Reacting to the Commission's "two-pack" on Economic Governance and the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee's (ECON) two draft reports on the issue, GUE/NGL MEP Jürgen Klute stressed the need to tackle macro-economic imbalances within the EU rather than pursuing the ongoing coercive measures and politics of austerity.

"What we need is a radical shift in paradigm. The devastating results of austerity measures in Greece show that these reductions won't save anyone or anything. In other words, there can be no growth in situations where people are coping with drastic cuts in salaries, pensions and public spending."

MEP Klute pointed out that the Commission's proposals for the surveillance of Euro-zone members'  national budgets are a perversion. "It is important that we coordinate our economic policies in order to regulate macroeconomic imbalances and to avoid disparities among the countries. However, by pursuing the race-to-the-bottom that is pushing Member States to compete for social and ecological standards, a two-, six-, or whatever pack is doomed to failure."

For Greek GUE/NGL MEP Nikos Chountis, "the European Commission, with these two new regulations (the 6- + 2-Pack), which include measures for enhanced and never-ending surveillance and impose economic and political sanctions on "undisciplined" member states, seeks to strengthen the economic governance which has reinforced the failed Stability Pact. Substantially it is this insistence on the EU's neoliberal policies that condemns countries in recession, austerity and unemployment."

"The results of this strategy are already clear in Greece and have led to social ruin, continuous cuts in wages and pensions and the abolition of all labour and social insurance rights."

"The GUE/NGL is against these regulations and calls on the European Parliament to refuse to support these unpopular, undemocratic and non-progressive practices by the European Commission which are serving the interests of banks and speculators."

GUE/NGL press contacts:

Gay Kavanagh +32 473 84 23 20

gabrielle.kavanagh@europarl.europa.eu 

Sonja Giese  +32 486 94 50 21

sonja.giese@europarl.europa.eu

David Lundy +32 485 50 58 12

david.lundy@europarl.europa.eu