News - A new Europe for new battles

EDITORIALThis ECOSY summercamp will have to be unique.

It will be the summercamp launching a new dy-

namic for the young European left, for the ge-

neration of a democratic, social and ecological

Europe. From 18 to 30 years old, we have never

known the economic boom, full employment,

regular salary raises, that is to say economic and

social progress.

Yet productivity has never increased so much,

and there has never been so much wealth on the

planet. Our generation is overqualified but it en-

counters precarious jobs and endless internships

when it is not unemployed. 22,7% of young

people in Europe – and in France, 52% in Greece

and Spain, 38% in Slovenia, 36% in Italy and Por-

tugal, 9% in Austria – that is to say more than

twice as much as the normal level. And we know

these figures are underestimated. The current

migrations of young people looking for a better

life inside Europe reveal their social desperancy

as they have to go and live in countries to which

they don’t belong and ignore the language.

We dream of another mobility for the European

youth. We dream of another Europe. A Europe

which does not consider young people as a pro-

blem but as a solution, and as citizens of their

own. We dream of a Europe which puts ecology at

the centre of its concerns, of an economic policy

with a high level of employment and a low level

of carbon. A democratic Europe in its institutions,

with the European Parliament being truly federal

and given the same competences as the Mem-

ber States. Because we refuse for the European

project to be confiscated by conservative heads

of states, denying the right of people to decide

A NEW EUROPE FOR NEW BATTLESFind out the entire text adopted by the

French Young Socialists and the Sozialis-

tische Jugend Österreichs in June 2012.

Page 2

SOCIALISTS SO FEMINISTSAs socialists we cannot accept one part of

the population being discriminated against

in all fields of social life.

Page 9

AFTER ACTA, A NEW AGE FOR DIGITAL RIGHTSFor once, the European Parliament has

heard for European citizens wishes, espe-

cially our generation. Page 8

ETHNIC PROFILING, HOW TO END WITH IT?Racial discriminations during identity check

are a common and repetitive discrimination

in France, and have kept increasing.

Page 10

RIO, 20 YEARS AFTER, MAKE STATES MOVESince Kyoto in 1997, no restrictive agree-

ment has been adopted by States while the

Earth devastation is in the full swing.

Page 10

FACING FAR RIGHT, BE THE ALTERNATIVEWe cannot and should not believe this is an

accident or a temporary trend. Page 11

> Next on page 2

WE DREAMOF A NEW EUROPE

JULY 2012

««

A NEW EUROPE FOR NEW BATTLES 2

jeunes-socialistes.fr - sjoe.at

for their own destiny. And, above all, as the ACTA treaty

showed, our rights and freedoms must be preserved from

the logics of economic supremacy.

We hope this journal is the first one of a series. As Austrian

and French Young Socialists, the ideas we have advocated

together for over 10 years – making the European left a

true alternative to liberalism and the promotion of a new

development model is more than ever relevant. We dare

saying being against a treaty is not being against Europe,

in the contrary it is fighting for it. In the text we adopted in

common, « A New Europe for New Battles », we refuse to

admit the absence of conflicts should be a foil for neo-li-

berals to implement their agenda aiming to dismantle the

State and do fiscal and environmental dumping. We will

fight for a democratic Europe, which is a precondition for

ecological and social progress at the European level for

all, because we are federalists and internationalists.

These last weeks have been productive for the Young So-

cialists of Europe. In Vienna we made common progress

in order to push our ideas in direction of our mother

parties. In Berlin at the end of June we were numerous

(Germans, Austrians, Italians, Belgians, French, Irish, Spa-

nish) to protest against austerity programmes regardless

of unemployment rates in each country. Indeed we know

our future is linked. We will keep this work going and ad-

vancing within the summercamp by gathering as many

young socialists as possible around this willingness to

change radically society in order to change Europe.

We share a common destiny, the none of a generation of

Europeans who have very little but aspire to so much for

tomorrow.

Following the electoral victory of socialists in France and

Denmark, the nomination of a socialist Prime minister

in Belgium, a new future is appearing for Europe, a new

deal that sounds like a warning call to the Europe of aus-

terity. The time of decisions has now come, a time

which will lead us to choose between chaos and hope,

between a frenzied neoliberalism that bears further sys-

temic crises, and a new social, political, democratic and

green Europe that looks toward future.

