The unacknowledged secret – By Costas Christodoulides, Head of the European Affairs Department of AKEL

 

 

“HARAVGHI” newspaper, 8th March 2013

 

As time goes by we shall all find out in Cyprus the unacknowledged secret, namely that the European Union is not only not a club of angels, but a union which functions based on market rules and the maximisation of profit. Since certain forces and circles will immediately say “then why did AKEL consent to the accession of Cyprus to the EU”, we should recall that AKEL in the decision approved at the 18th Congress put forth the position that “the assessments and views of AKEL concerning the character of the European Union as an advanced form of capitalist political and economic integration have not changed”.

The same decision notes that “AKEL considers that the Cyprus´ accession course to the European Union can have positive results only to the degree that this will enhance the efforts to solve the Cyprus problem within the framework of the United Nations and the High-Level Agreements”. The decision sets out the following prophetic preconditions:

a) The safeguarding of trade union rights and workers gains (Cost of Living Allowance, Social Insurance Fund etc).

b) The safeguarding of the independence and democratic institutional operational framework of the Cooperative movement.

c) The safeguarding of the social character of the public utility enterprises and the social role of the state in general.

d) The protection and support of the sensitive sectors of production (industry, agriculture), as well as producers income.

The days ahead are extremely crucial for some to dish out “aphorisms” about “anti-Europeanists” when the truth is so obvious. Today Cyprus is being blackmailed through statements made by EU officials stating that if Cyprus does not accept the terms which these interests dictate it will have to face bankruptcy through the “haircut” on bank deposits. This deliberate blackmailing is aiming at the foreign capital stationed in Cyprus on the one hand, but also Cyprus´ wealth, natural and other. Previously the EU demanded that the Cooperative sector should be put under control, by changing the independent character of the only economic institution which historically, but also in its contemporary form, provides support to the common working people of Cyprus. It sought, and partially achieved, the restriction of the Automatic Cost of Living Allowance, dealing a blow to the people’s income, whilst at the same time the prices of goods are not “curbed”.

In addition, the EU is attempting to dismantle collective agreements and undermine the role of working people’s trade unions.

Regarding public utility enterprises, AKEL had predicted through dialectic analysis that their character would be disputed inside the EU, as well as the minimum social role of the state, a phenomenon which today we see more clearly and takes the form of cuts and supposed targeted policies harming large families, people with disabilities and the vulnerable sections of society.

The ruling class which governs the EU doesn’t implement all of these policies just by the Memorandum of Understanding, but also through a number of decisions in the form of Directives and rules. With the Services Directive (Bolkestein), since 2006 the EU has paved the way for the multinational companies to introduce in any country the terms of employment enforced for example in Estonia, as well as to export their own workers abroad.

Not so long ago the European Commission tabled a proposal to revise the labour law in the member states to serve the needs of competitiveness, whilst on the other hand with the revision of the Stability Pact the EU member states are required to reduce their deficits by half a percent until this becomes a surplus without even looking at the issue of social and development policy. It is equally important to recall that since Cyprus`  accession to the European Monetary Union and the Euro our people was called upon to follow an austerity policy, but also to further promote targeted social benefits to an increasingly fewer number of the population. This is the result of the balance of forces in Europe, the international correlation of forces, but also of the EU Treaty of Establishment  which through the enforcement of the Lisbon Treaty and from then on officially institutionalises that belief in capitalism is not sufficient, but the implementation of policies for unbridled competitiveness intensifying the creation of monopolies and competition between them. In other words, the EU, and this should be assessed, has moved on to another level. AKEL rejected all this with responsibility towards our people, subsequently fuelling the fury of those who are celebrating today about the victory of the Right.

It is difficult for those hiding this reality to assess what will follow and argue that they are acting positively for the interests of Cyprus. The issue is to adhere to a consistent political position which includes supporting working people’s resistance to the greatest possible degree and struggling against these policies.

The real dilemma remains. That is to say whether this aggressive and reactionary character of the European Union, which is in conflict in an increasingly evident and perceptible way with class interests and the “national” interests” of the smaller states sacrificed for the sake of a vague integration which in reality safeguards the free movement of workers and the exploitation of resources and of the labour force in the context of a ferocious capitalism, is in the interests of the Cypriot working people, small and middle businessmen and the army of growing unemployed. Furthermore, the selling off of the state sector to big business is obviously a crucial issue in the life of Cyprus where the government and external forces will attempt to surrender the infrastructure, operation and working people themselves to corporate companies. The same philosophy will certainly not leave natural gas untouched, not only because of unilateral strategic agreements, but also through the assignment of its exploitation to private interests.

At the same time, with Cyprus opting to become a member of the EU, it is imperative that the struggle on a local and international level of those forces in the front line of struggle and on the side of the majority of the people, working people, the poor and young people desperately searching for a job, is stepped up, organised and broadened. These forces will stand as a bastion to the tacit agreement between the domestic political and economic powers with the ruling class in the European Union to surrender, among other things, vital sectors of the economy to big capital under the cloak of an emergency situation. Today the consequences the recapitalisation of the banks of Cyprus will have on the working people themselves is becoming increasingly apparent. At the same time, those analysts parading in the mass media calling for “responsibility” in the face of cuts and poverty and who are consciously urging for privatisations as the salvation, are presenting the people with the opportunity to ultimately judge in a very clear way who serves what interests.

The only road ahead is that of a powerful response by the people and the preparation for mass resistance, the popularization of the vision for the liberation of Cyprus from the suffocating embrace of the monopolies; a road that liberates us from the nightmare of unemployment, poverty and provides real hope to the seeming deadlock propagated by “wise experts”, the mass media, the official leadership of the Church and the parties of capitulation and submission, as the only way ahead. This path of struggle will demand from working men and women, the unemployed, semi-employed women workers and small entrepreneurs to consciously decide to take to the streets to struggle, as many other peoples in Europe and the rest of the world are doing.