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10 February 2017

The sixtieth anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, which laid the foundations for the European Union, will be celebrated in Rome this March. This anniversary is reminiscent of the 40th anniversary of the founding of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), which was celebrated with great pomp in East Berlin in October 1989. Only a few weeks later, the GDR collapsed. Likewise, the European Union is in the throes of a fatal crisis. All the tensions, conflicts and contradictions that the Treaty of Rome was supposed to have overcome are emerging once again.

The ferocious denunciation of the EU by US President Donald Trumphis threat of retaliatory tariffs, his suggestion that he might seek an alliance with Russia at the expense of Europe, and the close connections of his chief strategist Stephen Bannon to right-wing extremists in Europehas made it clear that the EU can no longer base itself on the support of the US, a fundamental prerequisite of its existence in the past.

In discussing the Iraq war in 2003, the WSWS explained that the post-war order was in fact, a departure from the historical norm. David North, chairman of the International Editorial Board of the WSWS, wrote that [t]he more basic tendency of American capitalism, rooted in its somewhat belated emergence as a major imperialist power, had been to augment its world position at the expense of Europe. This analysis has now been confirmed. Trumps stance on the European Union is only the most extreme expression of a development that has been underway for a long time.

Highlighting the deepening tensions, the White House has increasingly cast Germany as an economic adversary of the United States. Peter Navarro, the head of Donald Trumps National Trade Council, went so far as to effectively declare Germany a currency manipulator. He said the euro was grossly undervalued and was equivalent to an implicit Deutsche Mark, whose low valuation, as the Financial Times put it, gave Germany an advantage over its main trading partners.

Earlier this week, Jens Weidmann, the head of Germanys Bundesbank, shot back that German companies are above all competitive because they are excellently positioned in global markets and convince with innovative products.

Berlin has reacted to Washingtons threats through economic and military countermeasures, trying to unite Europe behind its own hegemonic aims.

German weekly Die Zeit published a report entitled Counterattack, which claims that the EU has begun to prepare for a trade war against the US. It plans to react to punitive tariffs from the Americans with retaliatory measures, and is seeking a free trade agreement with Mexico and several Asian states. Where the Americans shut themselves off, the Europeans should, instead, be open, it states.

Berlin is making use of the threats from Washington and the possibility of closer relations between the US and Russia to bring Europe under its own dominance. For some time, a discussion has been carried out in the German media that portrays Brexit and the election of Trump as opportunities rather than merely a danger.

This week, outgoing German President Joachim Gauck gave a speech on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Maastricht Treaty in which he said that [t]he time has come for European countries and in particular for Germany, which for many years took their lead from the United States, to become more self-confident and autonomous. He cynically insisted that it was necessary not to abandon the values on which the European project is based, and called for Europe to increase its defence capabilities.

Germanys attempt, seven decades after its defeat in the Second World War, to rise once again to dominance over Europe is exacerbating national tensions and providing political fodder for right-wing nationalist forces.

In most European countries, the ruling class is split on this question. In France, while the far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen is demanding Frances exit from the EU and is orienting to Trump and Putin, her possible opponent in the runoff election, Emmanuel Macron, is emphasizing a decidedly German- and EU-friendly course.

However, the fundamental cause of the crisis of the EU is not to be found in the election of President Trump. Even before the US election, the EU had already entered the deepest crisis in its entire history. Brexit, the Euro crisis, national debt, the refugee crisis, tensions between east and west and between north and south, and the rise of right-wing, chauvinist parties threatened to break it to pieces.

At the same time, explosive social tensions are developing beneath the surface. One out of ten people in Europe is officially unemployed, and one out of four is impoverished or socially marginalized. In the poorest countries in Eastern Europe, the average monthly wage is only 400. Even in the wealthier countries, millions of people work under precarious conditions on the edge of destitution.

The ruling class is responding to this crisis by militarizing, strengthening and arming the state apparatus, closing borders and imposing unending austerity. The European working class confronts two dangers, which are in fact two sides of the same coin. First, it is faced with the transformation of the EU from an economic union into a military union that is also arming itself to suppress internal social and political dissent. For example, France has been under a state of emergency for 15 months. Second, it is faced with the splintering of Europe into national states under right-wing authoritarian regimes. Both of these trajectories mean a decline into war and barbarism.

However, the worldwide crisis of capitalism, expressed most sharply in the rise of Trump and the crisis of the EU, also produces the objective prerequisites for an offensive of the working class, the only social force that can prevent a repetition of the catastrophes of the twentieth century.

The only progressive basis for European integration is the program of the United Socialist States of Europe. To wage a successful struggle against war, nationalism and social inequality, the working class needs an independent, revolutionary leadership, which opposes all representatives of the ruling class on the basis of a socialist perspective. This leadership is the International Committee of the Fourth International.

Peter Schwarz

See more here:
The election of Trump and the crisis of the European Union - World Socialist Web Site

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, Feb 8, CMC Canada is providing CAN$91.2 million (One Canada dollar =US$0.76 cents) in aid to Haiti, the Minister of International Development and La Francophonie,Marie-Claude Bibeau, has announced.