The Left is rising again in Europe, because it realized that

you only lose the battles you don’t fight. The Left has

realized that it is time to break free with a certain brand

of European Union that compromises with conserva-

tives, in which social democrats were left to negotiating

the terms of regression with the right-wing.

Our generation needs to take its full place in this politi-

cal alternative to come. We, young Socialists, intend to

defend this strong line within ECOSY, within our parties

and the PES in order to mobilize all those that will join us

to build this new Europe.

30 years of neoliberalism: a challenge to European democracy

In the last 30 years, we have known multiple crises, pro-

duced by a social model that is out of breath. Ever since,

Europe has known lackluster growth, only intersper-

sed by brief flashes due to speculative bubbles, as well

as fiscal rigor that increases the national debts, a rise of

inequalities and towering unemployment rate among

youths – especially those most vulnerable – and among

the left behind territories of our countries.

The rise of the far right, of xenophobia, of racism, and

other forms of discrimination in Europe, are by-products

of the dire social situation. In Hungary, the ruling party

is leading its country down a dangerous path toward

authoritarianism, limiting fundamental rights without

any possible efficient reaction of the EU. Nationalism is

also rising in the Netherlands, in France, in Belgium, in

Greece and elsewhere in Europe as the electoral results

A NEW EUROPE FOR NEW BATTLES

This text has been adopted by the French Young Socialists and the Sozialistische Jugend Öster-reichs in June 2012.

> Next of the editorial

Thierry Marchal-Beck

President of the French

Young Socialists

WolfgangMoitzi

Président of the Sozialistische Jugend

Österreich

3


of far right parties shows.

Meanwhile Treaties are negotiated by the Commission

and by Heads of State without

people’s representatives in the European Parliament

being systematically consulted. Financial markets and

rating agencies seem to bring more influence to bear on

the European Central Bank’s decisions than this institu-

tion. Technocracy is winning and democracy is losing.

At a time when peoples are facing the question of the

effectivity of their democracy, Europe is at a crossroads.

This democratic crisis is no accident. It is the result of

30 years of neoliberalism in the world, behind which

the European Union, encouraged by European conser-

vatives since the 1980s, has been a driving force. The

Washington consensus, the German social market eco-

nomy and Thatcherism have helped carving in stone the

policies of neoliberalism, which has become an inesca-

pable economic dogmas. Far from having slowed down

this choice of policy, the social democrats that held a

majority of European governments in the 1990s have

helped comfort it.

The American consumer credit crisis through the explo-

sion of Subprimes in the USA, but also the explosion of

European real estate bubbles (Spain, Ireland) pushed the

States to subsidize with Sovereign debt the bank rescues

in order to minimize its impact on their national eco-

nomy, weakening even more the heavily in debt states,

by financing themselves on the financial markets. This

downward spiral can only be broken by transforming the

system.

The numerous ongoing crises are symbolizing the over-

running of the political power by the economic one: the

economic crisis appeared, because of our incapability

to stamp out the headlong rush towards an unrestricted

and uncontrolled financial capitalism; the social crisis

appeared because of our incapability to develop or even

to preserve, our public services and social programs; the

environmental crisis appeared because of the influence

of industrial lobbies on the political powers of the most

polluting countries. All these crises are linked to the poli-

tical crisis. The liberal model is thriveing from the agony

of public authorities, we have to be offensive especially

on the question of the instruments that a State can use.

As they did in the past, today’s economic crises which

were caused by conservative economic policies become

an excuse to harden the very neoliberal dogma that

caused them.

Far from engaging in necessary public investment poli-

cies, which could help maintain an indispensable social

safety net, Europe is getting deeper into a fiscal tighte-

ning that is presented by the ruling conservatives as the

only possible option. The Greek crisis came at the right

time for those advocating a “shock strategy” that had

already been used in the 1980s as a testing ground for

new neoliberal policies.

The question of whether or not European States still

enjoy economic sovereignty has to be asked, ever since

the Maastricht Treaty laid the foundations of “economic

constitutionalism” and tied government’s hands, ever

since the Single European Act instituted the single mar-

ket, ever since the Constitutional Treaty of 2005, ever

since the Euro Plus Pact in 2011.

