Report from the 'EU in Crisis' conference!

[Michel Bauwens]

Via the Corporate Europe Observatory a href="mailto:[e-mail]" target="_blank">[e-mail]>

Topic: Report from the 'EU in Crisis' conference!

"As organisers we were extremely happy with the enthusiasm of the 300 or so participants. The conference showed that there are real opportunities for building strong pan-European campaigns for progressive alternatives to the EU's neo-liberal response to the crisis. This email outlines some of the ways you can get involved.

A statement rejecting the Austerity Treaty http://www.corporateeurope.org/blog/stop-eus-antidemocratic-austeri... was supported by the conference. This statement also forms the basis of the new pan-European campaign network established to fight against the EU's flawed crisis policies. We hope that you will be interested in joining this network! The network will help us all improve and strengthen the response to EU austerity policies and to the authoritarian laws that impose neo-liberal economic policies on member states. Among the most urgent matters to deal with is the Irish referendum and other activities to block the Austerity Treaty.

We also hope to continue our discussion on alternatives through the network. The CEO team will give it some impetus by drafting a new paper based on comments received. We hope this debate can help us prepare for the ALTER-Summit and Florence 10+10 later this year.

If you want to join the network, simply send an email to [e-mail] asap. For a start, we will set up an email list to ensure communication.

Other follow-up steps from the conference are already happening. More than 20 civil society organisations and trade union movements have sent an open letter to the European Commission to protest against water privatisation being imposed as part of the bail-out packages for Greece, Portugal and other struggling EU economies. http://www.corporateeurope.org/open-letter-eu-commission-water-priv...

Solidarity actions are being planned in front of Irish embassies in Madrid, Brussels, Den Haag, Copenhagen and several other cities in the coming weeks, in support of a NO vote in the Irish referendum on the Austerity Treaty (Fiscal Compact). This is an easy option for anyone based close to an Irish embassy. A common logo with the slogan “Ireland, vote 'no' for us” has been prepared which can be used for posters, etc. For more information, see http://www.tni.org/NO Please check this website for information and updates on planned actions and how to get involved.

Numerous other plans for joint work were agreed during the action planning sessions on the second day of the conference. Let us know if you want to get in touch with your session coordinator by emailing: [e-mail]

Several participants have written short blogs to give personal perspectives on the debate and discussions that happened during the conference:
http://www.corporateeurope.org/EU-in-crisis-conf/post-conference-blogs  You can also download some of the presentations made by speakers:
http://www.corporateeurope.org/speakers-eu-crisis-conference

Walden Bello was hoping to speak at the conference to give his perspective but was refused entry to Belgium. Read our statement on Walden Bello's denial to entry to Belgium:http://www.corporateeurope.org/news/mr-walden-bello-member-philippi...

Videos from the conference are available at: http://www.corporateeurope.org/EU-in-crisis-conf/news/videos-eu-cri...

For more background on the issues discussed during the conference, see also the essays we commissioned ahead of the conference, including Leigh Phillips' assessment of the challenges and opportunities for building a progressive anti-austerity movement in Europe: http://www.corporateeurope.org/publications/eu-crisis-conference-es...

We look forward to work with you in the coming months and years in the struggle for a different Europe!

Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) & Transnational Institute (TNI)

P.S.: If you want to be informed about CEO's and TNI's activities:

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