THE EUROPEAN Union has become an agent of neoliberal policies, designed to serve the interests of transnational corporations (TNCs). The EU promotes globalisation strategies for fragmenting our resistance and for throwing us all into greater competition with each other.
The EU's central project is the 'single market', a European 'free' trade zone. Officially this aims to make production more efficient, to make European industry more 'competitive' against foreign rivals, and so to protect employment. In reality, this project frees capital from local or national constraints, helps capital to become integrated globally, especially across the Atlantic Ocean, and intensifies competition amongst countries to ariact investment The Single Market creates a buyers' market for the cheapest wages, the most 'productive' workforce, and the lowest environmental standards. As GNP rises overall, most of us lose out in this competition; social inequalities deepen between the regions and within them. In the name of 'international competitiveness', the EU has imposed many harmful policies:
EMU with its convergence cri-. teria, requiring massive budget cuts (whose first targets are social welfare programmes), and requiring higher productivity in order to keep down inflation; * further deregulation, privatisation, job insecurity, and exploitation of labour, with Britain leading the way for the rest of Europe; * Massive investment in transport infrastructure, especially the TransEuropean Network (TEN), which underlies the recent motorway developments in Britain; * R&D subsidies for information technology, which helped the TNCs to displace and discipline labour, as well as for agriculture biotechnology, which intensifies competitive pressures on farmers and dependence upon 'genetic fixes'.
The EU has also promoted neoliberal globalisation beyond Europe. The EU has been a leading proponent of the MAI) Multilateral Agreement on Investment), which would provide legal enforcement of global deregulation, e.g. by guaranteeing companies equal access to markets world-wide. Rather than protect us from TNCs, the EU has imposed neoliberal globalisation on their behalf. Reclaim Europe was established to catalise a network or resistance to that assault.
Our aims stand in contrast with nationalists who oppose European Integration as a threat to 'national sovereignty'. For us, the main threat is the neoliberal policies, regardless of which state promotes them The EMU convergence criteria have been imposed on us for many years, and we will continue to suffer the effects, regardless of whether Britain officially joins EMU.
In June 1998 the EU ministers will meet in Cardiff to promote these neoliberal policies. In response, we are planning a counter-summit, as the sequel to the event held in Amsterdam in june 1977.
The counter summit will bring together grow ps campaigning on Two and a half days of debates, criticism and discussion of wing on fromprevious counter-summits, particularly Amsterdam last year.
• Friday evening: Meeting with international speakers Saturday: Forum on the EU, covering four main themes:
Employment: Social Welfare; the Environment; and Implications for the rest of the world.
Sunday Alternatives to the EU and campalgning strateWeb she http://www.reoc/tles.com/Rainforest/5581/ Teacher Get your copy of Socialist Teacher now from John Yandell, 96 Carysfort Rd, London N16 9AD tel 0171 690 4308 fax 0171 690 4611 e-mail [email protected] Labour, environmentalist, antiracist, feminist and other issues -from all over Europe. All groups and activists are invited to participate. the EU, almed at national and international campaigners, follContact Reclaim Europe c/o Temple of Peace, Cathays Park, Cardift CF1 SAP 01292-220347, e-mail Reclaim, Europe @btintemet. com, 0. 46 $1.50 to, 1848-1998 SÜCIALISM
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