Bibeau, who was here attending Tuesdays inauguration of Jovenel Moise as Haitis 58th President, said that the five year development programme will increase womens access to sexual and reproductive health, protect the rights of child workers, increase access to education and improve womens and childrens access to legal service

Under an initiative of the International Development Research Centre, Canada will also provide young Haitians with much-needed technical skills to enter the workforce and take control of their future.

Canadas support to Haiti and its people reflect the priorities of our development agenda: upholding and uplifting human dignity, empowering women and girls and enhancing the local capacity of government and institutions.

As true partners, we are behind Haitis new government and are eager to work collaboratively to advance our vision together, said Bibeau, who held talks with President Moise.

She said that the head of state had insisted on the importance of social justice and good governance.

He fully recognizes the importance of having competent and integral people at the head of the various public services, she said, adding, it is encouraging, but we remain very cautious in the use of funds and to whom they are given, to ensure that the money goes to where it is intended.

Meanwhile, the European Union has invited president Moise to visit several European institutions.

Executive Director for America of the European Service for External Action (EEAS),Edita Hrda, who represented the EU at the ceremony, said that as a friend and partner of Haiti, the European Union is ready to strengthen its relationship with the new administration in order to accompany Haiti in its economic, social and environmental redeployment.

She presented a letter of congratulations to President Mose that was signed by Presidents Donald Tusk (European Council) and Jean-Claude Juncker (European Commission), as well as an invitation to host a State visit to the European institutions

This letter and invitation also demonstrate the European Unions commitment to relations with the entire Caribbean region.

We also talked about the political priorities of President Jovenel Mose in order to put Haiti back on the right track. The European Union has always supported Haiti and will continue this support. We are willing to strengthen our relationship with the new administration to accompany Haiti in its economic, social and environmental redeployment, she said.

The Executive Director also provided details on the additional Euro 35 million (One Euro =US$1.28 cents) post-Matthew aid the European Union announced earlier this week.

See the rest here:
Canada provides multi-million dollar aid package, European Union invites Moise to visit - Antigua Observer

Ian Bremmer, President of New York-based Eurasia Group, claimed the intention to create a European supranational identity was far too ambitious to ever be implemented.

Speaking on Fox News, Mr Bremmer hinted that member states economic models were just too different to be intertwined in one political union, despite the fanatical belief of many in Brussels for 'ever-closer union'.

I think it is fair to say the European Union has been a failure, he said.

In the sense of what they were trying to do was trying to get all of these countries to join and the integration would bring them closer politically over time.

GETTYFOX

The EU is proving to be far more ambitious than you could actually operationalise on the ground

Ian Bremmer

They are going to look more alike. They are going to support the creation of a European supranational identity.

The Eurasia chief said that its faults will inevitably lead to other European countries staging their own referendums on EU membership, with France likely to follow Britain out of the Brussels exit next.

His views were echoed in a warning from the European Parliaments lead Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt, who warned of a three-pronged attack on the bloc from outside forces.

If we look to the pressure on the European Union at the moment [Donald Trump] is bidding on the disintegration of the European Union and also Vladimir Putin wants to divide the European Union, he said.

GETTY

Then theres also the threat of jihadism and then internally we have enormous pressures by nationalists, populists, the whole question of Brexit its an existential moment for the European Union.

Mr Bremmer accused the blocs leaders for drifting too far away from their initial promises of averting war between European nations, citing the euro and single market as its downfall.

He added: What you were trying to do originally was not just a common market or currency, but also create a supranational political identity to make sure these countries didnt go to war against each other anymore.

That alliance is proving to be far more ambitious than you could actually operationalise on the ground and the people are reacting very badly to that idea.

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The expert moved on to suggest a Marine Le Pen victory in Frances presidential election is the last thing wanted by the continent's financiers.

Mr Bremmer claimed that her bid to remove France from the EU would have significant further negative implications for the blocs currency.

He supported her pledge to deny Greece any further assistance with its mounting debt crisis, adding that her politics would act as a springboard for other populist movements across Europe who were also disgruntled by supporting the member states failing economy.

The reality is they never created fiscal harmony between these countries because the Greeks and the Germans [have] fundamentally different types of economies, Mr Bremmer concluded.

Original post:
The EU is failing because it was too ambitious Geopolitical expert's damning critique - Express.co.uk

Washingtons proposed new EU ambassador smashed EU leaders and criticised them for attempting to damage their relationship with America.

Mr Malloch spoke of President Donald Trumps foreign policy in which he said America would prefer to deal with countries individually rather than the Brussels bloc.

In his tirade he claimed that the President wants to build a relationship with the European Union before he slammed them for their anti-American attitude.

He said: President Trump believes that dealing bilaterally with different European countries is more in the US interest.

GETTYEURONEWS

That we could have a stronger relationship with countries individually.

The other thing about the EU that I think is more problematic is its blatant anti-Americanism.

