A. Kyprianou on AKEL’s work in the European Parliament
Press Conference of the General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 20th April 2019
In every election campaign there is a lot said – mostly big talk and promises. As AKEL, we want to participate in the election campaign for the European elections on 26th May, putting forth in the public debate our policies and arguments. We participate in this campaign by projecting the work we have done and presenting proposals, not slogans.
For us, the European Parliament is not another forum for empty talk, handshakes, fiestas and sensationalism. We don’t want the people to elect MEP’s every five years, and subsequently not knowing where these MEP’s are, what they do and what work they produce.
For us, the European Parliament is another arena of struggle which we want to wage for Cyprus, the Cyprus problem and socio-economic issues, with hard work, effort, proposals and daily actions.
Today we are presenting to the people the work we have done during the 5 year term of the European Parliament, honoring the support the people gave us and the confidence it has shown in us. We feel proud because we can look voters in the eye. We can prove to them that their vote for AKEL has become their own voice in the European Parliament, a multidimensional work which has yielded practical results.
Data released by the EP itself demonstrates that AKEL had the most active group of MEP’s in the European Parliament from the Cypriot political parties. Neoklis Sylikiotis was ranked as the most active Cypriot MEP.
The collective work that is being done in both Cyprus and Brussels is reflected in the rich work and activity which AKEL produced during this five-year term, which our MEP’s will subsequently present.
I just want to mention indicatively the organization of events in Brussels and Cyprus on the Cyprus problem, labour and social issues, the leading role played by our MEP’s in the Foreign Affairs and Energy Committees of the European Parliament. The work done there for Cyprus and its rights, for the interests of small and medium-sized enterprises, in favour of working people’s equality and the protection of their rights. A lot of multifaceted and quality work has also been done on issues relating to social policy, social protection, the eradication of discrimination and the promotion of LGBTI rights, as well as on ecology and for the protection of the environment.
In the past the Right and the far-right in Cyprus spared no effort to convince the people that they were more “Greek” than the Greeks themselves. Now with the European elections they are trying to convince the people that they are more “European” than the peoples of Europe.
Really, how “European” does ruling DISY party believe the glorifying of European institutions on a daily basis is, but to totally disregard their recommendations about the “golden passports” issued by the Republic of Cyprus just so the government doesn’t dissatisfy the cronies that are enriching themselves from this scheme?
How “European” is it for DISY to believe the Church is governing the country together with DISY, and indeed the Government to also increase its financial contribution towards it?
How “European” is it for decisions to be the subject of blackmail in violation of every legislation that DISY first and foremost voted for together with the far-right party ELAM?
How “European” is it for the country’s political life frequently to be poisoned with far-right rhetoric and the incitement to violence by DISY leading officials who evidently have nothing that separates them with ELAM?
How “European” do they think it is for their fraternal parties in various countries across Europe to be in government coalitions with the extreme-right?
How “European” does the governing “Democrat Rally” party believe it is that 1 in 10 workers in the European Union work more than 48 hours a week?
How “European” is our country, Cyprus, when it is ranked among the countries with the biggest inequality?
During their own administration, the profit margin of businesses has increased by 2% as a share of the GDP, while wages have fallen by 4.3%.
How “European” is it that in the European Union the poor and the unemployed have risen to unacceptable numbers amounting to millions of people?
The question is not if we want Europe, but what kind of Europe we want. We want a Europe that serves people and their needs. A progressive, democratic and peaceful Europe. This is our vision for Europe.
At the same time, however, we don’t simply denounce this current tragic reality. We propose changes and radical proposals for today’s needs – assertions that can offer immediate solutions in the correct direction.
The forces of the Left in Europe have highlighted the demand for the abolition of the Fiscal Pact, the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union and the European Semester. We have proposed replacing them with policies promoting social convergence, employment and growth for all without exclusions. We also put forth the demand for public scrutiny and the decentralization of the banking sector, as opposed to the consolidation of the Banking Union.
