Issue 5, June 1997
Two weeks before the EU Summit, the heads of government seem determined to spoil the good reputation of Amsterdam. The draft of the new treaty, that will bear the name the Dutch capital, spell disaster for those who hoped for a fundamental change of course. The good news is the large numbers of people from all over Europe who will come to Amsterdam for the alternative summit and all the other critical events around the summit. And this last issue of The Other Voices before the EU Summit also has lot s of good news, including reports on an appeal for an EU- referendum in the Netherlands, actions, the European marches which have now reached The Netherlands, and much more.
Contents
Actions on Europe Day
Friday May 9th, official "Europe Day", sparked actions by EU- critical groups in many countries in Europe. In Amsterdam, A SEED organised a protest in front of the historic Mint Tower. The target of the action was the Economic and Monetary Union
(EMU) which is worsening unemployment and social exclusion all over Europe: "Just one month before the final IGC summit, there is no sign that the EU leaders will listen to the growing dissatisfaction with the current development model of the EU. Ti
me to build up the pressure!"
A special office has been opened for the marches and the final demonstration in The Netherlands.
Tel: +31 20 5731802, fax: +31 20 6713541.
From the very worthwhile diary of the marches which can you can follow on the internet, here's a report of the arrival in Paris:
15th May / Paris / Occupation of the Bank of France
On the eve of the march arrival in the Paris region, 15th May, the starting pistol gave the shot to the first of a series of occuptation, n 1, the occupation of the Bank of France. This occupation was coordinated by the banking unions (Sundicat National A
utonome, membre of the Group of 10, CGT and CFDT), other unions (Group of 10, FSU, Fe deration of Finances CGT) and the following associations AC! DAL and Droits Devants !!. Thanks to this occupation , a delegation was received by Mr. Ferman, n 2 of the B
ank of France and a meeting was fixed with Mr Trichet, the governor of the Bank for the next day. This meeting allowed the organisers of the occupation to denounce the French and European Union monetary policy and to question the exact role of the Bank of
France's responsability on social- financial questions concerning indebtedness of the poor, the right to a bank account, etc.).
16th May /Paris / Orly
The arrival of the two marches from the south west and the south east converged in the Paris region this Friday. The two marches coming from Spain, regrouped in all, 80 permanent marchers. The initiative which marked their arrival at Orly airport, one of
the two airports of the Paris region. The marchers were welcomed by the staff of Orly (CGT,CFDT and the independants) and by the Air France unions, (SUD,USPNT, SNMASAC, ...). More than 250 people turned out to applaud the marchers and marched inside the a
irport as a means of informing passengers of the European March arrival in Paris.
Audience of the Bank of France
On the eve of the arrival of marchers, associationa and unions of the Bank of France, occupied the bank's headquarters. An agreement was reached to hold a meeting the next day with Mr Trichet, the governer of the Bank of France. At this meeting, the follo
wing delegations were present, AC!, DAL, Droits Devant !! and the Collectif for the Rights of Women. These delegations were acommpagned by Leon Schwartzenberg, a caner specialist and former minister, well-known for his actions in support of the Sans-papie
rs (with residency papers) and the excluded, and Monsigneur Jacques Gaillot, fformer archbishop of Evreux, also very well-known in France for his out-spokeness for the underprivileged.
At this meeting, the associations expressed their opinions on the monetarist policies of the Bank of France and European homologues demanding that the fight against unemployment and social problems be put at the top of the agenda on all economique and menetary policies. Practical questions in the Bank of France's field of responsibility were treated, in particular, indebtedness and the necessity to have a "right ot a bank account" for everyone and without financial obstacles, at the very leas t for the basic banking services. Mr Trichet finally accepted the priniciple of an annual meeting with associations in the fight against unemployement and exclusion in order to present the point of view of the associations.
