The implementation of the Banking Union will have further devastating consequences for Cyprus
Statement of Andros Kyprianou, General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL, on economic developments in the European Union and the New Economic Governance Framework
5th July 2013, Nicosia
The dramatic developments which the Cypriot people is today experiencing are part of all that and all what the working people will suffer in all the countries of the European Union. These developments are the result of the same policies which are destroying societies, living standards, popular gains and rights, the dreams and aspirations of millions of working people and youth from one end of Europe to the other.
The estimates and warnings issued by AKEL about the policies the ruling circles of the European Union are implementing have regrettably been confirmed. Everyone should understand that it’s not an ideological obsession to say that the European Union, as it is currently operating, is serving the interests of the monopolies and banks; that the big capital of the European Union is attacking the rights of all countries and that the big European countries, headed by Germany, are at the same time attacking the small states. Let us all understand that the creation of a Europe of democracy, progress and social progress, the Europe of the Peoples, is not only not an ideological obsession, but a demand of our times and of the peoples.
It is not enough today, which in any case is too late, to express discomfort about the behavior of the so-called partners towards Cyprus. The Eurogroup decisions regarding our country cannot be seen separately from the invasion of the International Monetary Fund in the Eurozone, the creation of the Troika and the imposition of Memoranda on Greece, Spain, Ireland, Portugal and also in other countries soon. In recent years, a number of decisions of an economic nature have been taken by the European Union which as they come into full force will take the form of an anti-peoples onslaught. The New Economic Governance Framework of the European Union signals a momentous setback for European societies and in working people’s living standards throughout Europe.
The Lisbon Treaty, which entered into force in 2009 and the New Economic Governance Framework formulated through the 2012 Intergovernmental Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance, the Euro Plus Pact Germany and France imposed in March 2012, the Six-Pack Legislative Acts implemented since December 2011, the European Semester and the Two-Pack Legislative Acts that will be approved soon have concentrated power with regards economic decisions in the powerful centres of the European Union. The scope for member-states to exercise their own socio-economic policy has been completely nullified. Member states budgets are put under the control and subject to approval not only of community bodies, but also of the other member states, that is to say of the 2-3 powerful states of the European Union. Consequently, the far-reaching reversal of labour relations, social security and social policy is completed in a dramatic way for the peoples. AKEL was the only party of Cyprus which voted against all these measures, both in the House of Representatives and the European Parliament.
Today the so-called Banking Union is being promoted that sets out the terms of operation, restructuring – dissolution of banks directly by the European Central Bank and the national Central Banks. The Banking Union is the lever that will drive the weakest banks under the control of the big banking monopolies. At the same time, the subjugation of the Cooperative movement entirely under the Banking Union will render the Cooperative Movement in the same fate as the rest of the banks, with all that this would mean for its existence and social role. This is about a centralization of the banking capital of enormous dimensions to the benefit of the powerful, primarily of the German monopolies. AKEL warns that the implementation of the Banking Union will have further disastrous consequences for Cyprus. We call on the Anastasiades government – especially now that it has fresh memories – to differentiate its position from all that is being promoted.
