Revolting Europe
tax evasion
What’s the punishment for a 300 million euro tax fraud?
What’s the punishment for a 300 million euro tax fraud? If you are in Italy and your name is Silvio Berlusconi it is about a week hanging out with people your age. A court in Milan ruled earlier this week that as his sentence the 77-year-old billionaire media mogul and thrice Italian PM would be performing … Continue reading
While nation states and workers burn, the banks get a trillion euros
Belgian unions have criticised a fresh round of austerity measures announced over the weekend by the federal government as a missed opportunity for ‘tax justice’. The government already plans as part of a €11.3 billion cuts package agreed when the current administration took office at the end of 2011 to increase the retirement age from … Continue reading
‘Rebel’ against Madrid, Spain’s regions are urged
Spain’s regional governments should ‘rebel’ against demands by Madrid for further cuts to schools and hospitals, says the Communist-led United Left. The 17 ‘autonomous’ regions of Spain, who spend 37% of the total outlay by the public purse and are responsible for budgets on education, health and social services, are facing an unprecedented financial squeeze … Continue reading
Italian activists launch debt audit campaign
A campaign has been launched for a citizen’s audit of Italy’s debt. Behind the initiative are Giorgio Cremaschi, a senior figure in the FIOM metalworkers union, former Communist Refoundation leader Fausto Bertinotti and economist Loretta Napoleoni, among others. The aim of the popular debt audit is to create a commission, made up of a representatives … Continue reading
How about an alternative budget, Mr Monti?
Italian unions took strike action today against Mario Monti’s draconian austerity budget. Here’s an alternative that the CGIL, the country’s largest trade union confederation, asked the prime minister to consider in talks on Sunday, but was rebuffed. The austerity budget of the new unelected government of Mario Monti includes Euros 20 billion in spending cuts. … Continue reading
Belgians march against “blind austerity”
Today thousands of Belgians were on the streets demonstrating against a brutal austerity budget and neo-liberal ‘structural reforms’ to pensions and the labour market. The unions called the demonstrations against the measures that are designed to cut the deficit by Euros 11.3 billion in 2012. The FGTB, one of Belgium’s largest unions, says that “Blind … Continue reading
Portugal’s general strike. Why workers are back on the streets again
Portugal’s premier Passos Coelho was elected in June promising that deep and rapid spending cuts would turn things around for Portugal. The chances of him delivering were slim. The people had chucked out the Socialists because they had promised the same miraculous recovery through the same austere economic medicine, and failed to cure the ailing … Continue reading
Tax the rich, says Italian trade union
CGIL, Italy’s largest trade union confederation, has called on the country’s new prime minister Mario Monti to introduce a wealth tax. The tax would hit only affect the top richest 5% in Italy, with assets of 800,000 euros or more, and raise 18 billion euros (£15.4 billion) annually for the Treasury. Taking a similar French tax … Continue reading
Italy: Here’s where all the money went
Italy is broke we are told. Well there are reasons for this. This is not an exhaustive list. Euros 120 billion (£102 billion) – tax evasion Euros 60 billion – corruption Euros 230 billion – foregone tax revenues from capital sitting in tax havens* Euros 45 billion – cost of injuries at work in social … Continue reading
Italy’s pensioners are getting poorer – but ECB wants pensions cut some more
Cuts to Italian pensions are among the demands of the European Central Bank and IMF to restore foreign ‘investor confidence’ in Italy. But new research by Italy’s trade union confederation CGIL has found that: Pensions are on track to have fallen by between 1.3% and 4.3% between 2008 and 2014 with the largest reductions on … Continue reading
Italian pensioners sacrificed to ‘silence European bankers’
Tom Gill Looks like Italian pensioners will be sacrificed to pay for reckless lending by French banks to Greece. Or to “silence EU bankers”, as Carla Cantone from the CGIL trade union central put it in an interview with l’Unita newspaper today. Cantone said plans apparently hammered out between Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi and Umberto … Continue reading
Berlusconi and Italy’s ‘financial coup’
By Tom Gill Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi sees conspiracies everywhere. The ‘Communists’ – not the real ones as these are thin on the ground these days – can be found in parliament, in the international press, and above all in the judiciary. The ‘Red Magistrates’ are hounding him in court cases over corruption, tax fraud, abuse of … Continue reading
Portugal: contra o programa de agressão!
Against impoverishment and injustice, against the programme of aggression! For jobs, wages, pensions and social rights! These are the slogans that will accompany tens of thousands expected on a march in Lisbon and Oporto today to protest against IMF imposed austerity and privatisation programme. The demonstrations, called by the CGTP, the country’s largest trade union central, … Continue reading
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