Euro rescue without giving up democracy!
Among the suggestions made by Chancellor Merkel and President Sarkozy to the rescue of the euro, the chairwoman of the party DIE LINKE, Gesine Lötzsch said:
Regardless of how the proposals of the summit in detail are evaluated, it is obvious that the most important measures proposed will be accompanied by a serious restriction of democracy. An economic government which has no democratic legitimacy and can not be controlled by the European Parliament would be regarded by the citizens of Europe as an occupying power. Including debt brakes in the constitutions of the euro countries would be a limitation of the national parliaments.
The Left demands not less but more democracy and transparency in Europe. The citizens do not know which banks were rescued on what terms. They have no influence on the adopted reduction packages of the national parliaments. They do not know what the financial lobbyists have discussed with Chancellor Merkel and President Sarkozy before the summit. Saving the euro while giving up democracy and the welfare state is not a solution for us. Now we need a decoupling of the real economy from the financial casino. We need a public bank, which lends money at low interest rates to states which are in financial trouble. It is unacceptable that private banks can make profit from the collapse of entire economies.