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EU summit: European austerity loses charm

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English: (Green) Greece. (Light-green) The Eur...

English: (Green) Greece. (Light-green) The European Union (EU). (Grey) Europe. (Light-grey) The surrounding region. See also: Category:SVG locator maps of countries of Europe (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

EU member states

EU member states (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

English: Constituency for the European Parliam...

English: Constituency for the European Parliament election in 2009 Español: Mapa por el Elecciones al Parlamento Europeo de 2009 Français : Circonscriptions aux élections européennes en 2009 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

 

 


EU summit: European austerity loses charm

 

- By DR. ABDUL RUFF

 

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[Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal, Educationist, Chancellor-Founder of Centor for International Affairs(CIA); Specialist on State Terrorism ; Global columnist, Commentator  on world affairs , Expert on Mideast Affairs, Analyst on  sport fixings , Chronicler of Foreign occupations & Freedom movements (Palestine, Kashmir, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Xinjiang, Chechnya, etc.) Former university Teacher; Editor:INTERNATIONAL OPINION; Editor: FOREIGN POLICY ISSUES;(http://abdulrubb.wordpress.com) RANDOM THOUGHTS; website: http://abdulruff.wordpress.com/ write to me: abdulruff_jnu@yahoo.com]

 

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EU budget and austerity

 

 

 

Western terrocracies stand for inhuman capitalism and want the rest also to follow their anti-humanity footsteps in the name of more profits. Fascist thoughts have regained influence in European Union which could be seen mainly in countries like Greece and Hungary where the regimes are bent upon imposing austerity on common people while the ostensible “left” also defends and supports the austerity measures of EU crippling lives of people.

 

 

 

Accelerated by WB and IMF, bulks of nations have gone ahead with austerity measures promoting corporate classes and capitalist masters, crushing the lives of people. Austerity push however is being challenged by the affected nations as recession continues as direct outcome of EU policy. 

 

 

 

As usual, EU leaders met in Brussels on 14-15 March 2013 and concluded the first phase of the 2013 European Semester, involving coordination of the member states’ economic, fiscal and employment policies over a six-month period each year. They discussed relations with strategic partners and addressed specific foreign policy issues. Leaders of Europe minus Turkey, which still struggles to enter the club, were expected to provide guidance to member states on the 2013 Stability and Convergence programs, and on the implementation of Europe 2020 “flagship initiatives”, in particular as regards new skills and jobs, industrial and innovation policies and the digital agenda.

 

 

 

The summit attended by 27 leaders of the European Union in Brussels resembled a besieged fortress.  The European Council assessed the overall progress made by member states in implementing the 2012 country-specific recommendations and adopted strategic advice and guidelines for member states. Under these conditions, the EU Commission, in close cooperation with the German government, is trying hard to pledge the assembled leaders to continue their devastating austerity policies. Otherwise they fear the collapse of the single currency and the EU itself.

 

 

 

Several of the participant leaders are on their way out of office because the massive opposition to the austerity measures of the European Union has stripped away their electoral base.  Italy was represented by Mario Monti, who officially resigned in December and suffered a severe defeat in the recent Italian election. This is expected to be the last EU summit for Monti, an unelected technocrat who had firm backing from Brussels but got just 10% in last month’s Italian elections. The prime ministers of Romania, Bulgaria and Slovenia have been ejected from office by mass protests; as in the case of Monti they are only leading caretaker governments. The governments of Portugal, Spain and Greece confront mass protests and strikes on almost a daily basis. The Spanish government of Mariano Rajoy has been undermined by a corruption scandal. The popularity of French President François Hollande has slumped since his election in May from 55 to 30 percent—a historic record.

 

 

 

The 17 eurozone leaders stayed on for their own talks, joined by Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem who chairs the Eurogroup of counterparts due to meet later to try and fix a multi-billion-euro bailout for Cyprus – the fifth for an EU state since Greece first needed rescuing three years ago.

