Translated "Avante!" article by Pedro Guerreiro, Member of the CC and of the International Department
On reflecting over the capitalism crisis deepening, the European Union and the Euro Zone economic situation carries on to aggravate, mainly within the so-called “periphery” countries.
Within this framework, proceeding certain policies and on behalf of the financial capital, the European Union intensifies the workers’ exploitation, increases unemployment, which has reached historic levels in some countries, jeopardizes essential rights, implements extortion and economic assault mechanisms on the public debts, expands stagnation and economic recession and emphasises the disparities among countries, namely within the Euro Zone - proceeding a gigantic private banking (re) financing.
Despite the increasing mystification, the crisis and its development exposes their real purposes, the irremediable contradictions and the European Union’s class character - a capitalist integration process settled and dominated by the great powers and their great financial and economic great groups, in conflict with the workers’ and Europe’s peoples’ rights, interests and aspirations.
Before the current situation insustentability, namely within the Euro Zone, and a framework marked by disagreements and distrust, the aimed “way-out” is both Germany’s and France’s political and economic power reinforcement and the monopolist great groups, at the workers’ historic achievements’ regression cost and the submission of the “peripheral” countries, ignoring democracy and the peoples’ sovereignty - in other words, nothing other than the deepening of the policies which have caused the crisis.
On the contrary of what has been divulged by the European capitalist integration spokesmen, within the European Union, relations are settled not by solidarity and cooperation, but by the economic power, sustained by the political domain. The German great capital everlasting position, with Merkel’s support.
Any deepening on this “ European integration” will signify, as the Treaty of Rome unto the so-called “budget treaty” did, the reinforcement of an unacceptable relation among states - the ones that dominate and are dominated - and the submission to interests and dictates from the great financial and economic great groups.
The announced new leap in the European capitalist integration - of which the “budget treaty” is already part - if settled, will signify for Portugal, the jeopardizing of what is left of the national sovereignty exercise and the impossibility of pursuing a development project for the country. If doubts or hesitations persist, then the aggression pact (from the EU /IMF and the PS/PSD/CDS) is there to prove what the workers and the Portuguese people might expect from the European Union and the place the latter withholds for the country, condemned to permanent dependency and to an eternal subordination situation, social regression and under-development.
A Europe of cooperation, progress and peace will never be possible coming from the European Union. The greatest contribution the Portuguese people ought to present for the construction of this other Europe is the aggression pact rejection and the opening of a new path of full practise and the sovereignty and national independence strengthening, of a democracy which recovers the April Revolution values and project, and necessarily in rupture with the European Union capitalist integration process and the interests of the great powers and capital.