BREXIT and the need to build another Europe
Article by Neoklis Sylikiotis, AKEL Political Bureau member and MEP
10TH April 2017
On 5th April, the plenary of the European Parliament discussed the BREXIT referendum result and the terms for the approval of the UK agreement for withdrawal. Without doubt the British people’s will to withdraw from the EU is a development with enormous political dimensions conveying many messages.
Various motives prevailed in the holding of the referendum, while the campaign was motivated also by racist and nationalist forces. We mustn’t forget that the EU itself was giving arguments to the forces that were in favour of BREXIT, which before the referendum had signed an agreement with Cameron that, inter alia, curbed and restricted the rights of European citizens. However, it is very important to recognize that the result of the referendum, from another perspective, also express the people’s rejection of the neoliberal policies of the EU.
The BREXIT decision therefore must primarily force the European leaders to reflect on the neoliberal austerity policies that the Union is imposing and about the unbearable consequences these peoples are having on the peoples.
The peoples of Europe are suffering from the European Union’s democratic deficits. And most importantly, the peoples have been driven to poverty as a result of the anti-social neoliberal austerity policies which are creating new armies of the unemployed, leading to increasing inequalities, the closure of SME’s, the dismantling of the already curtailed welfare state, the sell out of public wealth and property, whilst also plunging the peoples into complete impoverishment.
The decision taken by the majority of the British people in favour of BREXIT reflects precisely the serious problems of the EU itself. It also expresses the dissatisfaction that is dominant in general among the citizens in the EU and is a reply to the policies that are violating the interests and just aspirations of the working people and people at large.
On the pretext of BREXIT, the strengthening of Euroscepticism and centrifugal trends we are confronted with challenge, but we have a duty to question the neoliberal integration process of the European Union of multi speeds, and strengthen our struggle to build a different Europe, namely the Europe of solidarity, social justice, democracy, and peace.
The EU can’t continue developing as an integration of poverty and social inequality, militarization and foreign interventions, eruptions of racism, promotion of the particular interests of the powerful states and big multinational corporations. The EU of 120 million poor, 30 million unemployed and 4.5 million homeless cannot be tolerated any longer.
As a first step, European officials must respect the verdict of the British people and not engage in issuing of threats or exerting pressure of any kind during the negotiations. The negotiation must be conducted based on new regulations that will put the needs of the people over and above the interests of big capital and the “free market.”
In addition, any agreement that is reached between the EU and the United Kingdom must ensure that the social rights, labour gains and rights, public health standards and the specifications for the protection of the environmental will not be downgraded. Equally important is that the rights of European citizens residing in the United Kingdom should be safeguarded. As the Group of the European United Left we have tabled a resolution in the plenary of the European Parliament, in which we stress that all the rights of European citizens must be protected.
Particularly with regards Cyprus it is now certain that the consequences of BREXIT will not be limited. According to a study carried out by the international auditing firm PwC, Ireland and Cyprus after the Brexit are the most vulnerable EU member states in the area of trade. Our country’s exports to the United Kingdom in relation to the size of Cyprus’ economy stand at 9.5%, which is a very high percentage. Other studies refer to possible negative impacts also in the tourism sector for 2017 due to the fall of the pound. Furthermore, there are also legitimate concerns about the impact BREXIT would have on Cypriot students studying in British universities, but also the serious consequences Cypriots working in the UK will suffer.
The DISY-Anastasiades Government should already have elaborated specific plans of action to minimize the negative consequences of BREXIT, but also to exploit any potential opportunities to the benefit of the Cyprus economy and our people. Unfortunately not only is the DISY-Anastasiades government not doing so in a preemptive manner, but it is continuing even at this late stage not to demonstrate the necessary political will to do so.
As AKEL, together with the Confederal Group of the European United Left-Nordic Green Left, we will struggle for an agreement to be reached that will protect the interests of the people as much as possible, and not for BREXIT to be used as a pretext to legitimize the deepening of a European multi-speed neoliberal model that will be fully opposing the needs of the peoples.