The failure of the “small steps” strategy

The problem is not the opening of the European internal

barriers, the problem remains in the fact that this ope-

ning did happen without any harmonization of the social

and fiscal policies. This original sin of the Internal Market

still has heavy consequences: it pits the States against

one another, fighting in order to obtain the investors

through fiscal and social dumping. This loss of balance

weakened Europe and its States, nourishing the criticism

against the powerlessness of the public actors. Tomor-

row’s challenge is to find the way of this fiscal and social

harmonization. This will happen through a transfer of

sovereignty of these state prerogatives towards Europe

and through a great reform of the European institutions,

giving them more legitimacy.

A Europe of standards has superseded the Europe of



rights and common values that was promised in 1950.

The goals of improving the fate of European peoples,

of harmonizing fundamental rights and individual free-

doms, have given way to the mere observance of uni-

form economic, fiscal, and budgetary rules, which form

the only remaining link between Member States.

These rigid standards have been imposed on very diverse

countries, with very different economic constraints, spe-

cific political systems and unequally developed social

systems, without developing the necessary instruments

for the constitution of a genuine European budget. They

are co-responsible for all of the crises that Europe has

known in the past three decades, and have not permitted

any other harmonization than by the

lowest bid in social, fiscal, and envi-

ronmental standards.

On social issues, the Bolkestein di-

rective (directive instituting a dis-

loyal competition between European

states) remains the poster child of harmonizing down.

It is a textbook example of the drive to create compe-

tition between social systems and a first step towards

a real « social dumping » which will have direct effects

on wages, worker’s rights, and the social safety net they

enjoy in the country they work in. The dogmas of free

trade and free competition have been used as an excuse

to destroy public services by privatizing them.

The method remains the same in the field of fiscal poli-

cies. Corporate tax rates tend to be harmonized down

toward the very low Irish rate. Meanwhile the European

citizens have to endure an upward harmonization of the

VAT, at the expense of a progressive tax system.

The environment, finally, is not spared by the liberal

policy of harmonising down. The productivism of the

CAP favors big farmers and hinders the development of

a more local and rural agriculture, functioning in short-

circuit, which would also be better for the environment

and the household budget. Concerning the energy ques-

tions, the EU prefers to develop unconventional hydro-

carbons (shale gas, oil sands, oil shallows) than to pro-

mote renewable energies, letting the goal of reducing

the greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2020 become

a pure fiction. Unrestrained free trade within and outside

European borders has only resulted in the relocation of

industries abroad, and has caused that today, the most

common goods are produced and shipped to Europe

from the other side of the globe.

Having abandoned the original goals

of European integration, an EU led by

conservatives and past social demo-

crats has been satisfied with an eco-

nomic integration through markets,

promising a step-by-step social integration that would

follow the Maastricht Treaty. These promises have never

been kept. The European Socialists have to break with

the belief according to which we should expect a strong

growth in order to obtain social conquests. The social

progress is gained through trade union and political

fights that have to be lead at a European level.

The return to power of economic constitutionalism, at the expense of peoples

The ESM (European Stability Mechanism) and the new

European Fiscal Compact are the youngest breed of the

ideology that systematically submits every refinancing

opportunity of Member States to the goodwill of markets

and rating agencies. The stability pact already showed its

limits and pointed its incoherencies, notably by fixing the

objective to set the public deficit limit at 3% of GDP – the

Fiscal Compact reduces this to 0.5%. And from now on,

the European Court of Justice will be able to sanction a

Member State, a sign of a political defeat towards tech-

nocracy, and the government of judges.

We cannot accept that the European Central Bank re-

mains exclusively focused on its goals for inflation that

can harm growth and increase public debts by preven-

ting governments from using monetary policies, and by

refusing to let States borrow directly from it at lower

rates.

A Europe of standards has superseded

the Europe of rights and common values

5


Today, we are facing a choice, of either letting the right

impede a genuine European social right construction, or

to give to the left the power to renegotiate the treaty,

inducing a new European social pact.

1 – Harnessing the financial systeme to put democracy back at the heart of Europe

The break between technocrats and peoples bears a real

risk for European democracy. Those responsible for the

crisis, including Goldman Sachs, have seen their past

employees take over positions of power in Europe, for

instance Mario Draghi as director of the European Cen-

tral Bank, Mario Monti as Italian Prime Minister or Petros

Christodoulos as manager of the Greek sovereign debt.

This deliberate blurring of the lines between experts and

politicians signals that political power is bowing down to

the power of international finance.

