4-6 October Strategy meeting on Economic Governance. Join the process.
de parte de
Sol Trumbo Vila
on 2013-08-06 15:50
Dear all,
I flag up another ongoing process that is trying to build up a
pan-European social movement - http://www.altersummit.eu - This process
is willing to build an effective counter power that effectively resist
the neoliberal agenda that is being impossed in Europe (which has also
implication for the rest of the world).
The Alter Summit is being supported by 200 organizations from all over
Europe. One of the outcomes of an open assembly held in Athens was the
proposal to have a seminar to strategize together a campaign that is
effective in rolling back the neoliberal agenda impossed in Europe. For
this there we believe there is a need to deeply discuss how more
traditional social movements such as medium size progressive Trade
Unions and civil society organizations (feminist, environmental groups)
can work together with the new movements that emerged since 2011
(Indignados, Occupy, Blockupy, etc). A campaing that combines both
direct action and constant debate in the public sphere.
After taking into consideration the busy agenda of fall (with hub
meeting, Blockupy international meeting and Agora 99) we have decided to
organize the strategy meeting 4-6 October in Amsterdam.
The process is open and far from finished.
At our latest call we decided to have a call in mid August to take this
further.
To those interested: please tick the doodle to identify the time where
most people can join:
http://www.doodle.com/dp6nxkippfybgvk9
To bring you up to speed, the minutes from the latest call are inserted
below.
MINUTES, CONFERENCE CALL, 5. JULY
1. Introductions
Kenneth (CEO), Brid (TNI), Martin (CEO), Susan George, Isabel Ortiz
(IPD, NY), Hernán Cortés (researcher in social movements), Iván Ayala
(Econonuestra), Roland (rls), Stefan (attac de), Miriam (NL, SOMO).
2. Introduction to the process so far - who has worked on it and how
This process is a result of the alter summit - assembly on Economic
Governance. Idea to have a European event in autumn. Open Process over
some month to organize it. For more see proposal circulated. Proposal
was presented at ATTAC-Europe meeting.
3. Comments for the proposal (see below).
- Include financial markets and reform
- denouncing the crimes of the banks
- show how corporate/banking interest is making the rules
- Denounce competitiveness
- Define Campaign objectives (for a defined period)
Points within the proposal will be prepared by the following person
groups (so far)
point 4 (ATTAC) Group
Point 1 and 2 IPD
point 3: TNI and others
Please let us know if you want to participate in the preperation of any
of the points (see proposal) until July 19th
4. Some next steps:
- Presentation of the proposal at the alter summit meeting July 8th
- Feedback in the coming weeks/month
- Next conference call: Mid August
Circulate a short letter to sign for the preparations
Encourage people to write written comments on the EUincrisis list to
the proposal
Proposed date for the conference: 25. - 27.10.
in Amsterdam
*
Next steps on economic governance and the Troika
Draft proposal for a European strategy meeting in October
Why do we need to organise a European strategy meeting now?
It’s been 3 years now since the eurocrisis broke, and a little less
since the Troika appeared and the rules on economic governance were
imposed. While on national level in particular in those countries hit
the hardest by austerity the level of struggle is impressive, there are
still very few pan-European initiatives and hardly any genuine European
struggle against the way neoliberalism is being forced on Europe.
Over the past year we’ve seen at least two forceful action days – the
14th of November (Day actions and strikes of the trade unions) and the
1st of June (Blockupy Frankfurt and actions in cities across Europe,
called by Portuguese movements). To this, the actions in connection with
the Spring Summit showed some good signs as well. This shows that in
terms of actions, there are already platforms or initiatives capable of
creating impact. What we do need is to evaluate these and other
experiences to strengthen our capacity to launch the kind of struggles
we can win, or where we can make new headway, by a coordinated effort on
a regular basis.
What would be the key objectives of such a meeting?
To do that, we will need a closer coordination between social movements
and other progressive actors on EU policies. So at the meeting we would
mainly need to come up with two things: first, methodologies and
infrastructure to maintain a more regular and closer dialogue on
political developments at the European level that affect all of us, and
second, some concrete campaigning projects – implemented either as
actual European campaigns or adopted to local circumstances - in the
near future that would allow the consolidation of a pan-European social
movement.
What could the programme look like?
It could be divided in three parts:
1. Stock-taking: what has been adopted at the EU level and with what
consequences
This part of the meeting would be to bring everyone up to speed. It
would include a crash course in economic governance and the Troika.
2. Looking ahead: what do current developments in the EU look like? Are
we on our way to new neoliberal grand projects, such as a
Competitiveness Pact? Is a fiscal union still on the table, and what
challenges does it pose? How is the discussion about the banking union
going?
3. Successful campaigns: Which actions have been the most successful to
effectively question the neoliberal doctrine and the Troika agenda? What
are the actors with the greatest impact? What are the effective tactics
to confront the current power structures? What media strategy (including
alternative media?
4. Alternatives – demands: while the campaign should not necessarily be
underpinned by a comprehensive alternative, some demands to show what an
alternative approach to the crisis would look like is necessary.
5. Strategy: what initiatives do we need to take to strengthen the hand
of social movements in Europe in our attempt to stop the wave of
undemocratic, neoliberal laws and pave the way for alternatives? Are
strikes from Trade Unions or occupations from new movements enough? How
do we create a dialogue between movements with different perspectives on
the crisis in order to strengthen resistance and avoid infighting? This
will include identifying key moments, be it the launch of a
Competitiveness Pact, a new series of demands from the Troika, or the
European elections next year. Which communication strategy should we
follow? What is our target audience?
Who?
Who would we like to see at the strategy meeting? Besides a good
geographical coverage – both North, South and East are important to have
there – we think of the meeting as an encounter of the social movements
who are already working in the area, including ATTAC, plus progressive
trade unions, plus “new movements” from Spain and other places, plus
think tanks and NGOs of various sorts.
Where and when?
Amsterdam, 4-6 October
Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
In solidarity,
Sol Trumbo Vila