Greece

Statement by German trade union leaders on Greece after the Syriza election, with comment thereon
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The German trade union statement below is the sort of piece written by people who will have to go out an earn a living after Grexit.

The article is quite right about respecting Greek democracy (I’m surprised, incidentally, that Syriza did not get an overall majority given the litany of disasters listed in the article),  but then it says the answer is more EU democracy, which can only be created at the expense of democracy in the member states.

Two sentences in the article brilliantly capture the humbug that typifies efforts by federalists to dress up German control of the European continent with democratic clothes:

"Democracy at EU level must be strengthened if the European project is to gain renewed credibility. The European project will not be furthered by austerity dictates but only by a bottom-up democratic initiative in favour of economic regeneration and greater social justice."

Consider the subtleties of the two sentences.

"Democracy at EU level must be strengthened" , means more power for Germany.

"If the European project is to gain renewed credibility"  . . .  The project is rapidly running out of credibility and of road and a small number of Euro-fanatics are going to be exposed as having caused Continental-wide mayhem. So what the phrase actually means is "If a small number of us are to hold on to our jobs, our pensions, our status and our gravy train." These fanatics need to be isolated and once isolated can be dealt with.

"The European project will not be furthered by austerity dictates", sounds very nice indeed but says nothing.

"But only by a bottom-up democratic initiative in favour of economic regeneration and greater social justice."  That is completely meaningless. Apart from anything else, growth sometimes (not always but sometimes) requires States and societies to make a choice between wealth creation and social justice.

In Greece’s case, funny enough, they go together. If the Greeks paid their taxes their position would rapidly improve. However, the Greeks don’t and won’t pay taxes, which is one of the many reasons they should be cut loose and let go their own way. They are used to a rickety, up-in-the-air kind of State and know how to cope with self-inflicted problems when they have their own currency to make the necessary periodic adjustments. Outsiders who invest in Greece know the risks. Sometimes they make a killing and sometimes they get burned. That is business. It was ever so and ever will be so.

The Greek crisis is the equivalent of Stalingrad for today’s Germany. The Germans need to control the Continent (most of it outside Russia’s space and outside “these islands” anyway) in order to assume the kind of great power status they have craved since the creation of the German Empire in 1870. They failed in arms twice and are about to fail a third time so the stakes could not be higher.

The objectives of powerful states don’t change. The methods are not always brutal like the Kaiser’s or savage like Hitler’s but Germany’s objectives remain the same as in 1870. Which links up the Greek crisis with the Ukraine.

 It is very clear that Germany wants the US out of Europe (Obama and Merkel recently issued a statement saying both states were agreed on NATO policy, which of course means the exact opposite) and to deal with the Russians without having to worry about the Americans, i.e. without having to fight on two fronts.

I’m very much with the Germans in wanting to get the Yanks out of Europe but not at the cost of Germany dominating the Continent. From the moment the Berlin Wall was breached the EU’s institutions were doomed, but it is a testament to the power of institutions that the EU is not giving up easily. When it does, Germany will not have the backing of the necessary satellites to make the kind of deals with Russia (without US interference) that it wishes to make.

That gives the US an opportunity, which is why you would expect them to favour Grexit. Alan Greenspan does, so somebody over there sees the bigger picture. At this point, however, Obama is probably more interested in the Blair-like opportunities for making money after he leaves the White House!

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STATEMENT ON GREECE BY LEADING GERMAN TRADE UNIONISTS AND OTHERS
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Greece after the election – not a threat but an opportunity for Europe

The political landslide in Greece is an opportunity, not only for that crisis-ridden country but also for a fundamental reassessment and revision of EU economic and social policy.

We highlight once again the criticism already voiced on many occasions in the past by the trade unions: right from the outset, the key conditions under which Greece receives financial assistance did not deserve the label ‘reform’. The billions of euros that have flowed into Greece have been used primarily to stabilise the financial sector. At the same time, the country has been driven into deep recession by brutal cutbacks in government spending that at the same time have made Greece the most heavily indebted country in the entire EU. The consequence is a social and humanitarian crisis without precedent in Europe. One third of the population is living in poverty, the welfare state has been hugely weakened, the minimum wage cut by 22% and the collective bargaining system and other protections for those still in work dismantled; at the same time the burden of taxation on the lower income groups has been increased. Unemployment now stands at 27%, while youth unemployment exceeds  50%. Many people do not have the means to pay for food, electricity, heating and accommodation. A large share of the population no longer has health insurance and can access medical care only in emergencies. The election result is a devastating verdict on this failed policy.

All this had nothing to do with reforms designed to address Greece’s actual problems. None of the country’s structural problems has been solved, but additional ones have certainly been created. This has been a policy of cutback and destruction, not rebuilding. Genuine structural reforms worthy of the name would have led to the emergence of new opportunities for economic development rather than driving a highly qualified generation of young people abroad. Genuine structural reforms would have included serious attempts to tackle tax evasion. Genuine structural reforms would have tackled clientelism and corruption in public procurement. The new Greek government is being challenged to draw up its own reconstruction and development plans, which have to become part of a ‘European Investment Plan’, as has long been demanded by the trade unions, and to create the conditions in which such plans can bear fruit.

