European New Deal

The lean years are here again, to the apparent satisfaction of Germany’s Finance Minister, a Social Democrat.  The rate of growth of the budgetary surplus was declining, therefore restraining expenditure was the prudent attitude, the public must rest assured that over the next few years 25 billion euros will be saved, the chance of a mildly pro-cyclical switch to austerity will not be missed.  But such is the degree of credibility of prudent handling of the public finances that the markets over-reacted, the Minister had to reassure that all was really not quite so bad, equilibrium of polit

If xenophobia is rearing its ugly head across Europe, it is because of the awful design of our Single Currency, our Single Market & EU governance. It is time to fix them. The European Spring program explains how we propose to do this.

Varoufakis talks to us about what he’s planning with the veteran US politician, why Jeremy Corbyn has been slow to support his campaigning efforts in Europe, and whether it’s possible for the UK to “remain and reform” inside the EU.

VICE: Can you start by telling me about your trip over to the US. What plans do you have in the pipeline with Bernie?

OXFORD, England — A police van smuggled Steve Bannon past protesters in Oxford last month, a stop on a promotional tour for his new project to boost “populist nationalism” across Europe.

Onwards with DiEM25-Generation-s-EUROPEAN SPRING and our New Deal for Europe

On November 25, at a hip “event loft” in Berlin, Yanis Varoufakis announced that he’d be campaigning for office in two countries at once. In the spring, the former Greek finance minister had declared his intention to run for prime minister back home in Athens—and in ordinary times, that might have been enough. Today, though, “discontent, xenophobia, and precariousness are on a triumphant march” around the world, as Varoufakis told his mostly German audience.

On Sunday morning, the former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis picked up a microphone in Berlin, the German capital where, three years ago, high-stakes negotiations with E.U. leaders culminated in his resignation. Varoufakis, 57, knows many Germans still blame him and his country for the European debt crisis. But on stage in Berlin, next to a banner reading “European Spring,” he announced he would again be running for elected office. This time, in Germany.

Germany is experiencing a paradoxical crisis. Germany is, on paper, flooded by… money. The federal government is in surplus. A tsunami of foreign money is flooding German banks. Families are saving. And even corporations hoard huge amounts of savings. So, why is the political centre not holding? Why are the major parties bleeding? Why is discontent, xenophobia and precariousness on a triumphant march?

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.