For excellent regular updates on the marches, you can subscribe to an email mailing list in english: marches97-info.eng@ras.eu.org. Even more frequent and extensive reports are available on the mailing list in french language: marches97-info.fr@ras.eu.org. Photo's can be received through the following mailing list: marches97-photo@ras.eu.org.
For more information on the marches, contact:
Marches Europeennes
104 rue des Couronnes
75020 Paris
Tel : + 33 1 44 62 63 44
Fax : + 33 1 44 62 63 45
E-mail : marches97@ras.eu.org
If you have proposals for activities during the alternative summit or questions, get in touch with us at the following address:
Dutch Coalition for a Different Europe,
Olivier Hoedeman
P.O. Box 54, 1000 AB Amsterdam, The Netherlands Tel: +31 20 4222712
Fax: +31 20 4223171
Email: ander.europa@xs4all.nl
Visitors address (please phone first): Damrak 83-1, Amsterdam (150 metres from Central Station)
What we would like from you:
Your contributions should preferably be short and condensed, with a contact address where people can receive more information.
Also financial contributions to the Dutch Coalition for a Different Europe are extremely welcome: Postbank NL 7609478, att. Platform Naar een Ander Europa, Amsterdam
by Jens-Peter Bonde (MEP) & Helle Hagenau (both from June Movement, Denmark) 15 May 1997
The following is based on the latest available documents, internal minutes and briefings by persons responsible for the IGC.
The rule of the IGC is that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, but the current status is that 90% of the structure is already built up. Currently they are working on the fine-tuning of different articles. The outstanding questions such as th e areas of Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) and decision-making in the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) as well as the institutional triad will only be solved during the Amsterdam Summit 16 - 17 June 1997.
The institutional triad is the composition of the Commission, the weighting of votes and in which areas to apply qualified majority voting (QMV). If they agree, for instance, on one Commissioner per country then it is likely that the big countries will get a bigger share of the votes as a kind of compensation, but nothing is settled yet. An increase of 20 - 25% in the weighting of votes to the biggest countries is likely.
Everyone agrees that the use of QMV should be heavily extended but there is still disagreement on which articles it should be applied. About 25 provisions are being debated for the time being. Unanimity will continue in all constitutional and quasi- co nstitutional areas such as article 235 and where big money is on direct risk for the member countries. The Dutch Presidency proposes continued unanimity in the following areas: taxation, structural funds, cohesion and social security.
Western European Union (WEU)
It has been agreed to include the Petersberg tasks in the Treaty. A time table for the integration of the WEU which will lead to a common defence policy is being discussed.
Schengen
They are waiting for a definite answer from the British but there is an agreement on the integration of the Schengen Convention as a protocol. It will be in the form of enhanced cooperation. The UK will join the Schengen Information System (SIS) and they
will decide themselves exactly which areas of Schengen to join. One unsolved problem is the Danish position as Denmark has an opt-out on Justice and Home Affairs. Another is the role of the European Court of Justice.
Services
A WTO ruling stated that services are also the competence of the member states but the Dutch would like to see it becoming an exclusive EU competence so that the EU can negotiate all liberalisation agreements alone.
Fundamental Rights
A principle of non-discrimination will be inserted in the Treaty as well as an improved article on equal opportunities. The role of the European Court of Justice is unclear. The procedure of co- decision, article 189 B, will be applied.
Openness
A principle of openness will be introduced which is a step forward. But the procedure is a step backwards as it is going to be qualified majority in the Council. It means that you need a qualified majority to produce a result whereas now, only a simple ma
jority is needed. Through article 189 B the European Parliament will be involved in a decision on general rules. It promises continued fighting but no immediate progress.
Asylum, visa and immigration
These issues will be transferred from the third to the first pillar. A bridge period of 3 - 5 years will be introduced and decisions will be taken according to article 189 B. Conventions in the third pillar may enter into force in the ratifying countries
when ratified by two-thirds of countries.
