Eurocrisis: Green Paris Declaration adopted today

European Green Parties representatives adopted today in Paris a 12-points political proposal to step out of the current financial, social and economic crisis affecting Europe, and a roadmap for the refounding of the European project: European Greens are convinced that the European project needs to find a new sense of direction and purpose.
“These crises are eroding social cohesion and leading to political disintegration of the continent, driving us to irrelevance in the 21st century. Any scenario leading to the break-up of the Euro-zone, which would be the first step of the political disintegration of Europe, is unacceptable to us. Conversely though, any enhanced political integration of the Euro-zone cannot lead to the crystallization of a two-speed Europe”, said Philippe Lamberts, MEP and co-chair of the European Green Party.
“The battle for European democracy is not over. The alienation of public opinion towards the EU is growing because of the 27 member states’ inability to produce sustainable and progressive common solutions to the multiple crises impacting the citizens”, said Monica Frassoni, co-chair of the European Green Party. “The existing “governance” mechanism is wholly inadequate. But the increasing weakening of the common institutions in favour of an old fashioned Directory lead by ‘Merkozy’ will do nothing to improve the situation”.

1- The full text of the Paris Declaration will be available at europeangreens.eu/congress/. The Greens’ proposal involves:
- Make the Greek debt-burden sustainable;
- Make the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF) (and future ESM) an effective backstop; 
- Recapitalise the European banks;
- Rebalancing the austerity-only approach;
- Strongly re-regulate Europe’s finance industry;
- Develop a comprehensive European tax strategy, including active fight against tax evasion and limiting avenues for tax avoidance;
- Establish a European Monetary Fund;
- Make the macro-economic surveillance framework operational and more balanced;
- Make the EU budget an instrument of economic policy, which will create a strong and relevant European Treasury.
- Launch a Green New Deal for Europe including: Putting the EU2020 targets on an equal footing with the stability and growth, and financial targets;
- More effective pricing of CO2 through a move to a 30% GHG emissions cut by 2020;
- Imposition of carbon stress tests to financial institutions, the introduction of climate risk as systemic risk into legislation, the promotion of green indices that indexed-based funds can refer to, the development of green banking, with tax incentives where appropriate;
- allowing the EIB to issue green bonds in order to foster green investments;
- Mandating public pension funds and incentivising private pension funds to allocate a proportion of their portfolio to green investments and companies. Implement an energy transition to renewable energies, out of nuclear and fossil-fuels.
- Co-decide key economic policy guidelines;
- A Convention for a new Europe.

 __ A more politically integrated and a more democratic Europe __

Most of the actions referred to above mean a profound change in political focus and priorities and require a more politically integrated Europe. Acting on their own, the Member-States are unlikely to be able to re-regulate the financial sector, to tackle the tax bases that increasingly evade them, to mobilize the investments needed for a Green New Deal or to face the global financial markets. This will require substantial changes to the EU treaties. For us Greens, it is imperative that both the process leading to a more politically integrated Europe as its’ functioning must increase democratic accountability and participation. Therefore, we propose Key economic policy guidelines to be co-decided: At the moment, the EU Commission is effectively orienting economic and fiscal policy in Europe and in certain Member-States. In order to give them a democratic underpinning, the actions by the Commission in that domain should become subject to political guidelines adopted in co-decision by the EU Council and Parliament. In that sense, the multi-year economic strategy (currently EU2020) as well as its annual implementation guidelines (currently the Annual Growth Survey, part of the EU semester) should become legislative acts under co-decision.
A Convention for a new Europe : What is needed is a new round of reform of the EU treaty, starting from the calling of a Convention as soon as possible, composed by the representatives of the European and national parliaments as well as of social partners and civil society, including through innovative forms of representation, which should pave the way which should pave the way for substantial Treaty changes to provide the legal basis for the actions outlined above, in order to strengthen the democratic basis, we urge for a EU-wide referendum that will have to decide on the agenda changes, which should enter into force if a majority of peoples and States approve them. Treaty revisions can in no way be negotiated behind closed doors by EU heads of State and governments and then forced down the throat of the parliaments.