The meeting of finance ministers of the Eurozone would have resulted tonight a historic agreement, the first step towards the EU banking union. All those who want a deep change in Europe begin to be tired by those thundering declarations that never result in improvements in their daily lives.

After more than four years of financial crisis, recapitalizations, gifts of 1000 billion euros to banks from the European Central Bank, speculative attacks on the debts of the states, industry and labour vampirized by finance, credit rating agencies that are calling the shots, the peoples of Europe are aware that it is the whole system that is failing. Thus they make it clear in the struggles.

The adopted measures are promoting federalism. While this may satisfy “euro-naïves” that have only that word in their mouths and never define it, it will not respond at all to social emergencies, because if the ECB is independent of the people. It will then only supervise speculation.

Without democratic control, without public powers, capital will continue to have only the profit as horizon and continue butchering tools of production and its offensive against public services in Europe.

For the Party of the European Left, the statutes and tasks of the ECB must evolve. It should be able to guide the financing of the economy to employment, industry and ecological transition. It could fund a European public bank exclusively responsible for financing public services.

Pierre Laurent
President of the Party of the European Left