July 2, 2012

European Summit: Only Banks are Victorious

Pierre Laurent, National Secretary of the French Communist Party (France), President of the Party of European Left, Paolo Ferrero, National Secretary of Rifondazione Communista (Italy), Alexis Tsipras, President of Syriza, Vice-President of the EL (Greece), Cayo Lara, spokesman for Izquierda unida (Spainà), Jose- Luis Centella, General secretary of Communist Party of Spain (Spain), Katya Kipping & Bernd Riexinger, Co-chairpersons of DIE LINKE (Germany), Francisco Louçà, Coordinator of the Bloco de Esquerda (Portugal) declare:

The heads of state of our countries declare they are back from the EU summit with victories for their people, and inflections from Chancellor Merkel, Mario Draghi or Jean-Claude Junker. They say they have "saved Europe" for the 19th time since the crisis began. Francois Hollande even said that Europe is "reoriented" in the right direction. This is misleading advertising.

The fiscal pact is intact. The "renegotiation" did not happen and the growth pact promoted by Francois Hollande has no legal value. Whether direct or indirect, funded by the MES or not, all the so-called "financial aids" will once again be paid by European citizens, through cuts and attacks on workers' rights. All the measures adopted in the name of solidarity with Italy and Spain are only measures of massive socialization of losses. This is also a new loss of the peoples sovereignty and the decline of parliamentary democracy.

The truth is: the negotiations in the liberal EU happens between 27 member states, but it is always the banks who win. We call on all left people and MPs, to take action to prevent the ratification of this fatal pact in our countries.

Only a refoundation of the EU can solve the crisis. We will repeat it as necessary: austerity leads to recession. There will be no growth in this framework. We propose an alternative:

  • A european solution for the existing, unsustainable public debts,which will promote their decisive reduction.
  • Change the role and tasks of the ECB to encourage job creation and training, not speculators.
  • Create a new institution: a European public bank, funded by the ECB and the financial transaction tax, which funds would be used exclusively to promote public investment in public services and sustainable industrial development.
  • Harmonize workers' rights and all social rights on the highest level.