The European elections: only struggle pays!

international | miscellaneous | feature

Wednesday June 03, 2009 00:42

by European anarchist organizations - AL - FdCA - L&S - WSM

Joint statement by European anarchist communist organisations

From June 4th to 7th, European voters are called to the polls to choose who will "represent" them in the European Parliament.
As anarchist communists, we do not think elections can bring any real change, as we prefer direct democracy to representative democracy. In other words, we prefer decisions affecting all workers to be discussed and made by those workers themselves, collectively.

The European Union's functioning and goals are opposed to this self-managing model and thus to the interests of the workers and the people. Its leaders despise the people so much that, although they may ask for our opinion, the only answer allowed is one which accepts the EU's political line which has already been decided eslewhere. The EU's attitude to the rejection by referendum of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe exemplifies this fact.

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The European elections: only struggle pays!

From June 4th to 7th, European voters are called to the polls to choose who will "represent" them in the European Parliament.

As anarchist communists, we do not think elections can bring any real change, as we prefer direct democracy to representative democracy. In other words, we prefer decisions affecting all workers to be discussed and made by those workers themselves, collectively.

The European Union's functioning and goals are opposed to this self-managing model and thus to the interests of the workers and the people. Its leaders despise the people so much that, although they may ask for our opinion, the only answer allowed is one which accepts the EU's political line which has already been decided eslewhere. The EU's attitude to the rejection by referendum of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe exemplifies this fact.

The role of MEPs is to be part of the system which defends the interests of the capitalist class. On top of that, the actual leaders of the EU (the European Commission, the chair of the European Central Bank, etc.) are not subject to any democratic control and so they are even freer to defend those interests against the interests of the working class. This can be seen in the outrageous liberalization and privatization policies that have been enacted, and in the budgetary and monetary austerity (launched with Maastricht). In the current period of crisis, such policies only cause suffering for working-class people. There has been hardly any relaxation of the strict effects of the Stability Pact, which imposes very low public deficit levels. And while the European Central Bank did agree to relax monetary austerity, it has done so only in a very limited way that will only contribute to deepening the European crisis.

The European Union is a war machine to be used against social rights and workers, especially migrant workers: social dumping, cutting "labour costs", "free and undistorted competition", the hunt for migrants, border closures, police co-operation, and so on.

So the European Union is not a neutral institution whose policies should be "reshaped" - it is the institutional fulfilment of a capitalist power dedicated to serving the bosses and the bankers.

The election of new MEPs will not change this situation in any way. Only joint social struggles by all workers in a Europe-wide social movement can halt those policies and encourage the growth of a revolutionary force against capitalism and its institutions, for another society. A society based on the truly internationalist ideals of freedom, equality and solidarity.