AKEL DECLARATION ON THE “SCHUMAN DECLARATION” OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

 

AKEL C.C Press Office, 9th April 2013, Nicosia

  

The Central Committee of AKEL expresses its solidarity with the struggling peoples in the EU member-states and especially with the working people and all those suffering from the neo-liberal policies which the EU ruling circles and the system itself are promoting.

 

The period of empty words and cheap declarations about equality has long gone. The peoples in the European Union are suffering at first hand a crisis that victimises them, whilst the monopolies are appropriating even more profits.

 

The working class, the small and middle sectors and the middle strata of the people are being devastated by the austerity policies, the deregulation of labour laws aiming to ensure cheap labour, the exploitation of the reserve army of the unemployed and an all-out attack on the state’s social policy is being implemented.

 

The Cypriot people, nine years after our country’s accession to the EU and five years since our accession to the European Monetary Union and the Eurozone, is under an unprecedented attack which combines all the tools of the brutal neo-liberal model being implemented elsewhere, but also especially in the countries under the yoke of a Memorandum. This attack is for the first time introducing in the modern era the seizure of deposits and the dismantling of the Providence and Pension Funds that were in two of the biggest Banks of Cyprus. It hands over the whole of the financial system to the Troika and the European Central Bank. It stifles the economy of the country and imposes self-financing.

 

We note the double standards in the philosophy by which decisions are taken on an EU level. Namely that on the one hand, a number of EU member-states, such as for example Germany and France, which for years violated the EU Treaties and the criteria regarding the deficit without any “punishment”, whilst at the same time the selective propping up of banking giants had been allowed in breach of community legislation regarding state aid. On the other hand, countries of the periphery were prohibited from supporting their public services, such as for example Cyprus Airways citing the same legislation which the EU violated in general.

 

AKEL has confirmed through its militant stance in the European Parliament its fundamental position for struggle against the policies of deregulation that are being implemented for years by the Directorate of Brussels in agreement with powerful member-states. We recall the “Theses for the 21st Congress of AKEL” containing two key assessments which Cyprus´ very experience has unfortunately confirmed. We pointed out on the 25th November 2010 two fundamental trends as recorded in the “Theses”:

 

1. “In recent years the ruling circles have strongly promoted a series of decisions characterised by the pressure for the deregulation of labour relations and laws, and for the further liberalisation of the financial sector.”

 

2. “It is worrying that instead of a change in orientation and in content on a European level being agreed, it appears that we are moving towards an era of further hardening of the Stability Pact and of the monetary criteria, indeed with the involvement of the International Monetary Fund and of the onerous terms that accompany it. AKEL does not agree with these policies and projects a different vision.” 

 

Let the people draw their conclusions about how much those forces who were describing the European Union as a family of equality and justice have been vindicated or whether the forces, headed by AKEL first of all, have been vindicated who stressed the need for commitment to the goal for a another different Europe, a Europe of peace and democracy and social justice, a Europe of the peoples.

 

Finally, we underline that the alternative proposal for the exit from the Memorandum that AKEL has put forth to be the subject of a public dialogue is timely. Aphorisms based on cheap misleading notions should be replaced by an in-depth debate based on respecting the different opinion, to the benefit of the popular strata and our people as a whole. Only then will our people utilize the lessons drawn.