debating progressive politics in Europe and beyond
Could you have imagined it? This is the kind of Europe we now have built for our children. We have seen the grotesquely overgrown financial sector destroy our economy, caused millions of Europeans to lose their jobs, handed our children billions of euro in bad debts, and yet its leaders evade sanction and even walk [...]
The negotiations between EU member states on the introduction of a financial transaction tax have so far been fruitless. The basis for negotiation is a European Commission proposal that Carsten Sieling, a member of the Bundestag Finance Committee, presented and analysed for the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. In his view, the causes of the financial, economic and Eurozone [...]
While everyone looks for signals from the French president François Hollande and from the German chancellor Angela Merkel about how a compromise on the fiscal compact might look like, another important negotiation on the future of Europe is largely ignored: The negotiation between Ms Merkel and the German opposition on the fiscal compact. Little known [...]
Having declined to meet him when he was the mere challenger for President of France, UK Prime Minister David Cameron reportedly used his first official meeting with Francois Hollande to tell him not to pursue the Financial Transactions Tax (FTT) that both Hollande and his predecessor Nicholas Sarkozy support. It is another example of Britain [...]
When the economic crisis broke following the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 and the global banking system seized up, workers began to be laid off, families saw their houses repossessed and banks teetered on the brink of collapse. Financial panic knew no frontiers. It was clear that a coordinated global response by governments [...]
Ever since the United Kingdom joined the European Economic Community in 1973, after the French withdrew Charles de Gaulle’s veto of its membership, Britain’s relationship with the European integration process has been strained. The British are reluctant Europeans, for historical and cultural reasons. For centuries, British foreign policy strove to avoid permanent European entanglements; but, [...]
For too long we have entrusted financial markets as engines of growth and prosperity, ignoring the fact that a huge part of financial activity is speculative, unrestrained and based on flawed projections of the world. The myth of credit-based growth has gone bust, with 1.6 trillion euros of taxpayer’s money washing down the sink of [...]
We need a Sustainable Fairness Doctrine to reshape our Economy. The EU is part of the solution, not the problem. The UK Coalition Government is led by a Conservative Party which acts as the political-wing of the Financial Services Industry and fails to tackle real problems. This has opened a space for the Europhobes in [...]
In October last year French President Sarkozy and German Chancellor Merkel went for a walk on the beach at Deauville and announced their agreement on the need for, amongst other things, the strengthening of sanctions on backsliding member states, treaty revisions to establish a permanent bail-out fund, and private sector involvement in the costs of [...]
You might be interested in supporting the campaign for a financial transaction tax organised and supported by a variety of groups and stakeholders. As far as I am aware the petition website is open for business for another week so show your support if you haven’t done so yet.
Heads of State and Government agreed over the weekend a ‘pact for the Euro’, a successor to the ill-fated Franco-German Competitiveness Pact. At the next European Council meeting in ten days it will be converted into a binding agreement for the euro area countries; non-EMU members can sign up on a voluntary basis. A bargain [...]
On Wednesday the European Parliament voted in favour of introducing a financial transactions tax at EU level. This is very important in cutting through the log-jam of passing the buck: we will introduce a FTT, but only when everyone else does. It is a notable success for the European socialists, trade union organisations and others [...]
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