Following the meetings in Paris and Madrid, this conference will be the next step in the Plan B process and will serve as a space for an open debate on alternatives and strategies for the left-wing in relation to authoritarian austerity and the European economic and democratic crisis.
The conference is jointly hosted by the Danish Enhedslisten/the Red-Green Alliance (RGA) and the Left Party, Sweden, and is supported by more than 30 left-wing representatives from 17 European countries.
Registration for the conference is required. Please register here: www.euro-planb.dk/register
Below is the conference-call in English, together with the present list of supporters (a French and a German version can be found on the website). You can co-sign the call here: www.euro-planb.dk
Conference Call
Alternatives to the Europe of austerity
A next step in the Plan B process will be taken in Copenhagen
Developments in the European Union over the past years presents the left, trade unions and progressive social movements with new challenges and has ignited a debate over alternatives and strategy. In particular, the steamrolling of the Greek left wing experiment in 2015, has put the authoritarian and neoliberal nature of current European integration on display. We urgently need a strong and clear response from the left. We need alternatives and strategy that can prevent a repetition. This has become even more urgent after the Brexit vote in June.
While such alternatives will necessarily be comprehensive, one debate requires special attention at the moment: The Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the euro. Many laws adopted over the past years – and those in the pipeline – are linked to the EMU and the euro, and they point towards a regime for member states economic policies that would make austerity and attacks on social rights, including labour rights mandatory.
This will affect all of us in the European Union, South and North, and whether in the Eurozone or not. There is a close link between the Troika in Greece and elsewhere, and the attacks on labour laws in France, Belgium and Italy.
If the move towards imposition of right wing economic policies is to be stopped and turned around, political parties and social movements will have to work closely together in a targeted manner. But there are obstacles we need to overcome, and disagreements we need to deal with in a constructive manner.
A meeting and a forum in Copenhagen on 19-20. November was agreed at the first Plan B meeting in Paris. In Copenhagen we will explore our options, share positions, and discuss what steps needs to be taken. The main questions will be:
- Is it possible to reform the Economic and Monetary Union from inside the current EU framework, or is a rupture with the current framework necessary?
- What could be the alternatives to the eurosystem?
- Brexit changes the EU. How will the left influence the new Europe that is emerging?
- What strategic issues can the left in Europe gather around in the coming years?
The oranizers and supporters invite representatives of left parties, trade unions and social movements to join them in Copenhagen on the 19th and 20th of November 2016 to discuss these issues.
Initially signed by
– Pernille Skipper, MP and Political spokesperson, Enhedslisten – The Red-Green Alliance, Denmark
– Jonas Sjöstedt, MP and Chairperson, Vänsterpartiet – Left Party, Sweden
– Audun Lysbakken, MP and Chairperson, Sosialistisk Venstreparti – Socialist Left Party, Norway
– Li Andersson, MP and Chairperson, Vasemmisto, Left Alliance, Finland
– Katrín Jakobsdóttir, MP and Chairperson, Left-Green Movement, Iceland
– Jean-Luc Mélenchon, MEP and co-founder, Parti de Gauche, France
– Oskar Lafontaine, former minister of Finance, Die Linke, Germany
– Tiny Kox, MP and chair of SP senate group, Chair in Unified European Left Group (UEL) in PACE, Socialist Party, Netherlands
– Stefano Fassina, MP and former Italian deputy minister of economy and finance, Futuro a Sinistra – Future to the Left, Italy
– Marisa Matias, MEP, Bloco de Esquerda – Left Bloc, Portugal
– Miguel Urbán Crespo, MEP, Podemos, Spain
– Ertuğrul Kürkçü, MP, former co-chair and Honorary President, HDP, Turkey
– Luka Mesec, MP, Iniciativa za demokratični socializem, Slovenia
– Kinga B Stanczuk, Foreign Affairs Representative, Razem, Polen
– Nikolaos Chountis, MEP, Popular Unity, Greece
– Bjørnar Moxnes, Chairperson Rødt, Norway
– Paul Murphy, MP, Socialist Party (part of the Anti-Austerity Alliance), Ireland
– Malin Björk, MEP, Vänsterpartiet – Left Party, Sweden
– Fabio De Masi, MEP, Die Linke, Germany
– Francisco Louçã, former coordinator of Bloco de Esquerda and economist, Portugal
– Hişyar Özsoy, MP and Vice Co-chair of HDP Responsible for Foreign Affairs, Turkey
– Costas Lapavitsas, Professor of Economics at the University of London and former Syriza MP, Greece
– Søren Søndergaard, MP, Enhedslisten – The Red-Green Alliance, Denmark
– Nikolaj Villumsen, MP and Vice Chair in Unified European Left Group (UEL) in PACE, Enhedslisten – The Red-Green Alliance, Denmark
– Peter Wahl, Chairman of Weed (World Economy, Ecology & Development) and founding member of ATTAC Germany, Germany
– Asbjørn Wahl, Director of Campaign for the Welfare State, Norway
– Andrej Hunko, MP and spokesman on European Affairs and Vice-Chairperson of the Group of the Unified European Left (UEL) in PACE, Die Linke, Germany
– Kenneth Haar, Corporate Europe Observatory, Denmark
– Tariq Ali, Writer, United Kingdom
– Tom Kucharz, Ecologistas en Acción, Spain
– Andy Storey, Professor, University College Dublin, Ireland
– Rina Ronja Kari, MEP, Folkebevægelsen mod EU, Denmark
– Steffen Stierle, Member of the Lexit network, Germany
– Lola Sánchez, MEP, Podemos, Spain
– Danielle Simonnet, co-president of Parti de Gauche, France
– Eric Coquerel, co-president of Parti de Gauche, France
– Massimo D’Antoni, Professor at Department of economics and statistics, University of Siena, Italy
– Andreas Nölke, Professor of Political Science, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany
– Cristina Asensi, Democracia Real Ya and Money Sovereignty Commission, Spain
You can co-sign the call here.
Programme
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