Support for Tsipras' candidacy for President of the European Commission

Published on Friday, 02 May 2014 13:04

Politically independent Greek citizens have joined with members of SYRIZA and other social democratic parties to create a citizen’s initiative in Greece to support Alexis Tsipras’ candidacy for President of the European Commission.

The initiative was spurred by the highly symbolic nature of Tsipras’ nomination and because it transcends Party politics. Important not only for Greece, Tsipras’ nomination also resonates in a pan-European context. Therefore, the initiative seeks to generate widespread support for Tsipras’ candidacy. More details regarding the will be announced shortly. The declaration of the initiative can be found below.

Declaration

Now is the time of the European Left

Europe is in the throes of crisis

A general sense of distrust pervades Europe’s path toward integration. The dynamic that transformed post-war Europe has ceased to exist, and its effects are slowly unraveling. More and more, European citizens feel disillusioned by the political deal-making that affects their future that’s shrouded in secrecy and without democratic legitimacy. National parliaments, as well as European institutions, have become puppets of the German Chancellor, who makes the major decisions. The European Central Bank now has greater power than the European Parliament. The justification for the resulting social and democratic degradation is that Europe must become more competitive in order to compete with the emerging global powerhouses.

The high numbers of unemployed—26 million people—are indicative of the fact that Europe, as whole, is facing a recession. Worker protections are slowing eroding. Social services are being cut, straining under the weight of the fiscal crisis, while governments increasingly become more authoritarian. European integration and cohesion seem to be a thing of the past, no longer the focus of discussion. Europe has ceased to take international initiatives or engage in international political matters. Europe is notably absent in regulating the affects of globalization, allowing market liberalization and technological advances to erode the social and democratic gains of European citizens. Meanwhile, fascist and Nazi movements are on the rise, as well as racism and xenophobia.

The European Union should strengthen its global standing, and serve as an example of stability, peace and justice. Otherwise, there will be fewer and fewer differences between Europe and its competitors.

The Left’s vision for Europe

It's time for the Left to mobilise

The Left must engage the European community, which has been built on the ideas and struggles of the Left and related social movements.

It must stand against right-wing Euroscepticism and the resurgence of Nazism and fascism.

It must strive to re-democratize the decision-making process in the Europe Union, and strengthen the regulatory oversight of the European Parliament and its decisions. European treaties and debt agreements must be renegotiated. Greater respect for the environment must be incorporated into industrial production. Immigration reforms must be put into place.

The European Union, or the shared currency zone of the Union, should operate an EU budget approved by the European Parliament and based on a “New Deal” that modern Europe desperately needs. This budget will replace the funding programs and Memoranda that promote neoliberalism and are not transparent, and instead will support disadvantaged economies and social groups, including young people.

The Left is in a position to chart a new path, and show that an alternative approach exists; one that focuses on prosperity and lessens alienation and suffering. European integration cannot work without functioning societies, cohesion and convergence.

Tsipras’ candidacy, a proposal for hope

A peaceful, mass movement that will redefine the EU’s and the Eurozone’s objectives and operations is needed.

The European Left will be bolstered by a win in the upcoming European elections, allowing the Left to dismantle austerity policies while strengthening the forces resisting the division of Europe based on socioeconomic classes.

For the above reasons we support the nomination of Alexis Tsipras for President of the European Commission.

We believe that 
Tsipras’ candidacy for President of the European Commission:

Transcends party politics and is an important opportunity for Greece to take its rightful place in European affairs.

Has deep symbolic meaning, even beyond Greece and SYRIZA, for the emergence of a strong European south and a strong European Left that will create a Europe based on citizen’s needs, putting an end to the “Germanification” of the EU. This can already be seen in the formation of the Italian party, “Another Europe with Tsipras.”

Strengthens the prospects for Greece to implement an alternative policy to the Memoranda within the framework of the EU, and allows for the renegotiation of the loan agreement with our lenders and partners.

Promotes the long forgotten idea of European solidarity and reinstates the acquis communautaire.

Historically, the Left has predominantly been a European power. Without the Left, Europe risks a future that will not be European.