According to legend, the bailouts of countries of Europe’s south have been costly for Germany and other northern countries such as Finland, Austria and Holland. Hence their obsession with policies of ‘rigor’ and deficit reduction. The truth is that they have earned tens of billions of euro from the south. Maurizio Ricci shows how. Someone – possibly Angela Merkel … Continue reading
The Council of Public Finances (CPF), a state body that assesses budgetary policies today deplored the “blind cuts” to public spending accusing the government of slashing state budgets “without any great discernment.” The scathing criticism comes as auditors for the European Commission, the European Central Bank and IMF, known as the troika arrives in Lisbon … Continue reading
Portuguese unions welcomed the decision by the country’s Constitutional Court to strike down four out of nine austerity measures in this year’s budget. The court on Friday rejected cuts in pensioners’ and public servants’ holiday bonuses, as well as reductions to sickness leave and unemployment benefits, which formed part of a swinging austerity plan designed … Continue reading
Nothing is where it should be. Without a government at Palazzo Chigi, Italian politics is displaced. And as the “Offshore Leaks” scandal has revealed, the economy has meanwhile moved to tax havens, says Mario Pianta Nothing is where it should be. A Palazzo Chigi, the prime minister’s office in Rome, there’s no government resulting from … Continue reading
Unions will be leading a protest in central Athens Wednesday against demands by international creditors to dismiss 25,000 public sector workers. The massive firings are being demanded by the IMF-EU-ECB ‘Troika’ in return for the final 2.8 billion euros tranche of an international loan to Greece due in the first quarter of this year. ”The … Continue reading
Italians are voting again after 14 months under “technocrat” Mario Monti. The outcome of the election in terms of delivering a stable government is uncertain. Pier Luigi Bersani’s centre-left Democrats have been leading in the polls, but billionaire media magnate Silvio Berlusconi’s right-wing alliance is expected to put in a strong showing as is newcomer … Continue reading
By Eduardo Garzon On Tuesday 12 February 2013, the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Mario Draghi, stood before Spain’s parliament to explain the actions of the ECB in the Eurozone. Leaving aside the shameful and undemocratic fact of a closed hearing (and how absurd it was, because then the speech was published on … Continue reading
In an open letter ‘to the political leaders and health authorities in Europe,’ representatives of medics and other leading health professionals in the four of the most badly hit EU countries have demanded an urgent review of austerity policies to ‘prevent further deterioration of health and health services.’ The letter, unveiled Tuesday in Lisbon by … Continue reading
Statement by Gabi Zimmer, president of the GUE/NGL group in the European Parliament: “Although the schedule for the banking union has now been decided – the rulers have once again cheated and avoided clear commitments, rectifications and urgent decisions. In the conflict between different interest groups and in the battle to claim back lost ground, … Continue reading
Europe was meant to offer the prospect of completing the modernisation of Italy, consolidating an advanced economy, expanding welfare and democracy. Instead, there’s been economic decline and a degradation of democracy while Europe is becoming increasingly unpopular, argues Mario Pianta Read
IN THE RADICAL PRESS / MEMOIRE DES LUTTES By Jacques Sapir Measures taken by the European Central Bank (ECB) on 6 September favourably influenced markets. But this enthusiasm will be short lived. Far from alleviating the euro zone in the long term, they may, at best, bring it a very temporary respite. The crisis of … Continue reading
The European Central Bank’s bond-buying programme is actually a German banking rescue not a rescue of the Spanish people, United Left economic spokesman, Alberto Garzón, said Thursday. It was important to know the conditions of the ECB’s programme, to know how much Spanish citizens will have to pay to save German banks, argued Garzón, La Nueva Tribuna reported. … Continue reading
IN THE RADICAL PRESS / MEMOIRE DES LUTTES By Bernard Cassen For supporters, neo-liberalism is not an ideology. This project is a natural and obvious fulfillment of freedom. But there is a hierarchy of freedoms. Some – those relating to economics and finance – are much more important than others, and that is why, in … Continue reading
IN THE RADICAL PRESS / MEMOIRE DES LUTTES By Jacques Sapir On July 26, President Mario Draghi stated that the European Bank would ‘do everything necessary to preserve the Euro’. The proposed scheme, which would be pursued in conjunction with the governments of the euro area, has two components: on the one hand, the ECB … Continue reading
IN THE RADICAL PRESS / IL MANIFESTO By Leo Manfredi The European house is on fire: Athens has been burning for nearly three years, yet nothing seems to work, despite the austerity measures, despite the interventions of the European institutions, despite a significant restructuring of public debt. It is said that in ancient Rome, when … Continue reading