The fracturing of the European Union’s existing structures
under the weight of the economic and financial crisis should be an opportunity
to promote an alternative to a body that is more bureaucracy than democracy,
more pro-business than pro-people.
Instead, the so-called “euro-sceptics” of the Tory Party are
in full cry. They generally despise anything foreign in general and Europe in particular. Their numbers were boosted this
week when Ed Miliband compelled Labour MPs to vote with Tory rebels to defeat the
government over the EU budget.
Labour clearly hopes that playing the nationalist card will
help them win votes. The party’s recent conference slogan was “Rebuilding
Britain”, which says it all. This is Miliband outplaying Cameron – from the
right. It’s in line with Labour’s policies on immigration, crime and benefits
cuts.
By voting to cut the EU’s budget, Labour also signalled that
that is what we should expect if Miliband becomes prime minister. His brother,
David, acknowledged as much on BBC Question Time last night, saying: "The
world has changed since 2005 [when Labour backed a big increase in the EU
budget], we have had a global financial crisis. We need to cut our deficit at
home and we also need to make sure we cut spending in Europe
as well.”
The EU as presently constituted is clearly a problem rather
than a solution, as far as Europe ’s working
people are concerned. Since the financial crisis broke, the EU has combined
with the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank – the infamous
Troika – to impose punitive budget cuts on Greece ,
Spain , Italy , Portugal
and Ireland .
What was purported to be a union of sovereign states has
turned out to be a dictatorship from the centre. Greece
has effectively become a subsidiary state, its elections rendered meaningless
because the orders from Brussels
override the voters’ wishes. The EU, as you know, was recently awarded the
Nobel Peace prize, leading one commentator to declare:
“Many are clearly perplexed, even downright angry, at the
timing of the award, which comes as the EU’s commitment to democracy and human
rights has never looked so shaky: the straight-jackets of austerity and
technocratic government, and the routine repression of protests on Europe ’s streets.”
The growing consensus among Britain ’s
political
elites, however, is that the EU is breaking up under the strain of the
crisis and/or the UK
will quit the organisation by 2020. Both major parties are edging towards a
referendum on membership.
But if this is the case, then it is the seemingly insoluble
global economic crisis is behind the crisis within the EU. It will soon be each
country for itself which, in the context of a globalised economy, will be
pretty meaningless. The intensity of the attacks on living standards will grow,
not lessen, as a result.
The EU is a corporate-driven entity, which has competition,
privatisation and profits at its heart. As an organisation, it is undemocratic
to a high degree. Key decisions are made by unelected commissioners and the
European Parliament is toothless.
The choice between living in a European so-called “super
state”, as advocated by German chancellor Angela Merkel, or an independent,
“sovereign” state, as viewed by prime minister David Cameron is, in reality, no
choice at all.
A European capitalist “super state” is an ugly and dangerous
concept, as World War II demonstrated in practice. British nationalism is an
equally nasty prospect, whether it is in the hands of Cameron, UKIP or Miliband,
whose reactionary speech on
Scottish independence earlier this year left him wrapped in the flag of St
George.
There is an alternative, however. An equal partnership, even
a federation, of European states committed to a joint, sustainable future is
possible as well as necessary. That has to be driven by the aspirations of
ordinary people themselves and not the ruling elites.
We should campaign for a democratic alternative to the EU,
based on shared common ownership of the region’s resources. Combined with new democratic
political structures that reflect the aspirations of the disenfranchised
majority, it would be a European project worth fighting for.
Paul Feldman
Communications editor
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