Ομιλία
του προέδρου του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ και υποψηφίου
για την Προεδρεία της Ευρωπαϊκής
Επιτροπής, Αλέξη Τσίπρα, στην εκδήλωση
“Η
Αριστερή εναλλακτική για την Ευρώπη”,
στο Δουβλίνο
Dear
friends,
Dear
fellow participants,
Thank
you for the honor of inviting me to your conference.
Let
me congratulate you on its success.
Because
in a single day, you made it possible to deconstruct the so-called
success story that, with great effort, the conservatives in Europe
have tried to build at the conference of the European People’s
Party, which was concluded only last Friday, here in Dublin.
The
conference that selected Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker as the Party’s
candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission.
It
is a candidacy that personifies austerity.
It
is the choice of Angela Merkel, Enda Kenny, and the Greek prime
minister, Mr. Samaras.
So,
it took you only one day only to deconstruct the success story of the
neo-liberal consensus.
A
story which, since last December, has been seeking, in your own
country, in Ireland, its posthumous fame.
In
a country with a public debt as a percentage of the GDP at 64% in
2009.
That
is, already high compared to 25% in 2007.
And
came out of it at twice that figure.
125%
of GDP in 2013.
What
a marvelous success story, indeed!
True.
Banks
were rescued at the price of a memorandum that dismantled the
country’s social fabric and doubled the public debt.
Dear
friends,
That
succession of the two conferences.
The
conference of the European People’s Party.
That
is, the conference for the Europe of austerity and fear.
And
your own.
The
conference for the Europe of hope and change.
It
is a succession of alternative choices.
And
the final dilemma at the polls, in May.
Is
either them or the peoples.
Because,
for the first time next May, the vote of every citizen, anywhere in
Europe, counts as never before!
It
is a vote with power and dynamics.
It
can and should change the course of Europe.
Today,
that neo-liberalism and the German hegemony have led Europe to a
strategic impasse.
Today,
that it has been proved on the ground that the policy of “internal
devaluation” has failed.
Today,
that social cohesion is under threat.
And
not only cohesion, but democracy as well.
Today,
that the very future of the European Union is under threat.
It
is imperative, as never before, that the peoples of Europe put an end
to this recipe of failure.
To
a recipe that divides and destroys the Continent.
And
it divides it, not only in terms of a surplus North and a deficit
South.
But
also through a new ‘wall of money’ between the creditors and the
debtors.
A
wall of money, which produces societies of the two thirds.
With
one third acting as if there were no crisis.
And
is getting richer from the crisis.
At
the expense of the two thirds, pushed into poverty and social
exclusion.
The
two thirds of the lower classes and of the former middle class.
That’s
the reality made by austerity and memoranda.
The
same reality and prospect which we will all judge on election day, in
May.
This
time peoples’ votes can change the balance of political forces.
And,
by the shifting it to the left, a green light could be lit in Europe
for solidarity and Democracy.
A
green light for the Europe of the Left .
And
the red light for Mrs. Merkel’s Europe of today.
Such
a change in the balance of forces would also determine the political
direction of the solution to the crisis.
Because
the crisis is far from over.
It
is still under way, recycled by the neo-liberal policies. And so long
as it is recycled, the process of European integration is undermined
and the Euro-zone itself is threatened.
Because
the policies of ‘internal devaluation’ are not the solution to
the crisis.
They
ARE the crisis.
That’s
why we need to get over with those policies right now!
And
the European elections are the great opportunity for the peoples to
send a very clear message of austerity rejection.
And
clear answers to the dilemmas of the ballot box.
Which
are, then, those dilemmas, that the European citizens will be asked
to respond to, in May?
First
dilemma:
Have
the memoranda failed or not, throughout Europe?
Are
the memoranda of austerity really ‘success stories’ for Greece,
Ireland, and the other countries?
Or
is it the case that they have brought back economic stagnation and
social misery to Europe?
Second
dilemma:
How
are we going to get out of the crisis?
By
repeating the same mistake of the failed recipe: ‘austerity, and
each country on its own’?
Or
with solidarity and growth?
In
the footsteps of the 1953 London Debt Conference, which cancelled 60%
of German debt.
Third
dilemma:
What
kind of Europe do we want?
That
of Mrs Merkel or the one of the Left?
Mrs.
Merkel’s Europe, which is not working?
A
Europe of austerity and poverty?
Or
the Europe of the Left?
The
Europe of employment, of human rights, of solidarity and democracy?
Dear
friends,
The
answer that each of us will give to those three dilemmas at the
ballot box.
Our
own answer in May, will shape our own life and our children's lives,
tomorrow and in the years to come.
In
May we will vote for our life.
Based
on the experiences of our lives so far.
But
of course, I am not here to talk about your lives.
I
am today among you as a citizen of a country which is under a
memorandum.
And
is addressing citizens who know very well the meaning of that word.
And,
in that sense, as one of you, I ask myself:
Is
todays Ireland a ‘success story’?
