Contribution of GUE/NGL in the INTERPARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE ON ECONOMIC AND FISCAL GOVERNANCE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION, 16–17 October 2013, Vilnius
No to the devastating austerity policy in Europe!
We strongly oppose the ongoing attack on democracy and the welfare state in Europe by the European Commission and the governments of the member states of the EU and of the Eurozone.
Social spending cuts are being used to save banks and private corporations, even more so in those EU Members states, in which the governments signed a Memorandum with the Troika of the ECB, the European Commission and the IMF.
We are outraged that even healthcare spending for the poorest of the poor in Europe is badly hit, while youth unemployment reaches new heights every month. This cynical logic, which has already ruined the economy of countries like Greece, Cyprus, Portugal and Spain and is causing widespread suffering among the people, while at the same time triggering an explosion in national debt, will lead to a severe damage of the economy in the entire Eurozone.
We call for an end to the "bail'out" and "bail'in" packages worth billions of Euros, which have been put together to save the banks on the expense of the European taxpayers, who have to foot the bill.
Instead of recognizing the current fatal course of austerity and forced privatisation, the troika of the ECB, European Commission and IMF seems to administer even bigger doses of its wrong medicine and prolong the undemocratic control over the 'programme' and even 'post-programme' countries for decades.
We call for an end of the devastating austerity policy in Europe. The crisis costs must be shouldered by the super-rich, who in the past years have profited the most from the neoliberal policies and a deepened capitalist exploitation. The augmented public debt finds its equivalent in the augmented private money assets. To reduce the one, it is necesaary to reduce the other. It is also obvious, that some drastic debt reduction is necessary for the most indebted countries of the Eurozone.
Now, before it is too late, it is high time for a profound change of european economic and fiscal policies as well as a radical change towards real democracy.
Stavros EVAGOROU (AKEL, Cyprus), Andrej HUNKO (DIE LINKE), Olga-Nantia VALAVANI (SYRIZA, Greece)