Europe from below - Euractions

Chiki - Chiki Precario, Euromayday 08

Europe — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:14:00 +02:00

El baile del chiki chiki: the new cool promo of next Euromayday.

Chiki-Chiki Precario,Euromayday'08

EUROMAYDAY 008 – PRESS RELEASE

Europe — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:46:00 +02:00

EUROMAYDAY PRESS CONFERENCE: Monday, April 14, in Brussels/Bruxelles/Brussel

contacts: info@blablaexpress.org

EUROMAYDAY 008 – PRESS RELEASE

What's EuroMayDay?

A transnational demonstration of precarious and migrant people held the First of May in more than a dozen European cities. The first MayDay Parade was held in Milan in 2001 (it now gathers 100,000 people), and since 2004 the process has spread all over Europe (see the Middlesex Declaration). In 2006, the EuroMayDay was launched with pink actions in the EU Quarter of Brussels, and in 2007 a EuroMayDay superhero block joined the fray against the G8 in Rostock-Heiligendamm. EuroMayday is a process by which actions and demands are put forward to fight the widespread precarization of youth and the discrimination of migrants in Europe and beyond: no borders, no workfare, no precarity!

Who organizes EuroMayDay and what for?

The EuroMayDay network, a web of media activists, labor organizers, migrant collectives convening each year in a different European city. Last mayday assembly was in Berlin, where it was agreed that these would be the demands surrounding the protests for EuroMayDay 008:

• full legalization for all persecuted migrants • self-organizing and unionizing rights freed from state repression • unconditional basic income • a european living wage • free access to culture, knowledge, and skills • the right to cheap housing Where will EuroMayDay 008 occur?

In Aachen - Berlin - Copenhagen - Hanau - Hamburg - Helsinki - Lisboa - Madrid - Malaga - Maribor - Milano - Napoli - Palermo - Terrassa - Thessaloniki - Tokyo - Wien.

This year, there is a focal point for the whole network in Aachen/Aix-la-Chapelle (http://euromayday.karlspreis.info), where Nicolas Sarkozy will present Angela Merkel with the EU Oscar, the Prix Charlemagne. Irony of the calendar, in 2008 syndicalist MayDay coincides with catholic Ascension Day, when the Karlspreis is handed out. This year for MayDay in Aachen, two worlds will clash together:

Utopian Society vs Capitalist Market; the radical europe of multitudes vs the conservative Europe of elites, grassroots networks and squatted social centers vs the EU diarchy (www.radicaleurope.org/visuals/euromayday_aachen_008.jpg).

What kind of people participate in EuroMayDay Parades?

Activists, artists, hackers, unionists, migrant associations, precarious2precarious networks, queer collectives, critical cyclists, leftist radicals of all stripes: red, black, green, pink, purple, silver. They are coming to Aachen and other EuroMayDay Parades to join the fight against a EU dominated by police security and financial privilege, by Barroso's neoliberalism, Trichet's monetarism, Solana's militarism…

MAYDAY! MAYDAY! no borders, no precarity, let's defeat the new inequality!

INFO LINX http://www.euromayday.org

http://euromayday.karlspreis.info

http://www.euromayday.be

http://liege.indymedia.org

http://www.wombles.org.uk/article2008021538.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euromayday

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precarity

VIDEO LINX

http://www.euromayday.be/maydaytv.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caKYW8qHJyU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM9ysjJ-9iw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPd29fr0rEs

I want my flag back!

Europe — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 21:17:00 +01:00

What? JEF Europe promotes the symbols of the EU while they have been left out of the Reform Treaty When? 13th December 2007, on the same day as the signing of the Reform Treaty Where? In almost 50 cities across Europe (see below for details)

On the 13th December the Young European Federalists will take to the streets in a pan European Action to coincide with the official signing of the Reform Treaty. 'Europe will not be united through legal treaties alone' is the message that JEF Europe sends to Heads of Government who will convene in Lisbon to sign the downsized version of the Constitution, stripped of any constitutional or political dimension.

The document, to be branded "Treaty of Lisbon" makes no reference to the symbols of Europe that were present in Article IV-1 of the failed Constitution.