Economic constitutionalism is the other result of Euro-

pean neoliberalism. By enshrining it in Europe’s consti-

tutional rules, the ability to choose and implement eco-

nomic policies according to the particular state of the

economy is taken away from democratically elected

governments. There are four aspects to this economic

constitutionalism: the power to implement exchange

rate policies has been taken away from States, and yet

the EU does not exercise it; the Common External Tariff

remains toothless; there are no European fiscal policies;

and the European Union is still deprived of any meanin-

gful budget and of the power to levy taxes. This dan-

gerous infringement on the sovereignty of the people

lets liberals free to take apart the Welfare State piece by

piece; all the while wealth is increasingly used to pay off

shareholders instead of workers. This is the strategy of

neoliberals: transferring powers to the EU first, and then

preventing it from using them for anything other than

their own policies.

On the contrary, it is the people that should be put back

at the heart of European policies. As showed by the 2005

debates on the European Constitutional Treaty on the

future of Europe, this crisis must allow us to rethink Eu-

ropean construction, especially regarding people’s par-

ticipation, the role of the European Parliament and the

question of federalism. Similarly the renegociating the

Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance (TSCG)

must enable us to impose more solidarity between states

and thus between peoples. Whereas creating a common

currency should have been a tool for economic and so-

cial progress, states have lost control on their monetary

policy since the creation of the Europe. It is essential for

the public power to take this lever back.

Instead of considering a low rate of inflation as a goal in

and of itself, monetary policies should be used as a tool

for attaining goals that should be determined through

political debate. The European Central Bank must have

its role completely redefined. It is today free from any

kind of democratic or political control, and refuses to act

in accordance with goals determined by the European

Parliament. A reform needs to address its aimed inflation

rates, in order to allow for their adaptation to the state of

the economy, and its goals must be expanded to include

full employment and a sustainable growth with low car-

bon emissions.

ECB’s role should also be redefined so it can buy state

obligations on markets or directly to the states at rates

similar to those offered to private banks in order to break

the speculative attacks from financial powers on euro-

pean countries. We support private banks political take

over when the public power recapitalised them. The

creation of Eurobonds will increase the EU’s financial ca-

pacity, which can be used for big investment programs.

But while Eurobonds are a precious tool to counter mar-

kets’ pressure on sovereign debts, they cannot be the

one and only solution to pull Europe out of the crisis. We

will only put an end to imbalances and unleashed com-

petition between the states with an economic solidarty

and coordinated politics at the european level. It should

be driven by the industry and pursue the construction

of a new development model with finance serving social

Europe.

At the same time, the financial sector needs to be reined

in, so that politics can resume its rightful role. European

countries will have to impose a tax on financial transac-



tions in order to limit out-of-control speculation and

find a new source of revenue for the EU. Part of it could

be dedicated to development aid which is necessary to

build a fairer world.

Deposit banks and investment banks must be separated,

in order to protect the savings of private citizens from

speculation. This will also favour loans to the « real »

economy, which many banks have drastically cut back

because of the higher profits that pure speculation pro-

duces. Europe will also have to make sure practices and

tools enabling speculation on sovereign debts, such as

CDS, are forbidden.

Corporate tax has never been as low as it is today in

Europe, and with the creation of a new, European cor-

porate tax, we will begin the journey toward a positive

fiscal, social and environmental harmonisation. This tax

will allow for a common budget that would not depend

on Member State contributions, and

be big enough to implement autono-

mous policies in accordance with the

will of the peoples of Europe.

Finally, a people’s Europe will only

be possible through democracy. Major political deci-

sions, notably those in the fiscal or social fields should

require a qualified majority of a stronger European Par-

liament. It should appoint the Commission according to

the majority which emerged in the European elections,

which should be held on the same day in all member

states under a transnational list system. Therefore the

Commission will be politically accountable towards the

European Parliament. The Commission and the Euro-

pean Council should be put on an equal footing in the

ordinary legislative procedure. The European Parliament

should share the legislative initiative right with the Com-

mission wich is actually monopolizing it. Finally, citizens’

initiative should be strengthen by making the Commis-

sion’s opinion a consultative decision. This is how we will

build the Europe of humanist values that we want.

2 – Creating jobs and building a greener, social Europe

The questions of the content of economic policies as

regards employment and a fairer distribution of wealth

must be addressed by European democracies. The Left

must put forward real alternatives, in order to challenge

our current consumption habits. It is unacceptable to be

forced to buy washing machines produced on the other

side of the planet when so many industrial jobs have been

lost in Europe. In order to fight unemployment, Europe

must transform our economies, fight for the reindustria-

lization of the continent, and promote shorter distances

between the consumer and the producer.