Decision-making procedures
Overall the cooperation procedure will be replaced by the co- decision making procedure with the EMU as the only exception. Co- decision will be applied to public health, gathering statistics and veterinary health. The latter will be through a change of a
rticle 43 or the last part of article 129. New measures will be introduced for customs and tax. There will an obligatory hearing of the European Parliament for the remaining part of the third pillar. A better consultation of the Parliament will be secured
in the second pillar (CFSP). An inter-institutional agreement on the expenses of the CFSP is likely to be drawn up.
Statutes for MEPs
The Dutch Presidency will forward a proposal on this issue.
Uniform electoral procedure
This depends on Tony Blair but he has signalled that he is in favour.
New legal base
A possibility to punish member states who are in breach of human rights will be introduced.
Social affairs
The social protocol will be inserted in the Treaty - co-decision making. A chapter on employment will be introduced but there will be no money. Unanimity will still be required for social security. A special clause on social exclusion will appear in the T
reaty and possibly co-decision.
Environment
There will be a guiding principle of sustainable development. A new wording of article 100A, par. 4 to make it more clear and more effective but under the Commission's strict control. The Commission will have the final say on the so-called environmental g
uarantee. The environmental guarantee from 1987 allowing member states to have higher protection without Commission approval, will not be reestablished. In 1994 the Court ruled in favour of demanding Commission approval before the guarantee could be imple
mented. Environment and energy taxes, physical planning and the choice of energies, will still require unanimity.
CFSP
Mr./Mrs. CFSP could be but will not necessarily be, a strong personality as wanted by France. It will be the current President-in-office of the Council, the responsible Commissioner and the new secretary general of the CFSP secretariat who will represent
the EU in foreign policy matters.
The coming month
The new draft Treaty is ready (we have seen it!). It will be shown to the representatives of the European Parliament and the personal representatives on Friday 16 May, to the Foreign Secretaries Tuesday 20 May and obviously to the Heads of State and Gover
nment on the 23 of May at the informal Summit in Noordwijk. It might not be released in full until after the French elections 25 May and 1 June and may not even be released in full before the Irish elections 6 June. A number of meetings and bilateral cons
ultations will take place in the course of June. The Dutch Presidency expects to conclude in Amsterdam 17 June.
Nuclear weapons have not disappeared from Europe. Besides the tens of thousands of nuclear arms in the arsenals of the USA, Russia, China and a number of unrecognised nuclear weapons states, sufficient nuclear explosives remain on this continent to des troy the world many times over: France has at least 464 nuclear warheads on submarines and aircraft; The United Kingdom has about 200 nuclear warheads on submarines and a number of aircraft; - Six NATO member states, including the Netherlands, retain around 200 US nuclear bombs on their territory. There is no public debate on the continued presence of these nuclear weapons in Europe. Nonetheless the European Union is slowly being transformed into a political entity, with a Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). Some European politicians have openly voiced support for a European nuclear force to serve as an instrument of this CFSP.
The Working Group Eurobomb
In 1995 a Dutch project group named '1995: Beyond the Bomb?' in a number of lectures focussed public attention on the extension of Non-Proliferation Treaty (N.P.T.). The negotiations for this extension took place in New York, May 1995. The project group n
oted the following points as being of special interest:
In order to initiate a debate on these issues the Working Group Eurobomb was set up at the beginning of 1996. Its goal is to inform a wider public about nuclear arms and proliferation in Europe and on all relevant developments. For this purpose a quart erly bulletin is being published in the period Sept 1996 - July 1997. Information is also distributed through interim reports and press releases to opinion makers, politicians, journalists and experts. These efforts are culminating in a seminar on nuclear weapons in Europe. During this seminar all recent developments will be discussed by panels of distinguished politicians, researchers and anti-nuclear campaigners. More specificallty the relevance of the Non-Proliferation Treaty for European nuclear devel opments will be examined, as well as the effects of NATO expansion.