"In almost 50 cities across Europe , youth is taking to the streets to protest against a black and white Europe " stated Samuele Pii, President of JEF Europe. "Europe has symbols and they must be acknowledged. They represent the values of Europe throughout the world – values of peace, unity, solidarity, democracy and respect for human rights " continued Pii.

In both EU and non EU member states, activists will fly the flag up high on December 13th while holding the banner 'I want my flag back'. " As Margaret Thatcher demanded her money back in 1979, we now demand our symbols back" commented Toni Giugliano, Action co-ordinator and Vice President JEF Europe. "Europe will not be united by force but by conviction. Without a sense of belonging and attachment, a union of citizens will not advance" Giugliano expressed.

In a recent declaration – initiated by the German Government – 16 Member States have expressed their support for the inclusion of the symbols of Europe in the Reform Treaty. " JEF Europe fully supports this initiative and calls on all other Heads of Government, including France, to add their name to the declaration" concluded Samuele Pii.

The purpose of the action will be to promote the European symbols among civil society across the European continent and to give a strong message to national leaders – 'The symbols of the EU are central to the construction of a true political and united Europe'.

Belgium – Bruges, Brussels

Bulgaria – Sofia Croatia – Zagreb

Denmark – Copenhagen France - Paris, Nancy, Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Lyon, Cabourg, Nimes

Germany – Berlin, Augsburg, Bonn, Jena, Bremen Greece – Komotini, Heraklion, Athens Hungary –Budapest Italy – Rome, Milan, Verona, Prato, Padova, Pescara, Genoa Latvia – Riga

Lithuania – Vilnius Macedonia – Bitola, Skopje

Malta – Valletta Norway – Oslo

Portugal – Lisbon Serbia – Nis

Slovakia – Bratislava Slovenia – Ljubljana

Spain – Tarragona, Barcelona Sweden – Uppsala

Turkey – Istanbul UK – London Edinburgh, Durham, York, Cardiff, Aberystwyth

Press contact:

For an updated list of participating cities and local contacts: JEF-Europe Vice-President and action co-ordinator Toni Giugliano: toni.giugliano@jef.eu +44 (0)7756663312.))

10,000 signatures for a European referendum delivered to the Italian Foreign Minister D'Alema

Europe — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 12:11:00 +02:00

Rome: on June 20th an Italian delegation of the Union of European Federalists delivered to the Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema the first 10,000 signatures to demand a pan-European referendum on the European costitution or Treaty to be held in all European countries the same day in occasion of next European elections in 2009.

During the meeting the Minister D'Alema declared to be in favour of a European referendum on the Constitution. He added that Italy in the European Council will support the European Constitution together with the vanguard group that has already approved it.

The European Council talks will not be easy but Italia is not available to low profile compromise as Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi announced in last speech in front of the European Parliament.

The petition for a European referendum can be signed on line to the following web site: http://www.europeanreferendum.eu

The campaign was launched in Berlin in March 2007.

The photo gallery of a demonstration for a European referendum held on March 23rd in Rome in front of the Italian Senate: http://www.mfe.it/img/2007/roma2303/destination/index.htm

During the public action for a European referendum held in Rome the 23rd of March the ex President of the European Convention Giscard d'Estaing signed the petition for a European referendum

On the offensive for the Charter of Fundamental Rights - Etuc demonstration in Bruxelles

Europe — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 09:47:00 +02:00

3000 trade unionists on 20th gathered the European institutions in Brussels in support of the Charter of Fundamental Rights being included in any new European constitutional treaty. A minority of governments are trying to reduce its significance or to keep the unsatisfactory ‘status quo’ whereby it is binding only on European institutions. The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) wants it to become binding on member states as well.

ETUC General Secretary, John Monks, and other leading European trade unionists will warn President Barroso that if the new text of a Treaty does not include the Charter of Fundamental Rights in a form binding on member states, then the ETUC will campaign against that new Treaty both at European and national levels. In particular the ETUC will demand that the European Parliament should not endorse any new text which is unsatisfactory on the Charter.

John Monks said “The Charter of Fundamental Rights is important to the working people of Europe. It indicates standards which should be observed by Governments and employers, standards which are currently threatened by the rising power of the new, financial capitalism. We are mobilising to take the offensive in favour of the Charter and warning member states not to retreat from what they have already agreed - to make the Charter binding on all EU countries.”