This will also help meeting the goal of reducing Europe’s

greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020, a commit-

ment that has been made by the EU but that it will not be

able to keep without a stronger financial commitment

and some restrictions to free trade. We have to reserve

the right to increase the goal to a 30% reduction at Eu-

ropean level. An ambitious rail transport development

policy for passengers and goods should be started. (La

dernière phrase n’a rien à faire dans ce paragraphe… on

voit que c’est un amendement. Je suis d’accord sur le

fond mais elle ruine le sens du paragraphe !!! On peut

pas le mettre ailleur ?)

We will reaffirm our commitment to the « polluter pays

» principle, by taxing companies ac-

cording to their ecological footprint.

A carbon tax must also be created for

imported goods. This participation

of firms should also be linked to an

industrial research policy which will

encourage discovery and use of technologies that are

more adapted to environmental stakes.

Instead of free trade, we want a fairer trade, in which

countries or entities such as the EU know their own

strengths and are able to protect them from unfair

competition from countries without any kind of signi-

ficant social and environmental rules. Europe will have

to converse with all of economic powers on the planet

in order to implement common environmental norms

while participating to the development of Southern

countries. The United States and the States of MERCO-

SUR have long taken the necessary protectionist mea-

sures to safeguard their jobs and industries. Meanwhile,

Europe has opened up its single market to the rest of the

world within 30 years, refusing any kind of regulation,

and following the neoliberal dogma of the Washington

Consensus in power at the IMF and WTO. Thus, we reaf-

firm the necessity to activate the Common Tariff at the

EU’s borders, which would take into account social and

environmental criteria in producing countries, in order

to protect our industries, by going back on the constant

decrease of import duties that has taken place in the last

decades without consulting the European Parliament. In

Europe, the fight for employment requires to start rein-

dustrializing.

Instead of free trade, we want a fairer trade,

in which countries know their own strengths

7


In order to create jobs, Europe will need to massively

invest in energy transition, and in the diversification of

energy sources through the development of local ene-

ry production units. The EU has to attain energy inde-

pendence, by putting the reduction of energy consump-

tion front and centre. Alternative energies such as solar

power, wind power, hydraulic power, biomass energy,

and geothermal energy need to be developed. . We will

also need to pool and interconnect our energy resources

at the European level in order to reduce our dependency

on nuclear power and fossil fuels, and in order to put

our economies on the path to future. We want to go fur-

ther with a common energy policy in order to rationa-

lise production and to end the national vision of energy

production that prevails today. A common voice should

speak in negociations with exporters. Finally, investing in

energy efficiency for new and old buildings will create

thousands of jobs. It is a social imperative as well as an

environmental one.

Europe should be concerned with favouring better

jobs, and giving consumers more choice, including on

agricultural products. This will require a deep reform

of CAP, of the management of fishe-

ries resources, and towards a more

local, farmer’s agriculture to encou-

rage territorial quality sectors, local

distribution networks and collective

structures. This is crucial to the jobs

of European farmers and their survi-

val, crucial to the purchasing power

of consumers, and crucial to the envi-

ronmental safety of European citizens. Supporting the

development of social, solidary and environmental eco-

nomic sectors will also contribute to this change.

Finally, the comeback of the undemocratic Anti-Coun-

terfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) brings up the ques-

tion of the “patentability” of living organisms and of

common goods. More than ever, Europe needs to be at

the forefront of the struggle for universal access to clean

water, for biodiversity, and to prevent the appropriation

of these resources by a minority for their own profit.

3 – Toward a new social Treaty for a better distribution of wealth

For the past 30 years, inequalities have grown exponen-

tially, economic insecurity has increased and unemploy-

ment reaches records heights, chiefly among the young

generation. This crisis of wealth distribution makes our

solutions all the more necessary. It is the result of right-

wing policies: since the 1980s, the part of added value

used for wages has decreased compared to that used

for capital. Profits, including those from productivity

increase, have been confiscated by a small privileged

class of shareholders and executives, to the detriment of

investment or redistribution. Even worse, this imbalance

created by conservatives has been used as a justification

for anti-social policies. Pension systems, for example,

have been dramatically cut back in order to safeguard

countries’ AAA ratings.

