International

Today I almost fell off my chair when I read the interview with my PvdA (Labour Party) colleague in the European Parliament, Thijs Berman, on the Dutch news and opinion website Nu.nl . In his opinion the SP’s plans would in the long term lead to tragedy, in the Netherlands but most especially in Europe. He adheres to the formula applied by all Europhiles, alleging that the SP is against Europe. Evidently the Europhiles are currently feeling so frustrated by the total lack of support from ordinary people, that they can offer nothing but lies and distortions in the hope of generating agreement. I can quickly disabuse them of this dream: contrary to what they think, many people in the Netherlands have given a great deal of thought to the question of Europe. They are keen to cooperate with other countries, but have had enough of the surreptitious manner in which ever more powers are being transferred to Brussels without they themselves being able to exercise any real influence on this process. In the EP I vote in favour of many sound European laws and the SP cooperates with others to work towards a fair, social and humane Europe. But we are not about to impose a ‘United States of Europe’ on our population, which has in fact absolutely no desire for any such thing. In my view this is what is known as democracy.

In the European Parliament I’ve made serious attempts to reach an agreement with Labour to fight the proposed economic governance. Unfortunately the PvdA has constantly ducked away from such an accord. When it came to the vote it became clear why this was so: unlike most other social democrats in the EP, the Dutch Labour Party voted in favour of the so-called six-pack. This is the package of legislative proposals aimed exclusively at imposing budgetary discipline. Attention to poverty, employment and a fair distribution of income is nowhere to be found. It is beyond belief that the PvdA had no objections to any of this. Since the vote I have found it extremely difficult to cooperate with the Dutch social democrats in this policy area. With their sister parties from other member states it is often somewhat easier. They understand that the current package of measures will lead to poverty and a lowering of wages for ordinary people, while the casino capitalists will be unaffected.

In the interview Thijs Berman admitted that he wanted to preserve the euro at whatever price. And yes, he stated also that the SP is not a truly social party, because we would leave the Greeks to rot. Apparently he’s lost all contact with reality: in Greece things are going from bad to worse. State property must be sold off for next to nothing, and such drastic cuts are being imposed that small firm after small firm is closing, young people have no prospects and the most elementary service provision is lacking. Ever more people are becoming homeless, more and more people suffering from illness no longer have access to decent medical care. Of course, Thijs, the Greeks are ever so grateful for your ‘help’.

As for the SP, we have had enough of seeing billions allegedly given to Greece as ‘aid’ going in essence only to the aid of the banks. Greece is obliged to use all of that money to pay off its debts to these banks, so that they don’t have to suffer a loss. In addition the cuts imposed there are directed only at reducing wages to the levels found in developing countries, a disastrous policy that is leading demonstrably to the collapse of the Greek economy, simply because people no longer have any money. And no consumer demand means a relapse into still higher debt. Our plans were and are much more realistic: write off the bulk of the debt, tackle corruption and consider an investment plan to drag the Greek economy back out of the morass. With regard to the euro, if big countries such as Italy and Spain turn out continually to need additional support, a moment could indeed arrive when the euro becomes for us unaffordable. But whether that will happen, no one, not even the SP, can foretell. The SP’s standpoint is in any case more realistic than the utopian trance in which my Labour Party colleague apparently finds himself. Or could this simply be pure frustration over the failure of his own party in Europe?