European referendum campaign newsletter 01/07

Europe — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 00:13:00 +02:00

Welcome to the first edition of the REFERENDUM CAMPAIGN NEWSLETTER 01/07.

Content: About the campaign, What's at stake at the European Summit?, Activities, Supporters update, How can you help the campaign?, Who is on the organisational team?

The first edition of the REFERENDUM CAMPAIGN NEWSLETTER 01/07.

CONTENT

I. About the campaign

Why do we need this campaign?

II. What's at stake at the European Summit?

1. Commit to a European constitution 2. Commit to a European referendum

III. Activities

23 March: Campaign kicks-off in Rome! 21 April: Munich launch and street action 16 June: JEF pan-European action day

IV. Supporters update

V. Practical updates

VI. How can you help the campaign?

1. Sign the petition yourself 2. Tell friends and family 3. Link to europeanreferendum.eu 4. Donate to the campaign 5. Join the campaign groups

VII. Who is on the organisational team?

VIII.How to contact us

I. ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN

On 21 April 2007 the campaign for an EU-wide consultative referendum on the European Constitution was officially launched by the Union of European Federalists (UEF) and the Young European Federalists (JEF). The goal of this campaign is to collect at least one million signatures in support of a European referendum to be held on the same day as the next European elections in 2009.

WHY DO WE NEED THIS CAMPAIGN?

An effective European Union must be democratic and founded on popular consent. Therefore any European Constitutional Treaty should be submitted to a consultative referendum of the citizens in all European states on the same day as the European elections in 2009, with a positive result if it is supported by a double majority of citizens and states of the Union.

To read more about the campaign visit the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section at our website www.europeanreferendum.eu .

II. WHAT'S AT STAKE AT THE EUROPEAN SUMMIT?

The heads of government of the 27 EU member states will meet in Brussels on 21/22 June. Their summit meeting will decide the way forward for the European constitutional treaty. This campaign has been launched with two key demands:

1.COMMIT TO A EUROPEAN CONSTITUTION

The European Council should keep to the idea of a European constitution and reject the minimalist alternative of a mini-Treaty. The previous constitutional treaty was ratified by 18 out of 27 of the member states and received 55 per cent of the votes cast by citizens in the four referendums that were held. This is a mandate for progress, not for retreat.

There will be negotiations between now and the end of December to agree a new text for the future of the European Union. In order to deal with the challenges that Europe faces, this text should be ambitious. It should be faithful to the constitutional treaty, and faithful to the idea of Europe.

Read the statement by Mercedes Bresso, president of the UEF here: http://www.federaleurope.org/index.php?id=3327

Read the statement by JEF-Europe here: http://www.jef.eu/index.php?id=1374

2.COMMIT TO A EUROPEAN REFERENDUM

The decision about the future of Europe is not just a matter for the heads of government alone. It should be a matter for all European citizens.

That is why the campaign also calls on the European Council to agree to submit the results of their negotiations to a consultative Europe-wide referendum, which should be held in every European country on the same day. Democratic aims can only be achieved by democratic means. That means a European referendum and not a European summit.

If you agree that Europe in the future should be united and not divided, and if you agree that European citizens should be entitled to take this decision, then you can add your support to the campaign.

Visit our campaign website at www.europeanreferendum.eu

And tell your friends!

III. ACTIVITIES

23 March: CAMPAIGN KICKS-OFF IN ROME!

On Friday, March 23rd, during the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of Rome Treaties in Palazzo Madama (Italian Senate), the European Federalist Movement (MFE - UEF Italy) launched the Campaign for collecting a million signatures to demand a consultative referendum on the European Constitution. The event has shown the general support surrounding the proposal for a European referendum, which is increasing within the political forces. This proposal is quickly gathering more and more support among the citizens, who welcome favourably the perspective of involving the European people in the process that has to give Europe a Constitution, effectively summarised in the slogan of the Campaign: "Let the European people decide!".

