International

Last week government leaders meeting as the European Council decided that a ‘small’ treaty amendment is necessary in order to enable the establishment of a permanent emergency fund for eurozone countries experiencing difficulties. It would, however, have to be under strict conditions, as the German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressly stated. If the proposal goes through in its entirety, it will amount not to a ‘small’ amendment but to the beginning of still more of a say over national economic policies for Brussels. Government leaders referred to it as ‘small’ in order to avoid provoking a real debate amongst the peoples of the member states, or the organization of referenda. This is the same old defect: Brussels will grow more powerful, but without having listened to the citizens of Europe’s countries.

In both the European and Dutch parliaments the SP voted against the loans to Greece and Ireland from the temporary emergency funds. In our eyes the danger is too great that these countries will be unable to repay these loans, at least in full, and under the current system the automatic consequence would be that the taxpayer would have to foot the bill. This is despite the fact that banks have for years profited from relatively high interest rates on Greek and Irish bonds. Merkel did allude to this, but the government leaders would not go very far in taking action. At most they will look on a case-by-case basis into whether the banks should also contribute.

The addition that only under strict conditions would loans be extended is no trifle, whatever the government leaders may have asserted. We have seen in the cases of Greece and Ireland what it will mean in practice: draconian cuts, achieved in part by the selling off of public services (such as the harbour of Athens), and by running down whatever remains of the social support system. In both countries the rich, for the time being, will get off scot free. If you add this to the Commission’s ideas on economic government, you’re looking at a neoliberal great leap forward: the crisis and the European Union are being used for a pure neoliberal demolition policy.

There is in any case enough here to justify wanting a referendum, rather than adopting the government leaders’ formula that a referendum isn’t needed. Moreover, the SP had already developed proposals for a treaty amendment: for example recognition of the right of member states to quit the eurozone if the enforced cuts are found to be unacceptable, or the strengthening of social rights which in the existing treaty remain the subject of vague formulation. But I heard nothing of this sort from the government leaders. They hope, just as in the past, to push through historic restrictions on the powers of the member states without any broad social debate. That’s hardly democratic.