They say no to austerity. This Tuesday, in Brussels, thousands of people – 5,000 according to the police – demonstrated at the call of major European unions to denounce the upcoming return of the European Union’s budgetary rules, synonymous with limiting public spending. This “march against austerity” was organized at the initiative of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), which says it represents 89 national organizations in nearly 40 countries.
Belgians, Italians, French and even Spaniards marched side by side in the streets of the European capital, behind the colors of their unions, red, blue or green. “What is on the table (of the EU) today is a cure of austerity and we no longer want it,” Marie-Hélène Ska, general secretary of the Belgian confederation, told AFP CSC (Christian unions).
The return of a feared Pact
The organizations fear the return, scheduled for January 1, of the rules of the European Stability and Growth Pact which, according to them, risks “suffocating” public spending, particularly in countries with high debt. The emblematic limits, set at 3% and 60% of GDP respectively for the public deficit and the debt, will apply again. This Pact has been deactivated since the beginning of 2020 to avoid a collapse in economic activity affected by the Covid pandemic and then by the war in Ukraine.
The 27 member countries of the EU are currently debating a reform of the Pact, with rules that could be adapted to the particular situation of each State.
“We are asking for flexible criteria”
According to Marie-Hélène Ska, Belgium, one of the most indebted countries in the euro zone, with Italy and France in particular, could suffer “additional savings of 28 billion euros” in the next seven years. “This is when we need, more than ever, significant investments in public services and in the ecological transition.” “We are asking for flexible criteria which take into account the carbon neutrality to be achieved in 2050,” added the union leader.
For Corentine Collinet, a Post Office employee who came from Lille (northern France) in a bus chartered by the CGT, “there are very good reasons to bang your fist on the table in all countries”. “Almost everywhere in companies, we are asked to do more work with fewer people and salaries that have been frozen for years,” she lamented.