PES say that instead proposals will punish the economically weak

Speaking on the European Commission’s proposals on economic governance which will be formally issued today, Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, President of the Party of European Socialists (PES) said, “On a day when thousands upon thousands of workers are demonstrating in Brussels about how vulnerable their jobs and conditions have become, the European Commissioner for Economic Affairs Olli Rehn decides to publish a proposal that essentially says ‘let’s punish the weak”.

The proposals outline five EU regulations and one directive to make the European growth and stability pact even more onerous. Instant fines and sanction procedures are proposed for countries that run trade deficits or overspend. The PES President stated; “these proposals do not look at the underlying causes for economic imbalances, they do not identify new revenue streams, and they do not promote any genuine economic co-ordination between the core and the periphery of Europe”.

He continued; “When European conservatives hesitated in helping Greece earlier this year they cost the EU millions of euros and they compromised the EU’s unity. They should have learnt that an austerity-only policy and a lack of solidarity among member states will only get us into a deeper crisis”.

The PES, including Government Representatives in Spain and Greece, has long advocated a fair way out of the crisis, based on incentives rather than punishment. The PES strategy proposes seriously exploring the idea of Eurobonds and setting up a European debt agency; new revenues can also be levied – namely via a financial transaction tax – and provide an alternative to successive cuts that undermine growth and destroy jobs.

The PES will participate in today’s euro demonstration organized by the European Trade Union Confederation.

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For further information please contact  Brian Synnott (PES Press) on +32 474 98 96 75 (brian.synnott@pes.org)