One of the key organisations building for the demonstration in Nice on December 6 called by the ETUC is ATTAC (Association for a Tobin Tax to Assist the Citizen). Together with the Euromarch network, ATTAC is also calling further action for the opening of the European summit itself on December 7. On October 21 representatives from ATTAC from a dozen European countries met in Paris to discuss plans for these activities PETE COOPER reports:
The meeting discussed the state of the anti-neoliberal globalisation movement after Prague. While international financial institutions and European governments are accelerating their drive towards free market policies, the resistance demonstrated in Birmingham, Seattle, and Prague has begun to create cracks in the previously monolithic edifice of global capitalism.
But divergences of aims and methods amongst the antineoliberal movement, made the trade unionists-to-turtles unity achieved in Seattle excep- impose its own agenda. tional. The trade union movement was for example essen- was at stake at the Nice tially absent from Prague, reflecting the European Trade Union Congress (ETUC) failure to coherently or consistently oppose the neo-liberal drift, (comparing unfavourably with even the US AFL-CIO trade union confederation). level. North/South divide There are also North South divides, reflected in the divergences between Jubilee 2000's acceptance of the G7's "conditionality" for Third World debt cancellation, against Jubilee and Welsh law. South's opposition to it, and between the radical Reclaim the Streets layer and NGOs such as Friends of the Earth who denounced the "violence" of S26 in advance. The risk of losing our local roots to "globe trotting" to the next summit was also highlighted.
None of this takes away from the major successes the movement has had both in the num. bers it has brought into activity and way it has highlighted so many of the ravages wrought by globalisation among far broader layers than have made it to the protests. Perhaps the best way to sum up the current strength of the movement is that it is strong enough to have ising for Nice. been able to prevent or hold back some new assaults, but it has not so far had the ability to tive European In looking particularly at what Charter of Social Rights Summit, the discussion focused drawn up first on the Charter of Basic by the Rights, our criticisms, and our European alternatives to it. There was Marches. general agreement that the Charter adds no new rights to "best practhose "enjoyed" at national tice" was invoked, i.e. the best individual, social and economic They are primarily individual rights of any country in Europe rights already enshrined in the should be adopted by all. It was European Convention of agreed to oppose the Charter Human Rights to which all EU as the best basis for unity. governments are already signa- The other main issue raised tories, and which has recently was the proposed amendment been incorporated into English to Clause 133 of the Treaty of Rome, which threatens to The social and economic extend complete trade liberalirights constitute a regression sation to services, intellectual by comparison with the constitutions of several EU states (which guarantee the right to work, housing, social security Nota Contens The idea of Many places: one theme. Protesters at the G8 summit in Okinawa earlier this year property rights, and investment. This should be used to make clear to people that what is at stake here is far broader than the crucial, but limited issue of trade union rights being focused on by most of the official unions. The task between now and December 6 is to convince those who were part of or inspired by Seattle and Prague that the came icciles are at The World Social Forum will take place in Porto Alegre, Brazil on January 25-30 2001 at stake here too. Then on December 6 itself, we will try to convince as many as possible of the 70,000 the ETUC expects to mobilise as possible that the official agenda will not be sufficient to protect our rights - as trade unionists, users of public services or indeed as people living on a planet increasingly under threat from environmental degradation.