Against all this, we assert that it is crucial and urgent

for Europe to negotiate a progressive Social Treaty. This

commitment that the Socialists have promised for de-

cades will now have to be kept in 2013, with the victory

of the Left in the elections in Italy and Germany. Practi-

cally, such a Pact should define common rights and tar-

gets for the evolution of social legislations in Member

States. A European minimum wage, calculated using the

parity of purchasing power method, should be instituted

first, as well as a minimum retirement pension of at least

60% of the median income of each country. Wage equa-

lity between women and men should also be guaranteed

in every country. Work legislations

(work hours, paid vacations, parental

leave, social safety nets) must be har-

monised up. We must also put an end

to “social dumping” through the unfair

competition between European wor-

kers – in the field of labour laws, those

of the host country should always ap-

ply. The arguments of « flexibility » or

« labour cost » are too often used by neoliberals to har-

monise down the rights of European workers.

Not everything should be subject to the market. Health,

culture and education, but also the justice, the secu-

rity and the defense, should for instance remain public

affairs. Other public services such as energy, telecom-

munications, and networks of transportation for goods,

persons or energy have proven that they are most ef-

fectively treated as natural monopolies. Thus, there is

only one possible solution: The public powers should

become majority shareholders in those companies and

their democratic administrations at a European level

(wich ou rien) is the most pertinent. This will be possible

through the institution of continental network of public

services and the revocation of the separation between

network operators and service providers. Only thus can

the quality of service be guaranteed for citizens, and

some measure of territorial equality – which is also cru-

cial for economic development – be ensured.

Against all this, we assert that it is crucial

and urgent for Europe to negotiate

a progressive Social Treaty.



Finally, at a time when major economic decisions should

be made on a continental level, and when Europe should

take its rightful place on social issues, it is vital to allow

for a greater role of trade unions. The EU must encou-

rage collective bargaining between trade unions and

industries, in order to better distribute profits from the

productivity increase, to boost wages, or to restart a pro-

gram of working hour reduction in order to effectively

fight unemployment.

Conclusion

Our generation bears the responsibility to implement the

change called for by the electoral victories of the Left

in France and Denmark, and to work on future victories

in Italy, Germany and the rest of Europe. A progressive

Europe should give priority to the issues of employment,

access to common goods, ecological development and

public services, and work on the emancipation of indi-

viduals as well as individual and collective wellbeing. It

is our duty to fight a real political battle on these issues.

With all the young people that want to join us, we will

bring proof that a Left-wing Europe can exist, and that it

can change society.

The rejection, by a vast majority of MEPs, of the Anti-

Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) on 4th July is

an encouraging sign for European democracy and a vic-

tory of European civil society movements. When ACTA

entered the public sphere and became a catchphrase

for a pan-European outcry, politicians realised, they had

pushed their powers to their limits. Negotiated behind

closed doors, intransparent for both the society and even

the European Parliament, ACTA was one of the most ob-

vious symbols that interests of a few – especially of the

industry and big companies – are dominating politics.

But ACTA achieved to give civil society its voice back. It

brought especially young people together, made them

realise that it is important to fight for our interests and

change the world, according to our needs. Furthermore

it was an opportunity to make politicians aware that

there is a new agenda, which has been shielded for a

long time and made it possible for new movements and

internet activists to emerge and have a say in the discus-

sions even if they were not consulted at first.

The treaty went further than threatening net neutra-

lity, criminalising private file-sharing on the internet and

spreading European citizens’ private data. It also gave

further power to influential firms, rich to patent eve-

rything: seeds, medicines, which endangered access to

health and food, especially in poorer countries. Hence,

the main question a socialist movement has to ask: Who

is going to have access to these things in the future? -

And even more important: Who is going to regulate it?

ACTA and the connected protests were therefore an op-

AFTER ACTA, A NEW AGE FOR DIGITAL RIGHTS

9


Feminism has brought us a lot of successes, but all those

achievements should in no way allow us to lay back.

There is yet much to do! As socialists we cannot accept

one part of the population being discriminated against in

all fields of social life. Today women are still paid much

lower then men (27% less in France). This gender gap

illustrates discriminations women face at work but also

more broadly all gender based inequalities which cha-

racterise our societies.

Firms which do not respect the principle and the law

regarding gender equality at work should be sanctio-

tion to bring back basic discussions about distributional

justice and solidarity.