Next the US economist, who is a long-term friend of Mr Trump said that the European Union are targeting the President as he attempts to develop a relationship with Vladimir Putin.

He continued: He believes a more positive relationship with Russia is possible.

GETTY

The rest of the world shouldnt be worried if America is strong again

Ted Malloch

And thats alarming to some people including some friends in the EU or some other governments in Europe.

The EU sent a strong message to Mr Trump after some leaders felt that the billionaire undermined the bloc.

Guy Verhofstadt, the former Belgian Prime Minister and lead Brexit negotiator for the European Parliament, said: I have just come back from US and my view is that we have a third front that is undermining the EU and that is Donald Trump.

Getty Images

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Trump signs an order to review the Dodd-Frank Wall Street to roll back financial regulations of the Obama era.

Mr Malloch finished by arguing that the European Union should be backing America as it becomes a powerful nation again as it helps them.

He said: The rest of the world shouldnt be worried if America is strong again, that America is the sheriff of the world again, that Americas economy is growing, you know, it hasnt grown frankly for the last decade.

The rest of the word actually benefits from a strong America.

Read more here:
Donald Trump ambassador savages 'blatant anti-American' European Union in furious blast - Express.co.uk

THESE are exhilarating times for the 52% of British voters who last summer opted to leave the European Union. After months of rumours that an anti-Brexit counter-revolution was being plotted by the Europhile establishment (who even won a Supreme Court case forbidding the government from triggering Brexit without Parliaments permission), it at last looks as if independence beckons. This week the House of Commons voted to approve the process of withdrawal. The prime minister, Theresa May, will invoke Article 50 of the EU treaty next month, beginning a two-year countdown to freedom.

But the triumphant mood is about to sour, for a reason few people have grasped. The first item on the agenda in Brussels, where divorce terms are to be thrashed out, will be a large demand for cash. To Britons who voted to leave the EU because they were told it would save them 350m ($440m) a week, this will come as a shock. The mooted bill is hugesome in Brussels talk of 60bn ($64bn), enough to host the London Olympics five times overand its calculations open to endless argument. Until now the Brexit debate has focused on grander matters, such as the future of the 600bn-a-year trading relationship between Britain and the EU. Yet a row over the exit payment could derail the talks in their earliest stages.

The tab is eye-watering. Britains liabilities include contributions to the EUs pension scheme, which is generous and entirely unfunded. The biggest item, which Britain will surely challenge, is the countrys share of responsibility for a multi-billion-euro collection of future projects to which the EU has committed itself but not yet allocated a budget. These liabilities, and sundry smaller ones, may be offset a little by Britains share of the EUs assets, mostly property in Brussels and elsewhere around the world. By one analysis (see article), the bill could be as little as 25bn or as much as 73bn.

So there is plenty to haggle over. But the very idea that the charge is something to be negotiated irritates many Eurocrats, who see it as a straightforward account to be settled. The European Commissions negotiators insist that the divorce agreement must be signed off before the wrangling can begin on anything else, such as future trading relations. Britain would prefer to tally up the bill in parallel with talks on other matters, in order to trade more cash for better access.

Garon! This isnt what I ordered

It is in everyones interests to reach an agreement. If talks fail and Britain walks out without paying, the EU will be left with a big hole in its spending plans. Net contributors, chiefly Germany and France, would face higher payments and net recipients would see their benefits cut. For Britain the satisfaction at having fled without paying would evaporate amid rancid relations with the continent, wrecking prospects of a trade deal; a rupture in everything from intelligence-sharing to joint scientific research; and, perhaps, a visit from the bailiffs of the International Court of Justice. Such an outcome would be bad for the EU but it would be even worse for Britain.

That imbalance will become a theme of the Article 50 negotiations. It suggests that the British will have to do most of the compromising. Mrs May must not waste the two-year timetable haggling over a few billion, when trade worth vastly more hangs in the balance. The EU can help by agreeing to discuss the post-Brexit settlement in parallel with the debate about money. Rolling the lot into one would increase the opportunities for trade-offs that benefit both sides.

But there is a danger of hardliners in London and Brussels making compromise impossible. Some in the European Commission are too eager to make a cautionary tale of Britains exit. And they overestimate Mrs Mays ability to sell a hard deal at home. The British public is unprepared for the exit charge, which is not mentioned in the governments white paper on the talks. The pro-Brexit press, still giddy from its unexpected victory last summer, will focus both on the shockingly large total and also on the details (heres one: the average Eurocrats pension is double Britains average household income). It has flattered Mrs May with comparisons to Margaret Thatcher, who wrung a celebrated rebate out of the EU in 1984. A small band of Brexiteer MPs have a Trumpian desire to carry out not just a hard Brexit but an invigoratingly disruptive one. Mrs Mays working majority in Parliament is only 16.

Everyone would be worse off if the Article 50 talks foundered. Yet the breadth of the gap in expectations between the EU and Britain, and the lack of time in which to bridge it, mean that such an act of mutual self-harm is dangerously possible.

Read the rest here:
Exiting the European Union will cost a fortune - The Economist