Read more about it here: http://www.taurillon.org/Campaign-for-a-European-Referendum-kicks-off-in-Rome

21 April: MUNICH LAUNCH AND STREET ACTION

The European referendum campaign was officially launched in Munich during the Federal Committee meeting of UEF with discussion in the Bavarian parliament, featuring Mercedes Bresso, president of UEF, Claudia Roth, president of the German Greens and Paolo Ponzano, Director of the Task Force on the future of the Union and Institutional Matters.

In the city centre members of JEF-Germany organised a street action collecting signatures for the campaign. To read more about the action and see the photos go to http://www.jef.de/.

16 June: JEF PAN-EUROPEAN ACTION DAY

Whereas several of Europe's leaders are talking about burying the European constitution alive, JEF has got a solution: Let the European People decide! Together with UEF we are supporting the 1 million signatures in support of a pan-European consultative referendum on a (revised) European constitution - www.europeanreferendum.eu . . The action will take place Saturday 16 June - just one week before the Summit and a few days before Merkel concludes the German Presidency - i.e. straight in the spotlight!

We hope you will join in so that jointly we can send a strong message to the summit! Please contact asa.gunven@gmail.com to let her know that you are taking part in the action and to get further information and material.

And good luck!

IV. SUPPORTERS UPDATE

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, president of the European Convention, signs our petition during a street action in Rome, Italy marking the 50th anniversary of the Rome Treaties.

Gérard Onesta, French MEP from the European Greens and Vice-President of the European Parliament officially supports the European referendum campaign and spreads the word about it in his newsletter.

Jürgen Habermas, the famous German philosopher in favour of a Euro-wide referendum; read the interview at http://europeanreferendum.blogspot.com

V. PRACTICAL UPDATES

THE COUNTER: on June 13 we have reached more than 7000 signatures!

LANGUAGE VERSIONS: the referendum website is now available in the following languages: English, French, German, and - new - in Italian and Finnish!

Czech, Esperanto and Slovenian will follow next week while many others are still in the pipe-line.

VI. HOW CAN YOU HELP THE CAMPAIGN?

1.Sign the petition yourself

The first thing is obviously to sign the petition on www.europeanreferendum.eu yourself.

2.Tell friends and family

There are many, many ways in which you can promote the campaign. The most basic thing is obviously to tell friends and family about the campaign. Don't get on their nerves - and don't force anyone to sign. But if you tell many people around you, you might be surprised by how many people are actually sympathetic to our campaign and our ideas.

3. Link to europeanreferendum.eu

If you are running your own website or even a blog you can make a very valuable contribution to the campaign: Publish a banner for the campaign. You can download two different banners on the campaign website. If you want you can even add the banner to your own E-mail signature - we know that this is something for the very committed.

4. Donate to the campaign

This is a self-financing campaign. Therefore we are highly depended on financial support by individuals. Your financial support will help the campaign to attract more publicity. You can donate to the campaign through PayPal: even a small donation of a few euros helps the campaign, but obviously large donations will help more. There is a button on the website from which you can directly reach our PayPal site: https://www.europeanreferendum.eu/en/how-can-i-help.html?no_cache=1

5. Join the campaign groups

Campaigning actions will be taking place in the following countries/cities on Saturday 16 June 2007:

Barcelona, Edinburgh, York, Athens, Lisbon, Vienna, Graz, Turin, Cagliari, Castelfranco, Verona, Padova, Prato, Bucharest, Berlin and many more.

Please contact your nearest JEF/UEF sections for more details.

Ongoing campaign groups: if you want to help out with translating the website into other European languages and/or help develop our communication feel free to contact us.

VII. THE ORGANISATIONAL TEAM

Campaign officer: Peter Matjasic

Campaign coordination: Hanneli Ebding, Francesco Ferrero, Richard Laming, Florian Rodeit and Peter Strempel

VIII. HOW TO CONTACT US

Referendum on Europe Campaign Secretariat Chaussée de Wavre 214d 1050 Brussels Belgium

Email: info@europeanreferendum.eu

To European activists for a different drug policy

Europe — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 23:43:00 +02:00

Herewith, we would like to invite you to the annual General Assembly of ENCOD (European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies).

This year’s meeting will be held at the ENCOD secretariat, Lange Lozanastraat 14, Antwerpen. It will start on Friday June 22nd at 11.00h, and end on Sunday, June 24th, at 17.00h.

