International

The growth strategy presented today by the European Commission takes it further down the path of undermining social rights and the welfare state and is damaging to the European economy. No attempt is made to invest in the economy, in employment and innovation, according to Dennis de Jong who adds that ‘the worst of the crisis is not in the past as the Commission asserts. Unemployment is enormous, household debt and poverty are growing and self-employed people are taking blow after blow. The Commission is right to argue that the wealthier member states should now be doing more to stimulate domestic demand, but that means that governments must be given more space to invest and get rid of burdensome charges. This would restore consumer and business confidence. So this presentation is completely unbelievable.’

The growth strategy will soon culminate in recommendations to the member states. This prospect will provide support for the Dutch government, according to SP Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel. ‘This government’s current destructive policies are precisely in line with the views of the European Commission as presented today,’ says Van Bommel. ‘The so-called “reforms” are nothing less than the destruction of the welfare state and of workers’ rights. Economic coordination from the European Commission consists also then primarily of prescribing and supporting the member states’ neoliberal policies. It has little to do with cross-border economic cooperation. The member states must be forced into a change of course.’