Pierre Laurent: "We need to develop policies for active solidarity"

The first plenary session of the Summer University of the Party of the European Left (EL), which has started this morning in Litomerice (Czech Republic), was devoted to the debate on the future of Europe, equality, justice and social coherence, with the experiences and contributions of Central and Eastern Europe.

The president of the EL started by analyzing of the situation departing from the confrontation between two models of understanding Europe. On one side the "ultraliberal" Europe led by the hegemonic forces that represent "a growingly authoritarian Europe, with the power being more and more concentrated in less hands and, with the democratic principles suspended ". On the other side “a new political force that is pronounced on the emancipation of the guardianship of the financial policy of the markets and of the German pressure", that is the Greek government of Syriza, which seeks to implement its program of government.

Laurent's conclusion is that “the Greek crisis represents the crisis of the European model” He explained that after the victory of the Greek referendum against the politics of the Troika, “the forces that now dominate the construction of Europe have rejected any viable compromise to allow a social exit of the crisis in Greece, “demonstrating clearly what their conception of Europe is”.

Moreover, "now they want to make the Greek to pay for the results of the OXI in the referendum with their expulsion". "If they do so, it will be the denial of the sovereignty of the Greek people and will be a danger for all. It will be irresponsible because it will be the most expensive solution for Greece and for all", he said, pointing out the consequences of the bankruptcy in Greece.

The solution they want to impose is not about saving Europe, but that is due to the demands of the financial powers, no matter who are the victims, making citizens pay the crisis and destroying the European system of social protection.

The impositions for the integration of the Eastern European countries in the EU

This neoliberal model of Europe is the one that has been also applied to the integration of the Eastern Europan countries in the European Union, Pierre Laurent detailed.  It was "an integration made not with the idea of a political enlargement but as an imposed model in which the countries of Eastern Europe remained as a reserve of cheap labour, and resources at the service of the interests of Europe and the United States. They used it for relocation and to lower the wages in the rest of Europe with the argument of being more competitive.”

"It was an attack of the system against labour rights" and the result is that "today we are in a situation where workers throughout the European Union are overexploited".

Integration principles were "very strict, a political and economic revenge by denying all the successes of the past, without social guarantees, destroying the society, disintegrating socialism, denying their culture and their democratic principles".

This desire for Western financial integration has been accompanied by NATO's expansionist policy, explained Pierre Laurent, who "are using Eastern European countries in its strategy of confrontation with Russia", an aggressive strategy that is creating too much tension in the countries that share a border with Russia, with risk of triggering a war in Eastern Europe. And therein, he said, "the expulsion of Greece would bring very serious and irresponsible geostrategic consequences ".

Another danger of which the president of the EL warned was the increase of power of the far right, nourished by the results caused by the harsh measures required for integration into the European Union, which were "accompanied by an anti-communism encouraged by European intelligence". And that danger is even more active with the anti-Greek campaign.

After describing the scenario, the President of the EL, went on with the issue of “what to do” and the work to be played by the European Left, which "has to be responsible to avoid the clash of civilizations.”

It corresponds to the Party of the European Left presenting the alternative. An alternative that Pierre Laurent exposed in his speech and that is based on the construction of a model of social harmonisation opposite to the competition between countries. This harmonization includes the claim of a convergent minimum wage, which the European trade unions begin to claim, “and that must be accompanied by social protection to avoid the social dumping”. He emphasized in the defence and protection of the women's rights “Superiors in the Eastern countries than in the Southern ones” since they are crucial in this battle.

Another pillar of the alternative of the left is to "promote the productive capacity of each country against the depletion of resources and the industry by transnational corporations". He said that the destruction of national productive capacities is affecting everyone, including France. And for carrying out the economic policies "we must rebuild and regain financial markets" with the creation of a European public investment bank.

And the last exposed axis was the peace and the disarmament opposite to “otanization” and militarization of the European Union”.

He told that all these battles are European battles and “it is necessary to develop politics of active solidarity so that all the Europeans be concerned by what it happens in Greece, in Spain, in Ireland or in any other country. We cannot go on with only national solutions, which are fundamental, but the important thing is an European exit”, he concluded.