Trade union protests outside an EU summit in Brussels against the austerity being imposed across the continent by the bloc turned violent on Thursday, as riot police battled rock-wielding demonstrators with water cannon and pepper spray. Giant banners demanding: “Competitiveness Pact: No – Austerity Pact: No – Solidarity Pact: Yes” were draped by campaigners covering the centre of the roundabout at the top of the European quarter.
“This happens while bankers and CEOs are continuing to receive huge and scandalous bonuses and pay and very little has been done to remove what really causes the crisis.”
European Trade Union Congress
The violence kicked off after a few dozen red-dressed members of the Belgian socialist trade union, the General Federation of Belgian Workers (FGTB) attempted to break through police barricades and threw objects at the police. According to police, 12 officers were injured in the clashes, which shut down traffic on much of the ring road surrounding the centre of the city. By mid-afternoon, the demonstrations had begun to wind down.
Four separate marches across the European capital comprising some 20,000 workers, according to organisers, converged on the meeting of European premiers and presidents.
Police put the figure closer to 12,000.
The unions are protesting the imposition of the deepest level of economic integration in the EU‘s history – the delivery of “economic governance” in the union that will require wage restraint, hikes in retirement ages, public sector cutbacks and limits on government spending, amongst other stringent measures.
“This happens while bankers and CEOs are continuing to receive huge and scandalous bonuses and pay and very little has been done to remove what really causes the crisis,” ETUC said in a statement.
“The European trade union movement stands clearly against these policies and states that this is not only unfair because the burden is carried only by the ones who are not responsible for the crisis, but also wrong from an economic and strategic point of view.”
Similar actions were due to take place in Spain and Germany, according to trade unions, with a further major more nationally focussed anti-austerity march to hit London on Saturday.
The demonstrations are part of a series of rolling actions across Europe.
On 16 March in Bucharest some 50,000 workers hit the streets, according to the European Trades Union Congress and on 9 April in Budapest, Hungary’s six trade unions are to descend upon a meeting of EU finance ministers. according to the EUobserver.com.
Despite the violence, the protests in Brussels were actually scaled back from what the FGTB had originally threatened. Earlier this month, the union central had said it wanted to shut down air traffic control, the Eurostar train and all highways leading into the capital, but other unions felt such action went too far.
The anger highlights concerns expressed yesterday by one EU diplomat who told reporters that the cuts need to be imposed “as quickly as possible, very quickly when it comes to the most unpopular measures” in order to not get bogged down by such opposition.
EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy denied that economic governance targeted working people: “To the people demonstrating outside, I say: ‘We take your worries seriously, but what we do is not about dismantling social protection. It is about making sure that our economies are competitive enough to create jobs and sustain the standard of living for all our citizens.”
The protest came after a group of demonstrators invaded an event in the European Parliament on Wednesday evening where the Greek culture minister was speaking.
Unveiling a banner denouncing the European Union and the International Monetary Fund during a celebration in Brussels of the 2500th anniversary of the Battle of Marathon, when Athenians managed to resist an attack by the Persian Empire, the protestors described the EU and IMF as an “occupation force” akin to the “barbarians” that fought the Greeks two and half millennia ago.
While organisers were not pleased with the interruption, the protesters received applause from many of those in the largely Greek audience in the packed EU parliament chamber.
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Brussels Tells Athens To Shut Up And Take The Pain
For the first time the EU administration in Brussels acknowledge that austerity measures imposed on Greece are provoking civil unrest. But despite the growing social turbulence, the structural adjustment is a necessary “investment in the future,” EU officials says, and emphasize that the coming generations will benefit from the bitter pill that citizens are forced to swallow.
“Greece was a country that was living beyond its means for too long.”
Amadeu Altafaj
“We are aware of the social tensions that exist. This impact from these important reforms is certain, we will not play with words with that,” commission spokesman Amadeu Altafaj told reporters after the EU executive endorsed a review of the country’s programme of cuts on Thursday.
“However, this is an investment for the future, for future generations, for jobs and growth on a more sustainable path,” he added.
“Greece was a country that was living beyond its means for too long and there were too many imbalances in the economy that represented a mortgage for future generations … Yes, there is an impact in terms of growth, jobs, social unrest, pensions that have been cut, but we are in a recovery path in all these areas.”
Greece has seen a series of one-day general strikes since the beginning of the year in opposition to the multiple austerity programmes.
In the spring, three bank workers were killed when a contingent of protesters set fire to a bank during one of the general strikes.
13 Small-Scale Terrorist Attacks
A series of small-scale terrorist attacks blamed on previously unknown left-wing groups have also returned to haunt the country, echoing the “urban guerilla” violence of the 1970′s.
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Some 13 incidents, including bombings of political party offices, MPs‘ homes, a bank, the Athens Stock Exchange and government buildings, have taken place.
As austerity measures slash public sector salaries by up to 20 percent, gut retirement benefits and hike up taxes, spending by average Greeks is drying up, exacerbating the crisis.
The country’s GDP has begun to head south much faster than predicted, falling by 3.5 percent in the second quarter compared to last year. some 17 percent of shops in the capital have filed for bankruptcy, according to the National Confederation of Hellenic Commerce.
The official unemployment rate in May (the latest month for which statistics are available) jumped to 12 percent compared to 8.5 percent in May 2009.
For young people, the situation is even harder, with official unemployment for 15- to 24-year-old now standing at 32.5 percent.
In some districts, unemployment has reached up to 70 percent.
The University of Piraeus estimates that in the shipbuilding region of Perama, joblessness has soared to between 60 and 70 percent.
Provoking A Social Explosion
Greece is bracing itself for a hot autumn. After the summer holiday high season, which brings in much of the country’s earnings, a wave of mass layoffs is expected.
In terms of the bail-out, the commission on Thursday signed off on an August assessment by a team of inspectors from the “troika” – the commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which put together the €110 billion rescue deal.
Other EU states must now also give the assessment the nod in order for the second tranche of bail-out cash to be released. The next tranche is worth €9 billion, with €6.5 billion from euro zone countries and €2.5 billion from the IMF.
Economy commissioner Ollie Rehn said the Greek economy still faced dangers despite the positive report and must “press ahead” with structural adjustment.
“Greece has managed impressive budgetary consolidation,” he says in a statement.
“But despite the significant progress made, challenges and risks remain,” he adds, warning Athens to look to the liquidity of its banking sector and to hitting its budgetary target.
Greek government revenues are nowhere near what Athens and Brussels had expected them to be by now, with extra tax income increasing by just 5.9 percent – “well below the annual target of a 15.6 percent increase,” Mr Rehn says.
(Source: EUobserver.com)
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