Discussions concerning the function of French and British nuclear arms in a European Common Foreign and Security Policy are secret and should be made transparent. A "European nuclear deterrent" calls into question the credibility of European security policy as well as the commitments made in signing the NPT A European nuclear deterrent also contributes to a renewed worldwide nuclear arms spiral. For these reasons we want to focus attention on this subject in the debate on a European foreign p olicy and the role played in it by the Netherlands.
The seminar will take place from 14:00 until 17:00 on June 15, 1997. There will be two panel discussions reflecting the debate on European Security and the place of nuclear weapons in Europe. We have invited a number of speakers to present their viewpo int on nuclear weapons and the Non Proliferation Treaty in these two panels. The seminar will be held in the Henny de Swaanzaal at "het Vrouwenhuis", Nieuwe Herengracht 95, Amsterdam. See also the programme of the Alternative Summit. For more in formation:
Working Group Eurobomb, c/o AMOK, att. Karel Koster Esdoornstraat 14, 3551 AJ Utrecht. Tel: +31 30 2442122 or +31 30 2722594. Fax: +31 30 2441783. E-mail: k.koster@inter.nl.net
On Monday, June 16, there will be an action at the border prison 'Grenshospitium' ('border lodgement') in Amsterdam South East organised bij the Autonoom Centrum.
During the European summit Amsterdam has an area that could well be described as a prison: it's area near the Dutch Bank. The Bank itself is the Fortress where the Dutch State guards its gold, and where Europe's political elite will gather on Jue 16 an d 17. Hardly anyone will be allowed to enter the area. The elite decides on the future of the European Union, that more and more is turning into a prison for its inhabitants. The elite will also decide on people that in future will come to Europe in an at tempt to escape their miserable or life threate- ning conditions, which are partially caused by the policy of the European Union. In the plans of the EU there is no place for them in Europe, and they are no longer allowed to enter Europe legally.
On the other side of town we can still find the border prison. A prison for those at the bottom of society who's access to Europe hve been denied or who are about to be deported. The border prison symbolises the place that more and more refugees can ge t within the EU: a cell, waiting for deportation or illegalisation.
We want to connect those two extremes to each other. From the elite prison we will go (by bike) to the border prison: from one exclusion to the other! We will pass the Dutch Bank as close as possible, and go right through other areas where safety measu res have been taken by the authorities. With this route we want to break through the myth of free traffic within the EU. We will end the demonstration at the place where the medieval conception of 'hospitium' and Fortress Europe became a 20th century real ity.
At the prison we want to demonstrate in a playful and spectacu- lar way. Because the conception 'hospitium' is rooted in the Middle Ages we want to give form to our protest in a creative way. Some medieval tools are yet under construction, but we are h oping for more. We want to call on everybody to make the action into a succes.
Symbol 1: The Dutch Bank
The Dutch Bank stands for the (Dutch) banking system and the domina-tion ofcapital. On June 15 and 16 the European Summit will take place in the Dutch Bank (of: On June 15 and 16 European government leaders will decide here about the future of all of us.)
One of the things the European Summit will decide about is who will get access to Europe and who won't. Who will get chances and who won't.
Symbol 2: The 'Grenshospitium'
The 'Grenshospitium', or rather the border-jail, stands for the Dutch andEuropean policy to exclude refugees and migrants. Inno- cent undocumentedpeople who have been round up in Holland, as well as refugees are beinglocked up here. Human Rights become a
farce.
Symbol 3: Siege of Amsterdam
We will encircle the border-jail with playful effects. Gather at Holendrecht Metro station at 18.00h.
At 16.00h. a cycle demonstration will start from the Heinekenplein to the border-jail via the restricted areas around the Dutch Bank. At the border-jail several events will take place, among others: - Drum the Walls, the building will be surrounded and be
aten away by the sound of the drums, so bring your djembe's, bendirs, drums, etc..
For more information and/or suggestions: Autonoom Centrum, Bilderdijkstraat 165F, 1053 KP Amsterdam tel. 0031.206126172, fax. 0031.206168967, email: ac@xs4all.nl WWW: http://www.xs4al
l.nl/~ac