As socialist we also have to promote equal access to the

internet, for instance by implementing an enforceable

right to it. This should be completed by the constitutio-

nal obligations to respect digital rights such as anony-

mity. Internet governance including questions of copy-

right laws, data protection and privacy etc. are becoming

more important and need to be put in the centre of our

activities. We need to address the issue of net neutrality

and make sure it is effective. Our role as Young Socia-

lists is to think the internet of tomorrow and the way it

entirely redefines access to information. We believe for

example that a progressive EU should legalise non com-

mercial file-sharing on the internet. In addition to that a

revised copyright law is necessary.

But all in all: ACTA is just a piece in a puzzle. Over the last

years, civil rights have been massively and continually

restricted. Beside this particular treaty there are several

other papers, which have the same goal: controlling and

regulating the masses and supporting the few. – Our

uproar is consequently needed more than ever.

The political sphere can no longer oppress the rebellion

of the civil society – and as young socialists we need to

stand on that side and fight for a more democratic and

legitimate Europe. The rejection of ACTA proves this atti-

tude is the right one to have: for once the European Par-

liament heard the willingness of European citizens and

more specifically one generation to weigh in the public

debate. - It is our responsibility to make it happen again.

SOCIALISTS, SOFEMINISTS

ned and the EU can play a major role on this issue by

inviting Member States to do so. For women to be able

to have and keep a job, European states must implement

and protect public day care facilities for young children.

It is also essential to work on career paths and ways to

change gender based stereotypes in this area, which also

foster pay inequality. Raising the salary of jobs majorita-

rian occupied by women will also help promoting wage

equality.

Gender based violence is also a major issue which per-

sists. Thus for both genders to be and feel equal in the

public space, fighting against sexism in the public sphere

must be a priority. Young girls and women cannot hope

to build a healthy and solid identity if they are constantly

faced with images conveying the idea only their physical

appearance matters because of the “sex sells” strategy.

Gender inequalities are particularly visible in politics. It

is especially true in France, where only 26,9% of MPs are

women, which is even an improvement compared to the

former legislature’s situation. In Austria this figure barely

reaches 30%. Equal access to powerful positions in all

spheres of our society is a goal we as socialists have to

aim to and reach. All of us in our organizations must be

aware of this gender gap and work to tackle it.



Racial discriminations during identity check are a com-

mon and repetitive discrimination in France, and have

kept increasing over the past years because of the ab-

surdity of a sole result-orientated policy. Nowadays, a

young person is 11 times more likely than anyone else to

be asked to show its ID because of how the way he looks.

A young person supposedly of North African origin is 8

times more likely to be subjected to identity check than

any other young person, and it is 6 times more for young

black men. Consequences are significant for a genera-

tion which sees some of its members being pointed a

tand humiliated, having their freedom to come and go

on the national territory violated. A result-driven policy

only translates into policemen’s image being negative

especially among young people, preventing them com-

plete their primary mission which is the security and the

protection of the population.

For more than a year, the French Young Socialists have

advocated, alongside with action groups and associa-

tions, the implementation of an identity check certificate

in order to have a proof of every identity check made

and to measure their efficiency.

The principle is simple; during each identity check, the

police agent has to give to the “checked-person” a cer-

tificate with the latter’s personal, the service number of

the policeman, the time, date and place of the operation

and finally the reason of the identity check. Above all

this certificate should mention the result of the identity

check and all the possible appeals.

Experienced in Spain, this certificate enabled to reduce

by three the number of identity checks and in the same

time made them three times as efficient. Above all it

enabled to improve the relationship between young

people and police agents by guaranteeing an efficient

and transparent public service for security and protec-

tion which respects principles and laws of the State.

As F. Hollande and the left wing government in France

launched a new debate on the relationship between

citizens and police agents in France, we have the res-

ponsibility to push this idea forward and aggregate the

civil society in order to create the public debate needed

to set up this measure in favour of equality, justice and

police efficiency, which if also implemented in France

could become an example for other European countries.

Since Kyoto in 1997, no restrictive agreement has been

adopted by States while the Earth devastation is in the

full swing. The compulsory aspect of the reduction of

greenhouse gas emissions should be maintained as our

generation will be the one to pay the highest tribute of

climate change. We cannot accept to question some

principles: the precautionary principle, polluter pays, or

the principle of common but differentiated responsi-

bility, which take into consideration the historical role

played by rich countries in the launching and the expan-

sion of the climate crisis.