See http://www.encod.org/info/IMG/pdf/GENERAL_ASSEMBLY_ANTWERP_2007-2.pdf for the agenda of the assembly.

Main issues:

The Viennna 2008 Campaign*

In 2008, the United Nations are supposed to produce the results of their 10-year strategy to ‘eliminate or significantly reduce the supply and demand of illicit drugs’, agreed upon during the Special Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGASS) in New York in 1998. For this purpose, a meeting of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs will be held in March 2008 in Vienna, Austria. On this meeting, delegates from approx. 60 countries as well as UN bureaucrats will have to come up with a credible explanation for the fact that their strategy has completely failed and is based on the wrong assumptions. Obviously, they will do everything to reduce public attention to the meeting, as this will undoubtedly lead to more debate about the need to change their policies.

In short: Vienna 2008 is the perfect opportunity for those citizens opposed to the global war on drugs to join forces and make a common effort to show the world there is much more to fear from prohibition than from a tolerant alternative.

We are considering to plan a 3 day programme (from Friday to Sunday) in which hundreds, perhaps thousands of activists from all over the world can participate. It will be a combination of both information, interaction and entertainment. In April 2003, ENCOD organised a similar march towards the UN headquarters in Vienna <http://www.vienna2003.org> that drew a total number of 3.000 participants.

The dialogue with the European Union.*

Drugs and drug problems are among the issues that concern EU citizens most. Not only because they relate to public health and safety, but also because until now, citizens have had no possibility whatsoever to be consulted in the elaboration of drug policies. EU governments started to work out the concept of a European drug policy in 1990. Since then, several official commitments have been made to involve civil society in the design and implementation of drug policies. Yet these commitments have never been put into practice. EU Strategies and Action Plans on Drugs have always been designed and adopted without any serious consultation of civil society.

In June 2006, the European Commission issued a Green Paper (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/com/2006/com2006_0316en01.pdf) which is a reflection on the role of civil society in drug policy in Europe. European citizens were invited to give their comments to this Green Paper before 30 september 2006. In September 2006, ENCOD (European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies), a platform of 150 Civil Society Organisations from 24 European countries, presented its Green Pepper, (http://www.encod.org/info/IMG/pdf/GPENCOD-2.pdf), containing its comments to the Green Paper and a historical overview of the role of civil society in EU drug policy in the past 20 years.

The process of involving civil society in European drug policy can become a testcase for transparency in the European Union. But it remains to be seen whether the current process will mark the start of a sincere dialogue between citizens and authorities on drug policies. Not only have EU authorities yet been unable to establish a sincere dialogue with civil society on drug policy. Also the outcome of the evaluations of earlier strategies as well as the recommendations of the European Parliament that were pointing in the direction of a fundamental change in drug policies have been completely ignored.

The ENCOD-website*

Our new website offers possibilities for local ENCOD Members to participate. We will organise a workshop for those interested in collaborating with this site.

**** ENCOD GENERAL ASSEMBLIES ARE OPEN TO ANYONE, THOUGH NON-MEMBERS ARE IN PRINCIPLE ONLY OBSERVERS.

We hope to hear from you soon!

Joep Oomen, ENCOD coordinator E-mail: joep@encod.org

EUROPEAN COALITION FOR JUST AND EFFECTIVE DRUG POLICIES

Lange Lozanastraat 14 – 2018 Antwerpen - Belgium

Tel. + 32 (0)3 293 0886 – Mob. + 32 (0)495 122644

E-mail: info@encod.org <mailto:info@encod.org> / www.encod.org <http://www.encod.org>

World refugee day on 20 June

Europe — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 12:00:00 +02:00

Since 1993 at least 8,000 migrants and refugees have died trying to enter ‘fortress’ Europe; that’s equivalent to three people every two days. Indiscriminate and inhumane border controls force desperate people to take even greater risks to flee extreme poverty, persecution and war.

On 20 June, World Refugee Day, Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) calls on governments to reflect on this needless loss of life and act to place human rights above tight border security. While governments have a right to manage their borders, this right is not absolute. They also have obligations to protect those fleeing persecution and serious human rights abuses, and do all in their power to prevent unnecessary loss of life.

