Events in Greece have led to a discussion in the Green Party, particularly amongst Green Left, about the party's position on the EU in general and the referendum in particular. The Green Party's official position is what has been called the 'Three Yeses': Yes to a referendum, Yes to major EU reform, and Yes to staying in a reformed Europe.
The benefits of EU social policy are now being weighed against the neoliberal assumptions and anti-democratic tendencies revealed in what Caroline Lucas has termed 'a coup'.
The Green's Autumn Conference takes place in September and will offer a forum to discuss these issues which could contribute to a change of position.
Below is a video of Romayne Phoenix of the Green Party and Green left speaking at the demonstration which took place outside the German Embassy in London last night and a guest blog by Haroon Saad of London Green Party and Green Left which was first published on the London Green Left blog LINK.
The benefits of EU social policy are now being weighed against the neoliberal assumptions and anti-democratic tendencies revealed in what Caroline Lucas has termed 'a coup'.
The Green's Autumn Conference takes place in September and will offer a forum to discuss these issues which could contribute to a change of position.
Below is a video of Romayne Phoenix of the Green Party and Green left speaking at the demonstration which took place outside the German Embassy in London last night and a guest blog by Haroon Saad of London Green Party and Green Left which was first published on the London Green Left blog LINK.
The
European dream is being destroyed by those who claim to act in defence of that
dream. The dream was already beginning to fade but the front of screen and back
of screen machinations that have accompanied the “Greek tragedy” played out
over the last six months and the eventual “treaty of
reparations” –or otherwise known as the “deal” – has killed the dream for me.
It’s
salutary to go back to the beginning. As hardly anyone knows, the current EC
grew out what was called the European Coal and Steel Community. It’s here that
one can locate the European Dream.
Again
as hardly anyone knows, 9 May is known as Europe Day. 9 of May is Europe Day
because it was on that date in 1950 that what is known as the Schuman Declaration was launched and which laid out the key
features of the European dream. A revisit to this is illuminating in terms of
“progress to date”.
- It would mark the birth of a united Europe.
An element of the dream that no longer relates
to reality. In treating Greece as an “outsider” we have seen the reemergence of
an imperial and colonial mindset. It may yet come to German style
“stormtroopers” being the response that explodes in Greece. It’s not just
Greece, however, the EU may be united but it is unequal. It’s an EU dominated
by Germany with several smaller states simply being vassals. The problem goes even deeper when you consider
the impact of EU funds and how they have widened disparity between regions in
the EU.
- It would make war between member states impossible.
If you ignore the Balkans and Srebrenica, then
this has held up well in terms of old style warfare. However, the Troika, the
replacement of the elected government in Italy with an appointed technocratic
boss, the bulldozing away of the Greek prime minister when he had the nerve to
suggest that it might be appropriate to check out what the Greek people thought
about the terms of the bailout being stuffed down the throats of the Greeks by
France and Germany, the contempt with which the Cypriots were treated etc has
just been warfare through financial markets and financial institutions like the
ECB.
- It would encourage world peace.
It's salutatory to remember that “black lives are
worth less”- more African, Asian, Latin American, and Arab, people have died
through conflict since the Second World
War than those who died in the second
world war. Europe in fact has exported war and the EU has financed state
terror. Follow the money as they say and voila you will find that the EU arms
industry is doing very well.
- It would transform Europe in a 'step by step' process leading to the unification of Europe democratically, unifying two political blocks separated by the “Iron Curtain”
There is a huge democratic deficit if the
European Institutional framework that has been established. Everyone goes round
pointing out what important work the EP undertakes and how it is directly
elected by citizens. The EP for its first 30 years simply rubber stamped 83% of
what the European Council decided. The EC is the place where our elected
leaders wine and dine and talk and make decisions without any accountability.
Sure there is “cloak of accountability” provided by the phase “some decisions
of the EC have to be ratified by national parliaments”. However, this just
conveniently ignores the fact that the EC sits on top of a largely broken and
corporate dominated party political system.
There is no democratic accountability for the
European Commission. Incredible given the fact that it has the power to
initiate legislation. That it has the power to deal with trade and investment
matters.
With Nato trashing the 1997 agreements with
Russia regarding expansion of Nato and the “soviet
bloc”, need I say more given the fact the phrase “cold war” has suddenly come
back out of hibernation.
- It would create the world's first supranational institution.
If you ignore the UN then this element of the
dream may just hold up. The problem is that over 60% of European citizens have
no trust in the supra national institutions that have been created.
- It would create the world's first international anti-cartel agency.
This has turned out to be the exact opposite.
The EU has institutionalised corporate democracy. Big business interest rule in
Brussels, there is a revolving door mechanism from and to big business and the
EU institutions. The expert groups that “advise” the EU institutions are
dominated by corporate interests. Key texts produced by the Commission turn out
to be just cut and paste versions of submissions made by vested interest
groups.
- It would create a common market across the Community.
In terms of capital and goods one could say that
the dream has been largely realized but when it comes to labour then it’s a
nightmare scenario with deportations now taking place regularly between
member states(e.g. Belgium is routinely deporting EU citizens without work).
With the coming restrictions on access to welfare benefits for EU citizens, the
free movement of labour will be reduced to one for those who can afford it.
- It would, starting with the coal and steel sector, revitalise the whole European economy by similar community processes.
Steel production has declined. A renaissance in
coal is underway with Germany and Poland (or coal land as it is referred to in
environmental circles), but this will be very short lived as China moves off
coal usage. Growth for the past 15 years has been anemic and globally the EU is
in decline with its share of the shrinking global trade set to decline further
in the coming decades. We have rising poverty in Europe. A whole new
category of “in work poverty” has been created. We have had youth unemployment
levels running at over 14% since 2000. Long term unemployment is growing.
Indeed, given the current stagnation the EU has created structural unemployment
as feature of the economy.
- It would improve the world economy and the developing countries, such as those in Africa.
Far from improving the situation in Africa, it
has initiated a new rape of continents like
Africa through dumping of subsidized farm goods, through displacement of rural
labour by the introduction of agri-business style agriculture which produces
food for anyone but the Africans. It has fermented civil war through arms sales
and bribes. It has participated in destroying countries like Libya and Syria
through its so called “wars for democracy”. The saga of the migrants in the Med
is just a visible sign of how much damage has been inflicted upon Africa.
So the dream is dead. What will we be voting for
next year in our referendum? The issue is no longer just about whether or not
any more power can be ceded to the EU institutions. Nor is the issue about what
powers need to be repatriated. It’s not about being pro- or anti-Europe.
We need to dismantle what we currently have and re-establish the European
project with a new dream. For that we need new dreamers of which there is
simply a dearth at this moment in time.
Written by Haroon Saad who is a member of the London Green Party and a supporter of Green Left