Olivier Mayer, L’Humanité, 5/4/05

A meeting. On Sunday in Paris, a European conference has reunited representatives from 15 European countries, together with numerous French associations and organisations.

Co-organised by the Espaces Marx, the Copernic Foundation, the GUE/NGL group at the European parliament and by Transform! [1], the European conference “for constructing a social and democratic Europe, a European ‘No!’ to the constitution” has permitted the confrontation of ambitious militants from six-teen European countries. The main moderator of the initiative, Élisabeth Gauthier, for Transform! and Espaces Marx has presented the objectives of the conference as in “element in the campaign to refuse the constitution and in particular the ‘No’ at the referendum at the 29 May in Paris”. At the heart of the reflections of the conference, there are the alternatives to the current way of European construction and the search for “first initiatives”. A report-back by all the European representatives took the whole Sunday morning.

Practically all those present criticised the absence of debate, the difficulty of imposing it in their respective countries. In most of them, the people won’t be consulted and the ratification will take place by parliamentary route. “The non-existing debate”, one Austrian trade unionist characterised the situation in his country, where – he explains – all the traditional parties are favourable to the constitution. “No public debate, a third of all the Germans, according to a survey, has never even heard about the constitution”, Tobias Pflüger, European deputy of the PDS, points out. “Right-left consensus for the new constitution”, explains the Greek Haris Golemis. And the Portuguese Miguel Portas affirms that “never, neither about the accession to the EU, nor over Maastricht, the Portuguese people have ever been consulted, which explains the divorce between the EU and our people.”

A dynamic for another Europe

Despite this bottle of rye, a dynamic for another Europe is visibly emerging in numerous countries. “Even if there is no possibility to express oneself, there is nonetheless a big resentment”, explains the globalisation critic Leo Gabriel. In Austria, a translation of the extra dossier by l’Humanité entitled Constitution is distributed by the opponents to the constitution. The opposition comes from many trade unions. In Great Britain, the movements of trade unionists opposed to the constitution takes on breadth. The large trade unions take issue with the constitution, and the trade union confederations have not yet been able to agree to support them. In Germany, it is the question of peace or of armament, which mobilises against the constitution, as in Austria, where it puts back into question the status of neutrality of the country to which the population is very attached. In Greece, it is the situation of migrants, the defence of their rights and of the citizenship of reference that mobilises against the treaty. Everywhere, the right of women and equality occupy a large space. For Monika Karbowska, a Polish lady from the European network “Women and Poser”, liberalism and patriarchy go well together. She makes the demonstration that the “women are the first victims of the attacks against the public services, because as is well-known, it is mostly women who assure the care of children, of sick people and of elderly people.” “Even in Europe, women die from secret abortions.”

The No as the «mirror of Europe»

On May 29, the “No” vote in France will also be a “No” representative of others. The “no” by France will be the mirror of Europe”, says Leo Gabriel. “Your fight is our fight”, says the young woman from Finland, Kirsi Pihlaja. “You are our strong link”, says Haris Golemis, who “has the eyes and the heart turned to you.” “Keep a sharp eye on Paris”, exclaims the Hungarian, Karoly Lorant, citing Mirabeau. In the afternoon, reflections on the alternatives and on the initiatives to take. Yves Salesse, from the Copernic Foundation, wishes for a European appeal of the 200 and its release in all the countries. Paul Lannoye, former president of the Group of the Greens in Strasbourg, denounces in neoliberalism “the principal responsible for planetary ecological and social disorders. Raoul Jennar proves, how the “Bolkestein directive anticipates the constitution.” And Francis Wurtz, showing to what degree in the battle for the “no” the whole civilisation is at stake, reports the words of a high official of the European Union favourable to the constitution: “A no by France would de-legitimate the whole institution.”

[1] A European network created in particular by the Espaces Marx in France, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation in Germany, the Nico Poulantzas Institute in Greece. http://www.transform-network.org

© Olivier Mayer, L’Humanité, 5/4/05
Translated par Carla Krüger , 5/4/05