Or
is it just a "dead cat’s bounce", as the Economist
described it last December?
Just
the other day.
Your
fellow countryman.
The
U2’s Bono, addressing the European People’s Party conference,
said: "Troika screwed up the Irish, but we made it".
He
said only half the truth.
The
other half is that the ones who made it are the European banks.
And
the global bondholders.
Let's
see how exactly our two countries made it.
How
is it today, three years later, the original problem, which the
memorandum was supposed to resolve in Ireland.
- Mortgage debt is far worse than it was three years ago. One in five home loans, worth 25 billion Euros, are falling behind. Most of them for more than three months. At the same time, the ratio of household debt to their disposable income still is 197%.
- As I mentioned earlier, public debt as a percentage of the GDP was almost double in 2013 relative to 2009—at 125%.
- The public deficit as a percentage of the GDP was 7,2% in 2013. The European Commission forecasts it at 4,3% in 2015. It will have, in other words, violated the deadline of the Council for correction, in the context of the excessive deficit procedure.
- The Irish economy has shrunk by 9% compared to 2009.
- Its growth prospects are far worse than before the memorandum. The IMF anticipates only a 2% annual GDP increase till 2018.
- And even worse, the memorandum has cut Ireland’s best crop. By forcing to emigration over three hundred thousand people between 2010 and 2013. Of them, about 40% were young, from 15 to 24. It has in other words deprived Ireland of about 14% of its labor force. Unemployment was kept at all times below 20% only through emigration.
Let’s
see how exactly the troika made it in Greece.
- According to data of the European Commission, poverty in Greece is today out of control: 34,6% of the population is threatened by poverty and social exclusion. This percentage has increased by 5 percentage points during 2008-2012. It is the fourth highest percentage in the European Union. After Romania, Bulgaria, and Latvia.
- The rate of the working poor is 15%.
- Six out of ten citizens fail to visit their doctor because they can’t afford it.
- Three million people out of a total of eleven million have no health insurance.
- 40% of the population saves on food in order to be able to buy medicine.
- According to the Workers Confederation Institute of Labor annual report for 2013, at the end of that year, unemployment had reached the level of 1961. That is, around 30%. It is expected to reach 31,5% in 2014.
- The life standard of the citizens has got worse by at least 50% compared to 2008, as a result of the salary and pension cuts, but also due to excessive taxation.
- Domestic demand has fallen by 31,3% since 2009, and in 2013 it went actually back to the 1999 level.
- In the four years of its implementation, the memorandum has sunk the Greek economy into a deep recession. Overall, Greece has lost over 25% of its pre-crisis national income.
- The memorandum has raised the public debt of my country to an unprecedented and unsustainable level. It has now reached the level of 176%.
That
is what we have accomplished thanks to the memoranda!
Both
the Irish and the Greeks.
Dear
friends,
It
is for all those reasons that we share a common interest in working
together and in succeeding:
- The retroactive and direct recapitalization of the Irish and the Greek banks by the European Stability Mechanism. Despite the objections of Mr Scheuble and Mr Rechling. So that the respective amounts be exempted from the two countries’ public debts.
- The realization of SYRIZA’s proposal for a European Debt Conference. The debt crisis is a crisis of the Euro-zone as a whole. It is European in nature. It is not the sum total of national debt crises.
The
management of the Eurozone debt crisis has transformed, in Ireland
for example, a private debt crisis into a public debt problem.
At
the European Debt Conference, which we are proposing, we should reach
an agreement on the operation of the European Central Bank, as a
lender of last resort, will also be on the table.
We
should give priority to the write-off of a significant portion of the
nominal value of the most over-indebted member-states in the
Euro-zone.
Ae
well as to the introduction of a ‘growth clause’ for the
re-payment, of the remaining debt.
That
proposal is not a trick for Europe's North to pay for the South.
It
is an effort for the Euro-zone to get out of the crisis definitely
and collectively.
So
that to get rid of recession and stagnation.
If
we don't do that, then debt would prevent Europe's balanced growth.
It
would also be a permanent systemic risk.
A
window of market speculation.
Dear
friends,
The
fact that there is no success story, as a serious and credible
political argument, regarding Ireland is not something that, only I,
happen to maintain.
And
it is not either something concluded only by this conference.
It
has been re-confirmed by the official report of the European
Parliament on the role of the troika in the memorandum countries.
By
the two co-rapporteurs.
That's
why there is no doubt that troika has no place in Europe.
They
are actually leading Europe to division and polarisation.
They
dissolve social cohesion.
They
shrink our democracy
They
spread the humanitarian crisis.
They
are a point of shame for European civilization.
Dear
friends,
In
the May elections, the citizens will decide about Europe and their
lives, choosing among three alternative poles:
The
first one is that of neo-liberal no alternative.
At
the head is Mrs Merkel.
However,
in the race for the presidency of the Commission, she is represented
by Mr Juncker and Mr Schulz, at the same time.
They
are the ones, who were eager to support and practically enforce the
disastrous policy of ‘internal devaluation’ in Europe.
