DiEM25

Οι ευρωεκλογές αντιμετωπίζονται από όλα τα κόμματα ως πρόβα τζενεράλε για τις εθνικές εκλογές, κάτι σαν επίσημη δημοσκόπηση. Ενίοτε, μια αδύναμη κυβέρνηση επισπεύδει τις εθνικές εκλογές ώστε να συμπέσουν με τις ευρωεκλογές (π.χ. το 1989) ώστε να δώσει την ευκαιρία σε δυσαρεστημένους ψηφοφόρους να τη «μαυρίσουν» στην ευρω-κάλπη αλλά να την υπερψηφίσουν στην εθνική κάλπη. Πάντως, σε κάθε περίπτωση, οι ευρωεκλογές ποτέ δεν περιστρέφονται γύρω από το μέγα ζήτημα «Τι Ευρώπη θέλουμε;».

On 17th October 2018, Valdis Dombrovskis, Vice President of the European Commission, addressed the Oxford Union in support of the motion that “the euro has never been stronger“. Today, Friday 16th November 2018, Steve Bannon is addressing the Oxford Union also.

Whether or not you agree with his politics, there’s no denying that Greece’s one-time Finance Minister, Yanis Varoufakis, offers a lot of food for thought to British businesses. The economist, politician, author and dedicated European reformer addressed our KPMG Executive Exchanges dinner in Leeds in late September. Theresa May, Brexit, Angela Merkel, deflation, the northern powerhouse, idle liquidity and Michel Barnier were all given the Varoufakis treatment in a thought-provoking analysis of the world as he sees it.

Chris Hearld, North Regional Chair

Last Friday, Yanis Varoufakis was in Italy to promote European Spring, a list of candidates standing across the continent in next May’s European election. The former Greek finance minister visited Rome just days after the European Commission had struck down the Italian government’s budget, sparking further rows over Brussels’ authority to curb member states’ spending. At his press conference, Varoufakis called for a “radical Europeanism,” as an alternative to both the populist right and the neoliberal center.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are here because Italy is being torn by two destructive forces: Brussels and Salvini. By the failed establishment of Renzi-Merkel-Juncker-Moscovici and by the reckless, racist anti-European Salvini project.

Tragically, Brussels and Salvini are working very well together against the interests of Italians in particular and of Europeans in general.

One country that symbolised the crisis of the last 10 years was Greece. Its insolvency embarked the country on a long regime of bail-outs and austerity. This August, Greece officially emerged from the crisis, with the OECD forecasting GDP growth again. So, did the austerity work? The former Greek finance minister and co-founder of the Democracy in Europe Movement (DiEM) remains unconvinced.

Brian Eno correctly said that children play to discover how the world works and, once they grow up, art is the adult way of continuing to… play. But, then, he incorrectly surmised that art is not dangerous. True, in the good society art would not be dangerous. But, in our terrible societies the madmen in authority are terrified of good art. “When I hear the word culture I reach for my revolver”, opined Herman Goering. And how right he was! “The purpose of painting is not to decorate.

A culture war is underway in Europe – not between the ‘anywheres’ and the ‘nowheres’, but between those who use culture to divide – by class, by race, by nation – and those who use it to connect and include. This war is not based in Parliament – but on the street, in our homes, and across the web. If these conflicts present real dangers, they also present opportunities to reach people that have disconnected from traditional forms of politics – and to hear their voices in response.

This is the English language (original) interview with Arcangelo Rociola, published on the AGI site in Italian, on the Italian government’s clash with Brussels over its budget deficit, the plans for a flat tax (that is not flat) and a universal income (that will never be universal), the 5S Movement’s claim to the mantle of the Italian Left, and my pronouncement that Mr Salvini has brought a Fascist Moment into Italy and into Europe.