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Q&A
European Election Brings a Wake-Up Call
Mario de Queiroz and Miren Gutierrez* interview MARIO SOARES, former Portuguese President
LISBON, Jun 3, 2009 (IPS) - Global house prices are diving further, unemployment in the 16 countries using
the euro increased in April to its highest level in almost ten years, and Eurozone
Gross Domestic Product is expected to shrink by 1.9 percent during 2009...
So what is Europe doing about it? Voters among the European Union's 500
million people in 27 countries will be casting their ballots Jun. 4-7 to choose
their representatives to the European Parliament for the next five years. The
new Parliament will set the tone and pace of European policies in the face of
the crisis.
Socialist Mario Soares thinks these elections are crucial, and that the socialists
of Europe should put up a presidential candidate for the European
Commission who can implement their anti-crisis plan.
Soares was the first Premier of democratic Portugal from 1976 to 1978, again
from 1983 to 1985, and then President from 1986 to 1996. Even his critics
admit that his main accomplishment was to turn public opinion around and to
negotiate Portugal's entry into the EU in 1986. Portugal at the time was
suspicious of integration into the EU.
Soares wrote recently about the financial crisis and the position of the
Socialists of Europe. He responded to IPS in line with some of his analysis.
IPS: What has been the difference of response to the financial crisis between
the U.S. and Europe?
MARIO SOARES: The current global crisis is the worst since 1929, and will be
a prolonged one. But some positive signals are now coming from the U.S.,
which is focussing its efforts on the real economy.
Barack Obama is saying that we only will overcome this crisis by taking
measures that ordinary citizens understand because those measures meet
their needs and aspirations, involving social and environmental changes, and
also punishment of those who are guilty of greed.
In contrast, the European Union, governed by actors of the past – some of
them close to former U.S. president George Bush — has not been able to
agree on a coordinated plan to respond to this crisis. This was the final
outcome of the London G20 Summit on Apr. 2. It seems most of the European
leaders just want to change the minimum possible to keep things as they are.
IPS: The U.N. will soon hold a conference on the world financial and economic
crisis. What should the European position be?
MS: Europe should present a united front. I always believed in the U.N. for
the resolution of major global problems, but without Europe the world will
hardly emerge from the global crisis affecting us. Without a concerted anti-
crisis strategy, no European country by itself will be capable of overcoming
the global crisis, not even the larger one, Germany, and the EU will enter a
period of decadence.
The U.S. of Barack Obama has understood this, even though the U.S. has not
yet emerged from the crisis. In contrast, the EU, divided, without an assertive
leadership and lacking a clear path, is being marginalised, with negative
repercussions for all European countries.
IPS: How do you see the Socialists of Europe reacting in the face of the crisis?
MS: The Party of European Socialists (PES) has understood the situation, and
in a declaration signed by all the 27 (Socialist) European leaders, they pointed
out seven priorities to overcome this crisis: stronger and coordinated plans
for investment; restoring banks lending to companies and people;
safeguarding jobs and creating new ones; fighting poverty and supporting
low-income groups who are losing their incomes and houses.
We also need to eliminate bank secrecy and tax havens, where top managers
and wealthy people have been hiding their exorbitant profits. We also need to
have transparency to avoid speculative financial and commercial transactions.
As the crisis is global and multi-dimensional - not only financial and
economic, it also affects energy, the environment and food security - we
need to ensure solidarity between countries, paving the way for a Global New
Deal and reforming the international financial institutions, which have
become obsolete.
These simple ideas were presented in the Declaration of the Party of
European Socialists. They concur with the proposals made by the
International Trade Unions Confederation to the G20. But although all the
European socialist leaders have subscribed to this Declaration, few of them
have discussed the ideas with their parties or in the international meetings
they attend.
IPS: Why should Europeans care about it?
MS: The policies have to change, and the European electors have to
understand this clearly. However, European citizens are largely indifferent to
the elections in all 27 member states because they have not seen convincing
proposals to change and overcome the crisis. In these conditions, why should
they vote?
From my viewpoint, only the left is in condition to overcome this crisis, and
has concrete and systemic proposals. This is unhappily not the case of the
right-wing parties, notably the parties which have abandoned Christian-
democracy and have become popular parties, in line with the U.S.
Republicans and with Bush, in particular.
IPS: So, if that is the situation, the socialists can present a strong case at the
elections...
MS: The European Popular Party has appointed Jose Manuel Barroso as
candidate to the presidency of the European Commission. Barroso was the
host of the Azores Summit, which green-lighted the invasion of Iraq.
However, three leaders and heads of government - Jose Luis Rodriguez
Zapatero, Gordon Brown and Jose Socrates, heads of government in Spain, the
United Kingdom and Portugal - have announced that their parties are ready to
vote with the European Popular Party to elect Barroso.
I am asking: how is it possible? Because of national politics reasons, because
of personal and political agreements? Does this mean that the ideological
reasons do not count? This is a situation that means a kind of political suicide
for the PES, and which will likely damage the outcome in the European
elections.
As socialist, former member of the European Parliament and honorary
President of the Socialist International, I think that I should protest and send
a wake-up call. This is about the future of Europe, about a new and effective
cooperation with the U.S. of Barack Obama, and about defeating a crisis that
is hitting billions of human beings.
We should have the courage to be coherent European and internationalist
socialists. We should not let the hope of democratic socialism die, refusing to
present a candidate from the PES. These candidates exist.
*Miren Gutierrez is IPS Editor-in-Chief.
(Not for publication in Italy.) (END)
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