«Cooperation based on principle»

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.

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