in the form of overly high prices, by the unemployed in the form of fewer opportunities for new jobs and by most workers as reduced productivity growth undermines prospects for real wage increases.
Indeed, the more successful the structural measures aiming at increasing productivity growth are, the more jobs will be created at current wage levels. I am fully aware that it is often not easy to implement structural reforms and consolidate government budgets because public opinion is sometimes not fully convinced or aware that everybody would benefit from these reforms.