Serious negotiations with the new Greek government must get under way, without any attempts at blackmail, in order to open up economic and social prospects for the country beyond the failed austerity policy. This applies in particular to the ruinous obligations agreed with the previous government, now voted out of office, that were the prerequisites for payment of the international loans. Europe must not persist in pursuing, at the expense of the Greek population, a policy that has been decisively rejected by the majority of Greek voters. Just carrying on regardless is no longer an option!

The rejection at the ballot box of those responsible for the previous policy in Greece is a democratic decision that must be respected at the European level. The new government must be given a fair chance. Anyone who now demands that the country simply continue along the previous, so-called ‘path to reform’ is in fact denying the Greek people the right to a democratically legitimised change of policy in their country. And if they add that such a change of policy is, at best, possible only if Greece leaves the European currency union, then that is tantamount to saying that the European institutions are incompatible with democratic decisions taken in the member states. Such statements will merely give a shot in the arm to the burgeoning nationalist movements across Europe.

The democratic deficit at European level, oft-lamented but still not yet overcome, must not be even more firmly entrenched by constraining democracy in the member states. Rather, as many of us emphasised in 2012 in a call for action entitled ‘Founding Europe Anew!’, democracy at EU level must be strengthened if the European project is to gain renewed credibility. The European project will not be furthered by austerity dictates but only by a bottom-up democratic initiative in favour of economic regeneration and greater social justice.

This initiative must be supported now in the interests of the Greek people. At the same time, it will help to kick-start the process of policy change across Europe as a whole. The political upheaval in Greece must be turned into an opportunity to establish a democratic and social Europe!

(translated by Andrew Wilson, Manchester)

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ERSTUNTERZEICHNENDE

Reiner Hoffmann, DGB
Frank Bsirske, ver.di
Robert Feiger, IG BAU
Alexander Kirchner, EVG
Michaela Rosenberger, NGG
Marlis Tepe, GEW
Michael Vassiliadis, IG BCE
Detlef Wetzel, IG Metall

Gewerkschaftsvorsitzende anderer Länder:

Erich Foglar, Vorsitzender des österreichischen Gewerkschaftsbundes ÖGB
Wolfgang Katzian, GPA-djp (Gewerkschaft der Privatangestellten, Druck, Journalismus und Papier), Österreich
Joan Carles Gallego, CCOO de Catalunya
Ulrich Eckelmann, Generalsekretär industriAll European Trade Union
Paul Rechsteiner, Vorsitzender des Schweizer Gewerkschaftsbundes SGB

Weitere Erstunterzeichnende"

Prof. Elmar Altvater,
Sozialwissenschaftler
Prof. Brigitte Aulenbacher, Sozialwissenschaftlerin
Klaus Barthel, MdB, SPD, AfA-Vorsitzender
Christiane Benner, IG Metall
Prof. Hans-Jürgen Bieling, Sozialwissenschaftler
Dr. Reinhard Bispinck, Sozialwissenschaftler
Prof. Gerhard Bosch, Sozialwissenschaftler
Prof. Ulrich Brand,
Sozialwissenschaftler
Prof. Christine Brückner, Erziehungswissenschaftlerin
Dr. Udo Bullmann, MdEP, SPD
Annelie Buntenbach, DGB
Prof. Dr. Frank Deppe, Sozialwissenschaftler
Prof. Klaus Dörre,
Sozialwissenschaftler
Prof. Trevor Evans, Wirtschaftswissenschaftler
Jens Geier, MdEP, SPD
Thomas Händel, MdEP, Die Linke
Elke Hannack, DGB
Prof. Arne Heise, Wirtschaftswissenschaftler
Prof. Rudolf Hickel, Wirtschaftswissenschaftler
Olivier Höbel, IG Metall
Jörg Hofmann, IG Metall
Institut Solidarische Moderne, Vorstand
Dr. Andreas Keller, GEW
Jürgen Kerner, IG Metall
Cansel Kiziltepe, MdB, SPD
Stefan Körzell, DGB
Dr. Steffen Lehndorff, Sozialwissenschaftler
Wolfgang Lemb, IG Metall
Prof. Birgit Mahnkopf, Sozialwissenschaftlerin
Lisa Paus, MdB, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen
Prof. Thomas Sauer, Wirtschaftswissenschaftler
Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel, MdL Hessen, SPD, stv. Vorsitzender
Dr. Wolfgang Schäfer-Klug, Gesamtbetriebsrats-Vorsitzender
Armin Schild, IG Metall, Mitglied des SPD-Parteivorstands
Prof. Mechthild Schrooten, Wirtschaftswissenschaftlerin
Dr. Thorsten Schulten, Sozialwissenschaftler
Irene Schulz, IG Metall
Prof. Michael Schumann, Sozialwissenschaftler
Dr. Ralf Stegner, SPD, stellv. Vorsitzender, MdL in Schleswig-Holstein
Jutta Steinruck, MdEP, SPD
Prof. Olaf Struck,
Sozialwissenschaftler
Dr. Axel Troost, MdB, Die Linke
Dr. Hans Jürgen Urban, IG Metall
Prof. Frieder Otto Wolf, Philosoph
Prof. Karl Georg Zinn, Wirtschaftswissenschaftler
Roman Zitzelsberger, IG Metall

IMPRESSUM