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Invite for a European strategy meeting:

Economic governance, the Troika and the struggles against European neoliberalism

4-6th of October

Conference centre

Lombokstraat 40

Amsterdam

 

At the Alter Summit in Athens in June, activists from across Europe decided at an open assembly to hold a strategy meeting to discuss and organise European struggles against the imposition of neoliberal policies by the Troika and the new EU economic governance, and its disastrous consequences.

Austerity, privatisation and attacks on social rights is being pushed systematically from the European level, and while there have been many impressive struggles at the national level in Southern Europe, European coordination and the European response is still sporadic.  

First steps towards more European coordination have been around sporadic action days. While those days of action have allowed in some countries to get visibility and make resistances visible, it has not allowed to achieve a substantial turn around. At the same time new forms of action, organization and campaigning are emerging, but often with little coordination between the social actors - from the more radical to the more traditional - that promote them.

The purpose of the strategy meeting is to strengthen European coordination on these struggles against the measures and future plans to advance the neoliberal economic governance.

It will take place in Amsterdam, the 4-6th of October

The meeting intends to bring activists, organizations and networks that are addressing the undemocratic neoliberal crisis strategy and governance imposed from the EU - the EU shock doctrine - and discuss together which strategies have been more successful and to identify what are the common lines from which we can draw a genuine European movement:

- what have been the  experiences of resistance

-  how do we strengthen coordination (of existing European initiatives and of national initiatives)

-  what common priorities and targets can be identified in the near future

- how can awareness raising be improved

- how can our internal communication and coordination be improved, and what strategies should be pursued.

We ask you to:

- discuss this proposal within any relevant assembly, platform or network at the local or national level.

- bring any analysis or position paper on the EU's neoliberal offensive to Amsterdam to share

- alert other relevant actors on the meeting

Translation to and from French will be available. We're looking into the possibility of covering other languages based on the needs of participants.

We’re looking for ways to ensure mutual support, and to strengthen our capacity to address the challenges at the European level that cannot be met at the national or local level alone.

Programme: see below.

 

REGISTRATION, COSTS AND FUNDING

Register for the meeting no later than the 30th of September at: EUcrisismeeting[at]tni.org

Individual registration fee: 8 euro - 5 euro for students and unemployed.

The registration fee includes coffee and tea and lunch on Saturday.

Accommodation is available at the venue for 50 euro for the two nights. Places are limited.

In order to secure some money for solidarity funding of participants, organisations will be asked if they can contribute to a solidarity fund with 100 euro.

We will circulate more information to registrants once available. If you need to know more urgently, use the email address above.

Many groups have contributed so far; at the moment the facilitators include several ATTAC-groups, Corporate Europe Observatory, SOMO, Ecologistas en Acción, Econonuestra, Transnational Institute and many more.

 

Preliminary programme:

AMSTERDAM 4-6 October

FRIDAY

15.30-16.00: Welcome

16.00-17.00: Opening debate: the need to roll back economic governance and stop the troika

Introduction to the strategy meeting by the organisers – what the meeting is set up to achieve.

* On economic governance and the Troika: What are the stakes? What has happened so far, and what challenges do we face in the near future?

* Why we need to work closer together to respond to EU/ Brussels neoliberal attacks .

* The conclusions/ideas from the assembly in Athens.

Discussion

17-18.15: Experiences from recent struggles and initiatives, including campaigning and direct action.

The purpose is to recall earlier or ongoing initiatives to make sure we draw on experiences and that we complement the work done in other networks and coalitions. (10 min. max per group)

Alter Summit - process and Manifesto

Blockupy - preparation for the 2014 edition.

Peoples United against the Troika. Experiences from the mobilization

Competitiveness Pact campaign. Update and sharing experiences.

Other campaigns that could be introduced: Campaign for a debt audit, campaign against evictions (Spain).

Experience from  responding to a neo-liberal EU financial reform proposal: fighting for  regulation against food speculation

18.15 – 19.30: What initiatives and struggles needs to be developed?

What main struggles should we be involved in? The proposals will form the basis of workshops on Saturday.

We will run this session with a small group session for a first braining storming at the beginning (about 20 minutes)

Groups of max 6 should discuss the following question:

What are the three main initiatives/struggles/things to be done to stop economic governance policies or revert them?

We will collect the proposals in the plenary and work out together where there are convergences and define the working groups of the next day.

SATURDAY

9.45 -10.30:  Recall Friday´s conclusions and discussing the workshops

This session will decide the final division of working groups.

Taking into account the current political dynamic or key events as regards the economic governance agenda where we should act together, develop coordinated strategies, work plan as regards how to make a difference/change something etc. in the light of the overall aim, that we want to stop the current economic governance policies and revert them.

Likely topics that will be addressed in the workshops: the Troika, the Competitiveness Pact, the Fiscal Compact and Stability Pact: can they be rolled back?, financial reforms and how it results in neo-liberal governance and crisis management, attacks on social rights, the links between the internal and external agenda of the EU, eg. the EU-US free trade agreement.

Questions that will help to frame the workshops:

- what are the current dynamics as regards the advancement or introduction of new policies that we identify as opportunities for joint struggle?

- what opportunities we see to slow down or revert a process

- either at the European or at a national level?

- What are key challenges in different countries or subregions we are facing?

- Where groups would find it important/wish to work on joint strategies?

- How do take into consideration the unevenness of struggles?

- What have we learnt from previous struggles to take into consideration for our future struggles on economic governance.

10.30-12:30:  Workshops

12.30-13.30: Lunch

13.30-14.30: Workshops continued

14.30-15.30: Report back from workshops – discussion on outcomes

15.30- 16.00 Coffee break

16.00-18.00:  Collecting the demands and alternatives and articulating the different ideas and strategies

Based on the reports of the working groups - what demands and alternatives have been put forward as key in the next couple of weeks/months that should play a role in our campaigns and struggles.

What common strategies have been developed, and where strategies have to be articulated (we assume that we might have different strategies as we have different realities so e.g. if a a group works on the competitiveness pact - not all might work on that, but the question is how it can be articulated with others and vice versa).

SUNDAY

10-10.30: Summing up conclusions from Saturday, including important dates and responsibilities.

10.30-13: Identifying how to continue the work (working groups on specific initiatives, production/sharing of material, internal communication, next meeting/conference call)

 

In solidarity,

 contact TNI.org 

+31 20 662 66 08