The Europe we are talking about will not be in coupling with NATO – as the Lisbon Treaty provides for – nor will it be engaging in continuous militarization, but instead will constitute a factor of peace and upholding International Law.
At the same time, we are also asserting for Cyprus in Europe.
We will continue during this new five-year term to demand from the European Union that it provides all possible support to the Republic of Cyprus for the termination of the illegal Turkish occupation; that it remains consistent to the position for a solution within the agreed framework; that it continues to contribute through the allocation of funds towards the Committee of Missing Persons (CMP), to the efforts to identify the fate of the missing persons and the bicommunal Commission on Cultural Heritage; that it continues to demand from Turkey that it implements the UN Security Council resolutions for the return of the enclosed city of Famagusta to its lawful inhabitants. We will continue to struggle for the abandonment of the idea for a “special partnership” with Turkey, which in effect will exempt it from complying with its obligations towards the Republic of Cyprus. We shall continue to demand from the European Council that it takes a more resolute stance against Turkey’s violations in the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Republic of Cyprus by approving measures to respond to these specific violations and to continue to support the Turkish Cypriot community, always through the procedures agreed with the Republic of Cyprus procedures.
We don’t hide it from DISY either, nor from anybody else, that we are fighting for another orientation in the economy, and that is where we will be focusing our struggles on during this five-year term as well.
The Europe we want is a Europe for the many, not for the privileged few. We are asserting a new set of economic, social and environmental policies for the peoples and workers that will replace the current framework, structure and neoliberal priorities of the European Union enshrined in the Treaties of the European Union, the European Semester and the Fiscal Pact.
We are asserting the promotion at member-state level the establishment of an intergovernmental body on tax issues under the aegis of the United Nations. The goal is to create a road map and a joint action plan to put an end to tax havens and tax evasion.
The Europe we want must respect working people. We are asserting public investment in the real economy, which will focus on creating dignified and safe jobs with full labour rights and pro-active policies against economic inequality and poverty, as well as the strengthening of the welfare state. We are asserting for working people the enactment of legislation that will oblige all employers to implement Collective Labour Agreements, ensure minimum employment conditions, the immediate regulation of informal precarious forms of employment to the benefit of working people’s social and labour rights, and the promotion of measures to prevent false employment – the purchasing of services. We are struggling for the restoration of wages and an improvement in working people’s terms and conditions of employment.
The Europe we want serves European values. During this forthcoming five-year period human rights remain among our priorities. This for us means that we shall continue to struggle to safeguard the protection of socio-economic rights of citizens through a binding protocol respecting the UN’s Compulsory International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. We continue to struggle for the revision of the exemptions provided by the General Regulation on Personal Data, with the goal of protecting personal data and people’s privacy. In addition, we shall focus on immigration policies that will not be targeting third-country nationals on a mass scale which foster xenophobia and racism.
The Europe we want respects the environment. We are demanding for the environment a binding agreement between states to curb climate change. We are asserting to ensure that member states restrict or prohibit the cultivation of genetically modified organisms on their territory so that we can safeguard that Cyprus will remain a free from GMO’s zone. We are insisting on a strict Directive to assess the impact of public and private projects on the environment. We demand that the objectives of the Union’s energy policy be redefined and that people’s interests, the needs of society and the interests of small and medium-sized enterprises must be put at the very centre.
The Europe we want respects people. That is why we are struggling for the immediate abolition of the Dublin System which traps refugees in the first-host member state, that is to say the southern Mediterranean states. We are asserting a permanent refugee resettlement system across all EU member states, on the basis of each state’s population and capabilities, as well as the termination of the EU-Turkey Agreement, which is an unethical deal. We want safe and legitimate routes for refugees to apply for asylum, dignified conditions of temporary asylum for asylum seekers and multinational search and rescue operations to end the ongoing tragedies in the Mediterranean Sea.
The Europe we want can become a reality through the strengthening of the forces that are struggling for the many.
The Europe we want is the Europe we can achieve if we give strength to our own force, if we give a voice to our voice and if we give strength to AKEL-Left-New Forces on 26th May.