 

 

 

Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council, wrote that the work done so far to restore the stability of the European economy was not enough. “Therefore, in 2013 we must continue to press on with structural reforms that will boost European competitiveness and will further reinforce confidence in the European economy. More can and should be done.” José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Mario Draghi reminded the summit of the poor economic situation in Europe, which is in recession, thereby inciting leaders to undertake new attacks on social spending and people’s rights. British Prime Minister David Cameron is held to account for the fact that his country will take on more new debt this year than Spain or Ireland. French President Hollande is criticized for labor and social costs that are seen as far too high in his country.

 

 

 

 

 

Amid heavy security, the summit coincided with an anti-austerity rally nearby that organisers said drew 15,000 demonstrators, during which dozens were arrested after breaking into a building adjacent to the venue.

 

 

 

 

 

Debate over austerity and recession

 

 

 

 

 

The issues of jobs and growth have dominated EU talks in Brussels, amid mass protests in the Belgian capital. Thousands of protesters rallied outside the summit venue, saying government spending cuts were hitting jobs. Protesters said government spending cuts across the EU were hitting jobs. Youth unemployment is running at more than 50 per cent in Greece and Spain, and Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said Europe had “to explain our policies better.”

 

The continuing recession and the growing opposition to the austerity measures of the European Union have caused sharp conflicts, particularly between Germany and France. The differences are not about the basic direction of policy, but rather about tempo. All agree that the crisis should be solved at the expense of the general masses, against which they close their ranks.

 

 

 

In Brussels, EU leaders wrestled with German demands for strict austerity and a French-Italian push for growth-friendly spending at a summit coloured by fears that rampant unemployment is destroying the bloc. French President Francois Hollande pressed for more flexibility in the budget targets set by the EU Commission. France, hit hard by the debt crisis, is expected to miss its budget deficit targets this year.

 

In Italy, the Five-Star Movement of the comedian Beppe Grillo has benefited from the opposition to the austerity measures of the Monti government, because they were supported by all the successor organizations of the Communist Party. Grillo was successful because of his fierce polemics directed against all the established political parties and the EU. At the same time he advocates a very reactionary economic program.  Outgoing Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti warned his European colleagues that “public support for the reforms, and worse, for the EU, is dramatically declining”. Flexibility as opposed to rigid austerity “would be the best message to counter the mounting wave of populism and disaffection with the EU,” he underlined. French President Francois Hollande said the “only priority” leaders had to face was finding fresh ways to boost growth and get people back working.

 

 

 

 

 

The French government warns that present policies “risk a loss of social and political confidence across Europe”. It calls for growth incentives, adding: “We must not pile austerity on top of recession”. Frence has admitted that it will not meet its budget target for the year 2013. Instead of the original aim of 3 percent of new debt it is now projecting 3.7 percent. It will not implement significant additional cuts in order not to deepen the recession. One in ten adults and almost one in three young people are already unemployed in France. President Holland has stressed, however, that he will continue the course of austerity: “to stay the course, nothing more, nothing less.” Nevertheless, he has been vigorously attacked by the German government and the Bundesbank, accusing the French government of allowing its reforms to stall. The new stability and growth pact commitments must be taken seriously. The German government is insisting on full compliance with savings targets. Every German party, whether in government or opposition is determined to continue this destructive race to the bottom at the expense of the working class. This is the cause of the growing tensions within the European Union, despite the fact that governments are largely in agreement when it comes to attacks on the working class.

 

 

 

Since the introduction of the euro the real exchange rate in Germany has fallen by 16.4 percent due to low wages, while the French rate has risen by 4.5 percent. This is behind the success of the German export industry. Germany advocated strict austerity measures while France, Italy and some other countries pushed for growth-friendly spending to tackle the problems. German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended the austerity policies, saying that “budget consolidation, structural reforms and growth are not in contradiction but are mutually reinforcing”. Mrs Merkel remains determined to keep Europe focused on budget discipline, to prevent any resurgence of market jitters about eurozone stability.