The recent debate about the environment is hidden by

the public indebtedness problems without ecological

measures being successfully considered as part of the

solutions to the crisis.

The capitalist pattern, constantly arousing new needs, is

the origin of the environmental chaos, exploiting in the

ETHNIC PROFILING: HOW TO END WITH IT?

RIO, 20 YEARS AFTER: MAKE STATES MOVE

11


same time Humans and Nature, creating an environmen-

tal and social crisis which affects head-on the poorest as

much in developed countries as in developing countries.

Precarious people are the most affected by the over-

consumption of cheap products, the cost of the trans-

portations, energy or asthma, allergies and other conse-

quences of environmental instability. The biosphere is

the new privileged playground of transnational firms,

protected by the “green economy” which is the new dis-

guise of the Earth merchandizing.

Instead of free-trade we want fair trade. The complete

reconsideration of the neoliberal pattern, apostle of the

free and non-distorted competition is the precondition

for any new development model based on a low level

of greenhouse gas emissions, and with a high level of

employment, ceasing the pollution outsourcing that ca-

pitalism imposes today to developing countries.

The absence of economic and political choices is at the

heart of a major democratic crisis. We will have to re-

introduce citizens’ primacy by guaranteeing access to

common goods, like a right to sane nutrition and wa-

ter. The energetic transition, based on the ecological

conversion of our production apparatus by investing in

renewable energies, is a significant source of non “out-

sourcable” and an efficient territorial meshing. The envi-

ronmental protection needs again the establishment of

common tariff borders to move production sites closer

to consumption places. These changes will also work

through the mutation from the farming model to a sus-

tainable and peasant agriculture.

The last Rio summit did not in any way respond to those

crises. Our generation has to deal with this problem,

because the cost of inaction will be much high than the

one of the transition that we need to engage towards a

new development model.

FACING FAR RIGHT, BE THE ALTERNATIVE

Last elections in Europe, both in member states and at

the EU-level, have seen the preoccupying rise of far right

and neo-fascist parties. In some states they have par-

ticipated in governments with « moderate » right wing

parties and have gained seats everywhere in Europe over

the past 20 years. In Hungary the current government

is taking worrying measures against freedoms and trig-

gering tensions between different ethnic communities.

In Greece the violent neo-fascist party “Golden sunrise”

significantly rose in the elections and there was an up-

surge of racist violence occurrences.

We cannot and should not believe this is an accident or

a temporary trend due to the difficult economic climate.

Of course, the sudden feeling markets control eve-

rything and politicians are unable to have a grasp on the

situation translate into a vote to the extreme right. But

socialists and social democrats should not hide behind

this partial explanation. The truth is, far right parties have

kept going up while economic redistribution has stop-

ped or gone down. Middle class and working class Euro-

pean citizens have started to feel everywhere in Europe

that politicians in government attach more importance

to tax reduction for the richest than to raising the poo-

rest’s income and redistribution, for a so-called com-

petitiveness objective as they were only implementing a

neoliberal agenda.

At the European level, the observation is even worse

since the European Union has not managed to convey

another image than that of a vast market implementing

competition among workers at the European level, ins-

tead of protecting them collectively and promoting the

European welfare model. Furthermore, the tendency of

European institutions to lack democratic accountability

and to think technocrats should decide instead of elec-

ted representatives also strengthened this feeling of sus-

picion against politicians.

Left wing parties have now realised they cannot com-

promise themselves and their values in a so called « third

way » which blurred the borders between the Left and

the Right. In the contrary, we as socialists must offer a

true alternative which aims to improve the living condi-

tions of the majority of citizens. It is our role to develop



this new alternative with our European partners and to

promote it collectively during European elections. Only

this way we will be able to win elections at the EU-le-

vel and to make Europe a protection instead of a threat

for financially disadvantaged people, by showing politics

can weigh more than markets if the peoples decide it.

Similarly, the Left cannot allow itself to legitimise the

right and the extreme right in its speeches and stances.

It is especially true concerning immigration, which our

countries need and we cannot keep repressing. We have

to denounce the deliberate confusion extreme right par-

ties fuel and the right’s attempt to take advantage from

it by adopting the same discourse. It is a cultural battle

we have to fight in order to win against the extreme right

and its ideas spreading in our society, especially through

the media.

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MOUVEMENT DESJEUNES SOCIALISTES

SOZIALISTISCHE JUGEND ÖSTERREICHS

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