NEARLY 400 activists attended the fourth international "assizes" of the European marches held in Brussels on April 18 /19. The conference was called to report the ongoing work of the Euromarches and plan future activity.
Delegations were present from most countries of the EU and beyond (Poland for example, with the biggest from France Belgium Germany and Italy. There was a delegation of 17 from Britain, which included members of the demonstration organising committee in Cardiff.
The two main reports were from France and Germany where the Euromarches have had a major impact since they were completed at the mass demonstration in Amsterdam last June. In France the marches and the coalition they assembled have played a key role in the mass occupations and other protests against unemployment and social exclusion for most of this year. In Germany there have been a series of protests and demonstrations involving towns and cities and collectively involving over 300,000 people. The conference supported a range of initiatives across Europe over the coming period but it focused on two as its key priorities: first the Cardiff demonstration in June this year and secondly a mass demonstration in Cologne in June 1999 when the EU is under the German presidency, This will be the next major event of the Euromarches and is aimed to match the size of the Amsterdam demonstration last year. Marches are planned to it from across Europe as they were to Amsterdam.
At the same time the conference appealed to national campaigns to organise delegations to Cardiff, CON ACT and number immediately pledged to do so in particular the campaigns in: France Belgium, Germany and Greece.
This along with the other networks which have agreed to organise across Europe for
ENBI
June 1997: tens of thousands marched against Maastricht austerity in Amsterdam. Now for Cardiff!
Cardiff such as the European Network of the Unemployed (ENU), will ensure that the demonstration have a truly international character. The conference overall was a big success, possibly the most successful yet, certainly the most focused on campaigning. Most importantly it demonstrated the ongoing strength of the Euromarch campaign and the role it an play in uniting the struggles across Europe.