 

 

 

In Germany, where a federal election takes place in September, the Conservative and neo-liberal parties in government are competing with the social democratic and Green opposition parties about who is promoting the harshest austerity measures.  SPD parliamentary leader Frank-Walter Steinmeier boasted that Germany had thereby gained a huge competitive advantage over Italy, France and Spain.

 

 

 

The summit conclusions included a call for more effective tax collection. There is a drive in the EU to pursue tax evaders, including some big corporations who exploit the complexity of commercial law to reduce their tax bill. The UK is especially keen to make the EU single market function as was intended. Some big single-market initiatives are not yet in place, including e-signatures for cross-border business and the posting of workers abroad.

 

 

 

European leaders have reached agreement on the EU´s long-term spending plans. The president of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy announced the news with a tweet message after he chaired the meeting of 27 leaders. The agreement – after 24 hours of negotiations – fixes EU spending at 960 billion euro over the seven years from 2014 to 2020. Prime Minister David Cameron called it a “good deal for Britain”. He is one of those who have been pressing for a reduction.  This is the first ever net reduction to such a budget in the EU’s history. The number is down by some three percent from the last seven-year plan. It now has to be approved by the European Parliament, which could take months. Approval is far from guaranteed as leading legislators have already expressed opposition. The European Parliament’s president Martin Schulz said it will not accept this deficit budget if it is adopted in this way. That is certain.

 

 

 

European problem: Notes

 

 

 

The most urgent task now is the revisit of sodalist ideals and the building of a pro-people socialist program in Europe to check the poisonous tentacles of capitalist and imperialist forces worldwide.

 

EU is gradually losing its fragile integrity and the eurozone as a whole has been in recession for more than a year and unemployment is now just under 12%. Some 26 million people across the 27-member EU – including about seven million young people – are currently out of work. Many EU members facing public finance pressures – should be allowed to spend to create more jobs.

 

 

 

The fact that a brash anti-austerity party won a stunning 25 per cent of the vote in last month’s Italian elections serves as a warning for German Chancellor Angela Merkel who faces a general election in September. Neither the trade unions nor the pseudo-left movements, however, can prevent the growth of social tensions in Europe to explosive proportions. The EU has only been able to impose its devastating austerity policies so far because the massive opposition to it has no independent political outlet. The responsibility lies with the unions and allegedly left and pseudo-left parties which suppress social resistance, divert it into harmless channels and—dressed up with a few critical phrases—defend the austerity measures the EU.

 

Proposals to deepen eurozone integration will dominate an EU summit in June. The first “building block” of that will be a banking union, which will give the European Central Bank (ECB) far-reaching supervisory powers.  EU leaders had reaffirmed the need for sound government finances. In current circumstances austerity can actually make government borrowing rise, partly because of the impact that declining production has on tax revenue and welfare spending. The deal took so long to reach deal because it had to meet the demands of northern European countries such as Britain and the Netherlands that wanted belt-tightening, while maintaining spending on farm subsidies and infrastructure to satisfy the likes of France and Poland. European Council President Herman Van said there s a need for greater flexibility in his language. Such policies do allow for deviation from borrowing targets if they are due to the weakness of the economy.

 

 

 

Unless nations keep World Bank and IMF out of their way, is difficult to chart their own finance-economic policies to benefit entire societies.

 

 

 

 

 

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د. عبد راف

 

 

 

 Muslim blood is cheap…Global media today, even in Muslim nations, are controlled by CIA  & other anti-Islamic agencies.Terrorism is caused by anti-Islamic forces.Regimes often resort to  state terrorism. Anti-Muslimism and anti-Islamism are more dangerous than ”terrorism” Fake democracies have zero-tolerance to any criticism of their anti-Muslim and other aggressive practices. Anti-Islamic forces & terrorists are using all sorts of criminal elements for terrorizing the world and they in disguise are harming genuine interests of ordinary Muslims. Humanity has a right to know the truth.

 



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