Translated "Avante!"article by Pedro Guerreiro, Member of the Secretariat of the CC and Responsible of the International Department
The rearrangement of forces in the European Parliament, in the aftermath of the May 26 elections, proves that with the important and unprecedented loss of the majority of EP members by the so-called “social-democracy” and the right-wing, responsible for conducting the European capitalist integration process during the last decades, these forces find in the so-called “liberals” and in the “greens” renewed support for the continuation and deepening of the European Union’s neo-liberal, federalist and militarist policies.
The announcement of the convergence within the European Parliament of these four political forces in the drafting of the Strategic Agenda 2019-2024 for the EU, shows this reality. A convergence which is not new, but that seeks to take a new shape, including the division of leadership roles of EU institutions and the attempt to create a new drive in the deepening of the euro and EU policies, following the opportunist interruption dictated by the EP elections.
However, this manoeuvre does not wipe out the contradictions that the capitalist integration process in itself produces, and which tend to exacerbate the deeper this process travels.
Meanwhile, the affirmation of right -wing forces witnessed in some countries, - one should recall, inseparable from the nature of the EU and its policies of intensification of exploitation and social regression, disregard for national sovereignty and democracy, promotion of reactionary and anti-democratic values - did not help, up to now, to overcome, within the framework of the EP, some of the divisions within its midst, presenting most of these forces as aiming to “limit” and “reform” the EU.
It is in this framework that the PCP is committed, at the institutional level, to continue the GUE/NGL (Confederal Group of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left) in the EP, reaffirming the fundamental principles regarding its functioning , such as : the confederal nature of the Group; the taking of decisions by consensus; equality among its elegations and respect for their differences; autonomy, own and distinctive identity of the Group, vis-à-vis other EP political groups, and other structures or spaces of cooperation.
These are the principles that constitute an essential condition, in order to enable the continuity of this multilateral experience of cooperation, as a space alternative to the right-wing and to “social-democracy”; that places, at the forefront, all the issues most felt by the workers and peoples; and which fights against the European Union policies and for a Europe of cooperation among sovereign states, equal in rights, of social progress and peace.
Having in mind and valuing the Common Appeal presented for the EP elections, For an Europe of Workers and Peoples, signed by 24 political forces, and continuing to operate at bilateral and multilateral levels with the purpose of bringing together communist parties and other left-wing progressive forces in Europe – based on mutual respect and taking into account differences of situation, thinking and proposal -, the PCP does not give up, nor accept to give up, its political independence and sovereignty of decision.