The
doctrine of austerity, everywhere and always.
Of
course, now that we are in a pre-election period, some of them
pretend that they know nothing about the crime.
Let
Mr Shultz answer directly then.
In
Greece, he supports and is also supported by PASOK—the party that
bears the fundamental political responsibility for the memoranda.
And,
for the reason, it has found itself barely alive today.
Supported
only by a 3-4% of the electorate.
Far
away from the 44% in the parliamentary elections of 2009.
Is,
Mr Schulz, this policy right?
The
policy of ‘internal devaluation’.
That
is, of labor deregulation, of privatizations and fiscal austerity.
The
policy which PASOK enforces, by participating in the Samaras
coalition government.
Or
is it wrong, and must be immediately abandoned?
The
second pole is that of the extreme and populist right and neo-Nazism.
These
are the orphan's of Ms Merkels austerity.
They
pretend to be against the memoranda and against the political system.
They
make use of a populist political discourse.
They
hide themselves behind the people’s anger, against corruption,
against injustice, poverty, and austerity.
They
hide their own hatred against the ‘Other.
The
left-winger, the heterodox, the Roma, the homosexual.
But,
just because they are hiding and pretending, they are more dangerous.
Their
political plan is simple and simplistic: returning to the Europe of
national antagonisms and confrontations.
Going
back, even further than the deep darkness of neo-liberalism.
Going
back to the blood of Nazism.
However,
the peoples of Europe, thanks to their collective memory, will never
allow the return of fascism in the European continent.
Fascists
and Nazis will be isolated.
The
third pole is our own.
The
anti austerity pole of the European Left.
The
pole of Democracy.
European
Left is the only democratic alternative to neo-liberalism.
We
do not want to dissolve Europe—we want to unite and change Europe.
Because
the Left can, should be and already is, in Ireland, Greece and
elsewhere, a political force to govern, and believe me, that’s very
good for the people.
We
are the only choice for the democratic, ecological, and social
re-foundation of Europe.
These
are the strategic goals, which shape our four great political
priorities:
- The democratic re-organization of the European Union.
Because
Europe will not be either social or ecological if it is not
democratic.
Democracy
in Europe is in retreat.
And
the European Union will either be democratic or will not exist..
we
should extend the scope of public intervention and popular
participation in European policy making.
We
should restore the fiscal role of national parliaments. That has been
deprived of /by the so-called ‘European semester’.
There
is no such thing as national sovereignty, without popular
sovereignty.
Without
democracy and the empowerment of its direct and representative
institutions.
- The ending of austerity and the crisis, with growth for Europe.
That
means: immediate end to austerity and coordinated reflation of the
European economies.
A
European New Deal for the balanced and sustainable growth, is
necessary.
So
that to create new, steady and decently paying jobs. Funding research
and innovation, technology and infrastructure.
We
need to revise the European financial framework to facilitate growth.
By
giving to the European Central Bank the role of a genuine central
bank.
Making
it lender of last resort for member-states and not only for banks.
By
introducing a European Glass-Stegall act, to separate commercial and
investment banking activities and risks.
- The gradual ecological transformation of the production process.
By
guaranteeing first of all the full implementation of the European
‘acquis’ on the environment.
That
would enable us to confront the ecological crisis that the troika has
added to the financial crisis.
And
also to narrow the sustainability gap between the European north and
south.
- The reform of the European legal framework on immigration.
This
for us means that, among other things, review of the spirit, as well
as the letter of the so-called ‘Dublin II regulation’.
That
would make it possible to tackle the question of the asylum seekers.
and,
in a broader context, the question of immigration as a European human
rights issue.
With
proportional distribution of burdens among the countries of Europe.
Through
solidarity, and not through suppression, that produces humanitarian
tragedies in the Mediterranean.
Dear
friends,
It’s
been two months since we began, all together, this fascinating but
also difficult journey of hope and change.
Because
the candidacy of the European Left for the presidency of the European
Commission can only have this meaning:
To
change our lives, by changing Europe.
We
are carrying in our luggage the peoples struggles, in our countries,
all over Europe, for a better life.
Thousands
of working people, intellectuals and ordinary men and women, have
sacrificed their lives in those struggles.
For
a Europe of peace and democracy.
For
a Europe of labor and culture.
We
create the future by changing the present.
Because
never before in its post-war history, has Europe sunk so deep in the
darkness.
We
don’t want this Europe.
This
is the Europe we are going to change.
When
they draft memoranda, we redraft the future.
When
they sow fear, we give new flesh to hope.
Dear
friends,
Allow
me to save for the end of my speech tonight, a favorite quote, of a
great American politician of Irish descent.
Robert
Kennedy.
A
quote from a great Irish writer and socialist.
George
Bernard Shaw:
“You
see things, and you say ‘‘Why?”
But
I dream things that never were, and I say “Why not?”
Thank
you very much for your attention.
Το
Γραφείο Τύπου
10/03/2014