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Gesine Lötzsch

Connecting Eurobonds with regulation of the finance markets

Gesine Lötzsch, chairwoman of the party DIE LINKE gave the following statement at the meeting of Chancellor Merkel and President Sarkozy:

Eurobonds are a means in the fight against the Euro crisis. They allow states suffering a complicated financial and economic crisis to take up money to lower interest rates. This is the only way for them to get out of the crisis and pay back her debts. Budget cuts alone do not lead to a debt reduction, but to economic decline and eventually to the insolvency of these states. Thus, Eurobonds are not an act of altruism, but in the interest of the German taxpayers.

However, Eurobonds will miss their effect if not at the same time the rules at the financial markets are drastically changed. The neoliberal governments shy from pushing through new rules because they had to free themselves at first from the financial dependence of the financial industry. Finally, parliaments and not rating agencies must rule again the destiny of Europe!

THE LEFT asks the Federal Government and the government’s parliamentary groups to clear the way to Eurobonds. In the Bundestag we can agree on the introduction of Eurobonds if this is connected with the introduction of a financial transaction tax. The income from such a tax would stabilize the Euro immediately and render all antisocial shortening packages superfluous.