Vi prøver igjen å få ut dette:
EU fortsetter på veien (unnskyld: den korrekte linja) mot USE, målet med
inneværende toppmøte er neste skritt i kampen for å avskaffe Europa ved
å totalamerikanisere det. I spissen for dette prosjekt finner vi
selvsagt moderniserte og strømlinja totalitarister/fascister som
Berlusconi og Blair. Det eneste interessante spørsmålet er: når finner
de ut at de må rive Alpene, Pyreneene og en del annet for å få laget et
konkurransedyktig præriejordbruk i Europa? Her er det behov for mye
bakkeplanering og en jobb å gjøre for entreprenører og atombomber, men
da vil de til gjengjeld også kunne spille golf over det hele - den dagen
innen lenge hvor alt jordbruk er blitt urentabelt sammen med de
menneskene som lever av mat. Det er bare å gratulere på forhånd med
markedsstalinismens totale suksess.
Karsten Johansen
Guardian:
Blair allied with European right in summit labour talks
EU talks in Barcelona pit prime minister's vision against concerns of
British unions and continental leaders
Ian Black in Barcelona
Saturday March 16, 2002
The Guardian
Tony Blair last night rebuffed criticism that he was too close to
rightwing European leaders like Silvio Berlusconi, as the Barcelona
summit grappled with disagreements over the liberalisation which is at
the heart of the EU's ambitious economic reform agenda.
As the prime minister went into talks about opening markets, he rejected
an accusation by John Monks, the TUC general secretary, that the
government was hostile to workers.
He was reportedly furious after Mr Monks accused him of being "bloody
stupid" in sharing the Italian prime minister's opposition to employee
protection laws - part of the so-called "social dimension" of making the
EU more competitive.
But Mr Blair - echoed by the chancellor, Gordon Brown - robustly
defended the government's record in helping business while investing in
education and skills. This had made Britain the fourth largest economy
in the world, with the lowest unemployment of any major economy.
"That is the modern way to build a more prosperous country," he said.
"We have got to work with the modern world as it actually is. That does
mean that we have to have flexible labour markets."
Downing Street added that Mr Blair had not made alliances only with Jose
Maria Aznar, the centre-right Spanish prime minister and summit host,
and Mr Berlusconi.
Across Europe the three have become known as "the BAB axis", committed
to deregulation in contrast with the more cautious approach of France
and Germany.
But Mr Blair insisted: "I work with leaders from all around the world,
whatever their political party." Another alliance was made between the
German chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, and the Swedish and Dutch prime
ministers, Goran Persson and Wim Kok, all three from the centre-left.
The prime minister's public spat with Mr Monks - who told the Times that
British workers would not support membership of the single European
currency if their interests were overlooked - came as the summit
delegates sought to prove that they were making progress towards their
goal of giving the EU the most competitive economy in the world by 2010.
Last night they were struggling against France's opposition to fully
opening its domestic energy sector, with doubts emerging even about a
minimalist deal on the liberalisation of Electricité de France, the
state-owned monopoly.
Diplomats were hoping that France was prepared to open its markets to
competition for corporate clients, though it was holding firmly to its
refusal to do the same for domestic consumers.
Its EU partners complain that while they have no access to the French
energy sector, EDF has embarked on a buying spree across the union.
Britain has been openly critical of France, but recognises that a shift
on this issue- as on the continued French ban on British beef imports -
will be impossible at least until after the presidential election, which
begins on April 21.
Although Mr Blair has called the two-day summit a "make or break" moment
for the EU, expectations were being lowered by all sides last night.
Apart from increased labour market flexibilityand energy liberalisation,
Barcelona's priorities are the linking up of European transport
networks, integration of financial markets, and improvements to
education systems.
Progress is expected on financial services, but negotiations on common
patents and takeover rules are stuck.
Mr Schröder, who also faces an election battle later this year, insisted
that he would not expose domestic companies to foreign predators.
"Germany has by far the largest and strongest and most interesting
economy for foreign investors, and is more viable for takeovers than
smaller economies," he said.
The Blair-Monks row - and protests by unions and anti-globalisation
groups - served as a reminder that the erosion of employment rights or
welfare spending in the name of flexibility would anger electorates who
are less concerned than their governments by the yawning gap between the
European and US economies.
"They will find it very difficult to sell the euro to British workers if
there is no social dimension in parallel," said Mr Monks. "After all,
there will be a big restructuring in the economy if there is a single
currency."
EU productivity has fallen in the past two years from 74% to 72% of US
levels, while per-capita wealth in America remains more than 40% higher
than in the EU.
Edward Bannerman, of the Centre for European Reform, said: "Many
Europeans like to think of their continent as a global economic
superpower, but compared to the US over the last decade or so, Europe
looks like a laggard."
(Har for noen tid siden registrert at KK har fjernet linken til forumet
her fra sin hjemmeside. Ikke overraskende at man ikke er interessert i
debatt i KK heller. Kan man ikke ta navneforandring til
"Konsensuskampen" eller noe annet som er mer i tråd med en norsk
offentlighet som stort sett består i enstemmighet og derfor er en
selvmotsigelse?)
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