For three years now, Europe has been in the throes of the worst economic crisis since the end of the Second World War. Especially in the poorer countries of the EU, the crisis has struck with full force. In preparatory obedience, to make sure it would indeed fulfil all the expectations of international speculators, Spain brutally slashed its public budget. Pensions were reduced, workers rights struck down, public investments cut back and taxes raised. The result is a paralyzed country in which 40% of young people are now unemployed.
Free Our Seeds! International Days of Action, Brussels, 17-18 April 2011
April 7th, 2011
The International Seed Action Days will be held on 17/18 of April 2011 in Brussels, with a public debate on the 17 April (Sunday), 16.00 -19.00 (Molenbeek Cultural Centre) on “Access to seeds is a human right” with activists from India, Turkey and several European countries. They will describe the situation concerning seeds in their countries and the consequences of the planned EU laws. There is food offered by a good popular Brussels kitchen after the debate.
From the invitation: Tens of thousands of people throughout Europe are actively demanding that the right to produce seeds remains in the hands of small farmers and gardeners. … The big seed trusts are determined to obtain worldwide control. This has been made clear by genetic engineering, patents on plants and animals, the introduction of seed reproduction fees… We must prevent the very basis of our food supply from becoming a source of profit for multinational companies. …
Investment Rights Stifle Democracy
April 1st, 2011
Report on current decision-making in the European Institutions on investement policies that stifle democracy – by Corporate Europe Observatory.
Euro-crisis: In Ireland, the Worst is Yet to Come
March 7th, 2011
Roland Kulke, RLF Brussels
Ireland is to receive €85 billion from the European Financial Stabilization Facility, a large part of which will be passed on through to the country’s banks. Altogether, this credit line has been stocked up to the tune of €400 billion; on top of that comes €60 billion from the European Commission’s Financial Consolidation Mechanism. The Commission was particularly proud of the latter instrument, since it thought it was getting a tool that might move the Brussels bureaucracy a tiny step towards greater financial autonomy. But their hope that of some day becoming a player on the financial field was soon dashed: Merkel and Sarkozy made it clear that this mechanism will expire in 2013.
Dilemmas of Contemporary Environmentalism
March 4th, 2011Joan Martínez Alier analyses in his paper the negative tendencies of the impacts of the economy on the environment and the rising conflicts of ecological distribution. The text is in Spanish.
From Dakar to Egypt and Back Again – The 2011 World Social Forum in Dakar
March 1st, 2011
By Ulrich Brand, University of Vienna
These days, world history is being written in Cairo and other North-African cities and countries. But the ten-year old World Social Forum, which took place in mid-February in Dakar, Senegal, has proven itself to be an indispensible transnational space of encounters, for the development of strategy, or for launching campaigns. For many activists, the Forum began already one week before the official opening, with a migration caravan from Bamako, Mali, to Dakar, which sought to both inform people, and learn from and network with them, about the complex interrelationships surrounding the issue of migration. Beyond this one, a number other caravans towards the Senegalese capital had been organised as ways for their participants to highlight their respective issues, and to learn about other conditions and situations.
The Free Movement of Roma as EU Citizens
February 24th, 2011
“The Free Movement of Roma as EU Citizens”, RLS-Seminar in Bucharest, December 2010
In December 2010, international academics, civil society activists and lawyers met in Bucharest to discuss the mobility of Roma in today´s Europe. It was stated that the mass expulsions in France in 2010 have been discriminatory against the Roma and that they have violated the idea of free movement within Europe. On the grounds of EU law and landmark court cases the participants further searched for ideas how to best argue against expulsions and evictions in other European countries. The conference was organised by Rosa Luxemburg Foundation Brussels.
The EU-Free Trade Agreement with Colombia and Peru
January 8th, 2011
“This publication contains an overview of the FTA’s history, of human rights violations in Colombia and Peru as well as a critical analysis of the draft agreement which recently leaked to the public. It appears that the main beneficiaries of the agreement would be European transnational corporations (TNCs) working in Colombia and Peru. The text, therefore, describes European TNCs’ activities in these two Andean countries and their involvement in human rights violations, particularly in commercial agriculture and extractive industries like mining and petroleum.” (From the Introduction of the book)
The Second Conquest: The EU Free Trade Agreement with Colombia and Peru – by Thomas Fritz | FDCL (Berlin), TNI (Amsterdam), October 2010, ISBN: 978-3-923020-50-8
The EU Trade Policy on Raw Materials
December 24th, 2010
The New Resource Grab: How EU Trade Policy on Raw Materials is Undermining Development – WEED, 2010, in German, English and French
From the introduction: … The Raw Materials Initiative, launched in 2008 by the European Commission, stressed the EU’s dependence on ‘strategically important raw materials’ such as ‘high-tech’ metals like cobalt, platinum, rare earths and titanium as well as other raw materials, such as wood, chemicals, hides and skins. The key problem with securing access to these materials was said to be the ‘proliferation of government measures that distort international trade in raw materials’, notably export taxes and ‘restrictive investment rules’. The main countries applying these restrictive measures were identified as the emerging countries of China, Russia, Ukraine, Argentina, South Africa and India. But other developing countries, notably in resource-rich Africa and South America, were also on the EU target list. …
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