An internationalist transitional programme as an answer to the Euro crisis by Dr. Özlem Onaran

The crisis laid bare the historical divergences within Europe, and led to a European
crisis and a new stage in the global crisis. !e existing policies in Europe have three
fundamental “aws: First, they assume that the problem is a lack of #scal discipline
and repeat the old faith in strengthening the surveillance of budget de#cits; they do
not question the reasons behind the de#cits; they ignore all the structural problems
regarding divergence in productivity, and imbalances in current accounts due to the
»beggar my neighbour« policies of Germany. Second, they are based on the argument
that Europe has a sovereign debt crisis, which ignores the fact that public debt would
not have increased at the current rates if it were not for the #nancial crisis, which
was prevented by unprecedented bank rescue packages; which in turn increased the
budget de#cits along with loss in tax revenues and increased social spending because
of the crisis. !ird, they deny the underlying reason behind the current crisis, which
was increased inequality in the distribution of income and wealth – a fundamental
feature of neoliberal capitalism.
Emerging consensus within the anti-capitalist left
A consensus among the anti-capitalist forces for a strategy against the crisis is emer-
ging across Europe around four pillars: i) resistance against austerity policies and all
cuts, ii) a highly progressive system of taxes on income and wealth, higher corporate
tax rates, tax on #nancial transactions, and capital controls, all coordinated at the
European level, iii) public ownership and democratic control of banks, iv) debt audit
followed by default. !ese demands #nd their echo also among a broader le$ oppo-
sition, albeit in a descending order according to support. I #nd it crucial to start any
tactical debate within the anti-capitalist le$ by emphasizing these four pillars as an
extremely positive and important starting point to build a coordinated campaign
across Europe.
How about the Euro?
!e controversial issue of the Euro in the peripheral countries of Europe must be
contextualized in the background of the above common points. !ere are two po-
sitions within the anti-capitalist le$: a position, which promotes the exit from the
Eurozone as suggested by e.g. Lapavitsas et al. (2010) or de Santos (2011) among
others, and a position, as suggested by e.g. Husson (2011), Samary (2011) or myself
(Onaran, 2010a and 2010b), which primarily aims at building an alliance for alter-
native policies across Europe that could build a bridge to an anti-capitalist transition
rather than seeing the currency as the core of the debate. !e Anti-capitalist Le$ in
Spain, the Le$ Block in Portugal, or broad parts of the Coalition of the Radical Le$
in Greece put the emphasis on a struggle against austerity rather than the Euro. If
these movements succeed, they would push for denouncing the treaties, a debt audit/
default, and this would spread resistance across Europe. Exit from the Eurozone is
not a pre-requisite in the process of radical change. !e starting point of this position
is to push for an alternative Europe and changes in the economic policy framework
within which the Euro operates. !is is not about an abstract defence of the capitalist
EU with its current structures, but is committed to building a bridge from the urgent
current demands of the broad opposition movements to an internationalist, anti-
capitalist Europe of people.
Coming back to the issue of the Euro, tactically, I see the issue of debt audit/de-
fault campaign to be a much more important departure point for mobilization than
the debate around the Euro. !e most important obstacle today to initiate any pro-
gressive economic policy in Europe and individual nation states is the speculation
on public debt and the governments’ commitment to satisfy the #nanciers. Public
#nance has to be unchained via debt default in both the periphery and the core
following a process of debt audit. A debtor-led default is fundamentally di&erent
from the current creditor-led debt restructuring plans of the European elite, which
are attached with further austerity policies. Debt default is also not just a question
of solvency as in the case of Greece or Ireland; but it is also a question related to the
origins of the public debt: thus the question is not only »can we pay the debt?«, but
»should we pay the debt?« In Britain the newly generated debt because of the crisis
that amounts to around 35 % of GDP raises the question why taxes of working people
should be used to pay this debt. !e recognition of the need for default is also impor-
tant given the ecological limits to growth, which poses a constraint to the traditional
Keynesian policies of growing our way out of debt. In Greece a popular debt audit
commission is already creating a counter power, and in Ireland and Portugal activists,
academics, and parliamentarians from across the world support a call to audit public
debts. !ese initiatives have obvious importance for Spain and hopefully for the core
countries like Italy and Britain. A pro-labour solution of the crisis in the periphery
as well as the core requires debt default, and a joint, coordinated struggle at the Eu-
ropean level can create a stronger o&ense to the multi-national ruling elite of Europe.
!e attack is international: multinational bank and business lobbies are deter-
mining the policies of the national governments as well as EU institutions by using
boycotting of government bonds as a threat; thus the opposition also needs to be
internationally organized. A European network of movements – broad fronts as well
as anti-capitalist organizations – could be turned into a leverage to bring together
peoples’ opposition to austerity in di&erent countries. An internationalist solution
might generate a more powerful front in the core and the periphery compared to
national alternatives.
!e relevance of a Europe-wide mobilization in the core and the periphery derives
from the common interests of the working people. !e austerity packages throug-
hout the EU are pushing the countries into a model of chronically low internal de-
mand based on low wages. In the past in Germany low domestic demand was substi-
tuted by high demand for exports. But it is not possible to turn the whole Eurozone
into a German model based on wage suppression and austerity, since without the
de#cits of the periphery German export markets will also stagnate. Particularly for
the periphery of Europe contraction in domestic demand means … http://www.beigewum.at/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Kuwe-1-12-Debatte-Onaran.pdf