11) NEW "AUSTERITY TREATY" SIGNED IN BRUSSELS

 

With files from the Morning Star (UK)

 

            The leaders of 25 of the 27 European Union member states signed a new EU treaty in Brussels on March 2 that aims to bolster the power of unelected EU authorities to dictate economic policy across the bloc.

            Only the governments of the Czech Republic and Britain decided not to sign the Stability, Co‑ordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union Treaty, which bars member states from running deficits of more than 0.5 per cent of annual output under pain of regressive "structural reforms."

            German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a key player in the drafting of the pact, said the member states who signed sent "a strong signal that we are focusing on the future of a politically united Europe."

            European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso added: "From monetary union, we are now progressing towards a true economic union."

            But the treaty has to be ratified by the national governments of at least 12 of the 17 eurozone states, at a time when many citizens have become actively hostile to both the EU and the euro.

            Two years of regressive austerity foisted on poorer EU states countries by the European Commission and the European Central Bank have served to boost unemployment and erode living standards, triggering an unprecedented outpouring of popular trade union‑led opposition.

            In a bid to blackmail citizens and legislators, Brussels has decided that financial aid from the eurozone's new bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism, will be limited to states that have enacted it.

            European Council President Herman Van Rompuy was in bullish mood, telling the heads of EU member states: "You now all have to convince your parliaments and voters that this treaty is an important step to bring the euro durably back into safe waters.

            "I am most confident you will succeed," he went on. "You are all gifted politicians, otherwise you would not be here."

            But many eurozone politicians fear that the tighter spending rules in the treaty will limit their room to manoeuvre.

            Critics warn that, if ratified, governments of eurozone states would be forced to cap public spending, privatise state property, increase indirect taxes, reduce wages, and deregulate the domestic market.

            Irish citizens will have a say on whether their government should sign the austerity treaty, Taoiseach Enda Kenny announced on Feb. 28, hours after Attorney‑General Maire Whelan advised him that the Irish constitution requires a referendum. A date has yet to be announced for the vote.

            Sinn Fein, which has been part of successful campaigns for No votes against the Nice and Lisbon treaties, argues that the new rules are designed to feather big bankers' sumptuous nests at the expense of the general public.

            Speaking in the Dail, party president Gerry Adams predicted that far from helping to regenerate the economy "it will condemn the people here, particularly those people in lower and mid‑income brackets, to this government's terrible policy of austerity."

Mr Adams warned that the treaty would hand "what limited fiscal power remains in this parliament to unelected and undemocratic officials in Brussels.

            "It's little wonder that Fianna Fail supports this. Fianna Fail, Labour and Fine Gael formed the consensus for cuts and we are going to see that replay again."

            Workers Party of Ireland president Michael Finnegan has welcomed the referendum decision.

            "The government" said Finnegan "have been dragged kicking and screaming to this announcement. It is clear that at the highest levels of government in Ireland and the EU there was serious collusion to draft a treaty that could be foisted on the people without a referendum. It is a good day for democracy that those underhand tactics have been rejected by the Attorney General".

            Finnegan continued: "This treaty represents the most seismic shift in our relations within the EU since the Single European Act of 1987. It introduces a serious of draconion economic rules, with equally draconian punishments for any breach of those rules. It will tie the hands not only of this government but of all future governments into the foreseeable future as regards economic policy. And it buries once and for all the hope of a Social Europe".

            "We reject," said Finnegan "the populist posturing of Fianna Fail in demanding and welcoming a referendum on this treaty. Twice in the last decade they have rejected the decision of the Irish people on both the Nice and Lisbon treaties. Their utterings of this issues have no credibility".

            Padraig Mannion, Workers Party spokesperson on the EU added: "Once again the people of Ireland are the only people offered a chance to vote on this vital treaty. As a party we will oppose this treaty and I am confident that the people will reject it decisively. The imposition in the treaty of permanent Thatcherism into the economy; the limitations on social investment; the subservient position of our Oireachtas (Parliament) in our own economic policy; and the prioritisation of the needs of the banking sector are all anathema to the Irish people. The government themselves know that the people are opposed to this treaty and that is why the government were so determined to avoid a referendum. We look forward to the campaign ahead with confidence."

(The above article is from the March 16-31, 2012, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)