Spinelli
- 1. Copyright©
SpencerRuss2016
Everything Stays the Same, the Words Change.
Translated by Spencer Russ
A Speech by MEP Barbara Spinelli to the European Parliament
Published July 3rd
, 2014
[Italian Prime Minister Matteo] Renzi has given us a lot of empty rhetoric but no indication
of how or where to find the economic resources for a New Deal to help Europe reverse its decline.
We need a conference on debt like the one that helped Germany in „53, project bonds, the Tobin Tax
and the Carbon Tax.
Matteo Renzi has said that Europe will perish if it does not change, and that stability without
growth will become stagnation. He has said that it's not enough to have a single market in order to
share a common destiny.
I would certainly agree, if the concrete facts had corresponded to words.
Everything must change in the European Union - the economic rules, the institutions, the
nominated leaders who control its agencies, its lack of democratic functions - if it doesn‟t want the
“unity” between Europeans to become a word lacking any meaning.
Instead, the Italian term for the Presidency of the Council of the EU begins with a worrying
lack of security: slavish obedience to the economic rules is not being debated - even if these are
precisely the rules which have seriously exacerbated the recession and produced a crisis of faith in
European institutions never before seen in the history of the EU.
Nor is the laissez-faire belief which has allowed these rules to solidify and fossilize
themselves up for discussion. The belief that holds our leaders' minds prisoner even today is that the
so-called “structural reforms” (the ever more precarious work, the by now undeniable
predominance of the “market consensus” over the popular vote, the reduction of public spaces, the
restriction of rights, the emptying of Parliaments and of democratic Constitutions) are still today
considered essential preconditions for growth.
Everything stays the same, only the words to describe it change.
“There isn‟t growth without harshness because harshness is a precondition of growth.” The
syllogism has become unacceptable. It is a vicious circle we need to exit from as soon as possible.
We aren‟t calling on the Italian government (who is presiding over the Council of Ministers
in the next term) for empty rhetoric, but for the beginning of a radically reformed European Union.
Flexibility of European standards on investments aren‟t enough if national resources are
lacking.
What‟s needed is a true European New Deal, a turning point à la Roosevelt and not fake
little exemptions you negotiate between strong and weak Member States of a Union which no
longer deserves its name, based on a nineteenth century “balance of power”.
A European Union which would have its own adequate resources is needed so that the New
Deal would come to the aid of the entire Community, especially the countries which have most
acutely suffered from austerity. It‟s needed so that work would be given to the people (25.7 million
in the EU) who have lost it or have never been able to find it.
It is as much as the labor unions, including the German DGB, have demanded for a long
time.
The financing is possible through the European Investment Bank, project bonds, and taxes
on financial transactions (the Tobin Tax) and carbon emissions (the Carbon Tax). These are two
significant taxes, because they reign in the excesses of the financialization of the economy and
recognize the obligations that come with the destruction of the climate.
Other plans exist which have been discussed by the “Other Europe with Tsipras” group; they
are only waiting to be taken up.
We are talking about a program developed by the European Investment Bank and by the
European Investment Fund, proposed some time ago by a Greek and an American one, Yanis
Varoufakis and James K. Galbraith. The two bodies would collaborate for the whole of the required
capital on the financial markets.
We are also talking about a conference on debt similar to the one which forgave a large part
- 2. Copyright©
SpencerRuss2016
of Germany‟s war debts in „53 and helped it to be reborn.
Let‟s not forget that it was the countries that are being made to feel guilty about their debt
today - Greece and Italy among many others - who offered a hand to that dying federal Republic.
*A speech to the European Parliament by “The Other Europe with Tsipras” - European
United Left/Nordic Green Left European Parliamentary Group
![Copyright©
SpencerRuss2016
Everything Stays the Same, the Words Change.
Translated by Spencer Russ
A Speech by MEP Barbara Spinelli to the European Parliament
Published July 3rd
, 2014
[Italian Prime Minister Matteo] Renzi has given us a lot of empty rhetoric but no indication
of how or where to find the economic resources for a New Deal to help Europe reverse its decline.
We need a conference on debt like the one that helped Germany in „53, project bonds, the Tobin Tax
and the Carbon Tax.
Matteo Renzi has said that Europe will perish if it does not change, and that stability without
growth will become stagnation. He has said that it's not enough to have a single market in order to
share a common destiny.
I would certainly agree, if the concrete facts had corresponded to words.
Everything must change in the European Union - the economic rules, the institutions, the
nominated leaders who control its agencies, its lack of democratic functions - if it doesn‟t want the
“unity” between Europeans to become a word lacking any meaning.
Instead, the Italian term for the Presidency of the Council of the EU begins with a worrying
lack of security: slavish obedience to the economic rules is not being debated - even if these are
precisely the rules which have seriously exacerbated the recession and produced a crisis of faith in
European institutions never before seen in the history of the EU.
Nor is the laissez-faire belief which has allowed these rules to solidify and fossilize
themselves up for discussion. The belief that holds our leaders' minds prisoner even today is that the
so-called “structural reforms” (the ever more precarious work, the by now undeniable
predominance of the “market consensus” over the popular vote, the reduction of public spaces, the
restriction of rights, the emptying of Parliaments and of democratic Constitutions) are still today
considered essential preconditions for growth.
Everything stays the same, only the words to describe it change.
“There isn‟t growth without harshness because harshness is a precondition of growth.” The
syllogism has become unacceptable. It is a vicious circle we need to exit from as soon as possible.
We aren‟t calling on the Italian government (who is presiding over the Council of Ministers
in the next term) for empty rhetoric, but for the beginning of a radically reformed European Union.
Flexibility of European standards on investments aren‟t enough if national resources are
lacking.
What‟s needed is a true European New Deal, a turning point à la Roosevelt and not fake
little exemptions you negotiate between strong and weak Member States of a Union which no
longer deserves its name, based on a nineteenth century “balance of power”.
A European Union which would have its own adequate resources is needed so that the New
Deal would come to the aid of the entire Community, especially the countries which have most
acutely suffered from austerity. It‟s needed so that work would be given to the people (25.7 million
in the EU) who have lost it or have never been able to find it.
It is as much as the labor unions, including the German DGB, have demanded for a long
time.
The financing is possible through the European Investment Bank, project bonds, and taxes
on financial transactions (the Tobin Tax) and carbon emissions (the Carbon Tax). These are two
significant taxes, because they reign in the excesses of the financialization of the economy and
recognize the obligations that come with the destruction of the climate.
Other plans exist which have been discussed by the “Other Europe with Tsipras” group; they
are only waiting to be taken up.
We are talking about a program developed by the European Investment Bank and by the
European Investment Fund, proposed some time ago by a Greek and an American one, Yanis
Varoufakis and James K. Galbraith. The two bodies would collaborate for the whole of the required
capital on the financial markets.
We are also talking about a conference on debt similar to the one which forgave a large part](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/08b09ff5-2f5d-4869-8fce-59a68032b1c4-160229101126/85/spinelli-1-320.jpg)