To remember those who died, JRS, in cooperation with Kerkwerk Multicultureel Samenleven, will hold an inter-religious prayer vigil ‘Chemin sans Issue’ at 19.00 in Saint Roch Church, on 60 Antwerpsesteenweg in Brussels on 15 June.

Christians, Moslems and Buddhists will pay their respects to those who never reached Europe alive. "We wish to highlight these inhumane policies which give border security precedence to human rights protection. We hope by raising public awareness others will not suffer the same fate" JRS Europe Director, Jan Stuyt SJ, stated.

European policies increasingly restrict entry into Europe. Border fences are higher and patrols have been intensified. Air and sea companies are fined for carrying undocumented migrants and immigration officials are sent to countries of origin to prevent migrants and refugees from leaving in the first place. However, these policies do not deter people from trying to enter Europe. Rather, they force the most vulnerable individuals to seek more and more dangerous and desperate methods of entry.

Below are two real-life case studies which illustrate the risks that fleeing refugees are prepared to take. For more information about the Prayer Vigil on 15 June or World Refugee Day (20 June) please contact Elizabeth Underhill, JRS Europe Media Officer, press.europe@mail07.jrs.net.

For more information about the victims of ‘fortress’ Europe, visit the following websites: In English: www.unitedagainstracism.org/pages/campfatalrealities.htm In French: www.fortresseurope.blogspot.com

CASE STUDIES

Ali, 26 years old from Sudan, is just one of many thousands of migrants who have taken the treacherous journey to Italy by sea. He spent one week crossing the desert to reach Libya before leaving for Italy on a rubber dingy with 16 other people. He was told the crossing would only take 12 hours: it actually took six days and five of the immigrants did not survive. Ali lost hope he would ever make it to Italy. He believed he was going to die. As Ali’s case illustrates, the tougher the sanctions and restrictions on entry, the more dangerous and extreme methods of entry are attempted by increasingly desperate groups of refugees and migrants. The suffering of those seeking sanctuary in Europe is masked by the rhetoric of border control. Refugees and migrants have died in deserts, at borders, crossing the sea and hidden in truck holds.

In May 2007, a group of 27 sub-Saharan Africans were found clinging to the fishing nets of a Maltese fishing boat. They had been there for three days and nights. The fishing crew had provided them with water and fruit but feared the consequences of granting them access to their boat. This is just one example of how a closed border policy forces individuals to take more extreme risks and hampers any offer of humanitarian support. A culture of fear, instilled by the state, forces those directly in contact with refugees and migrants to provide very little assistance or help.

The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) is a global Catholic organisation, which was founded in 1980 and whose mission is to accompany, serve and defend the rights of refugees and forcibly displaced people regardless of their religious affiliations. The regional office of JRS - Europe in Brussels networks with JRS staff in over 20 European countries. JRS personnel in Europe accompany inter alia detained asylum seekers and former detainees.

The thousands forms of a global movement

Europe — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 23:13:00 +02:00

Shut down G8 Summit! Conflicts make Europe

The following text is by Marcello Tarì, Uninomade/Claims. You can also listen to the audio interview (in Italian).

The success of blockades comes from the movement’s intelligence and, specifically, to the new use of some former struggle practices. The most important used to be part of the so-called “castor” system, which managed to stop trains that carried nuclear waste. Many tactics we used during past days to pass through police control and make them useless do come from such experience. This fact is very important. Movement’s memory is not dead, it does not sit in history book. It on the other hand is a something that is continuously re-interrogated and re-invented according to actual contests. Blockades of smash G8, together with June 2nd demonstration and what’s to happen next, form a mosaic of movement that keeps transforming itself. There’s radical conflict, which June 2nd demonstration expressed. But there’s also is the Clown army with its fundamental role during blockades and there are all the different movement’s articulation as well. Here in Rostock things are very “global” in the sense we are referring to. There’s much commons in the declined field of movements. The field leads to commons, shared dimensions, practises and objectives. This is another important, perhaps fundamental, issue. We managed to assault the red zone’s lines and we did this through the synergic union of differences within movement’s networks. The union provoked an exceptional power. This exceptional power can modify and lead all of us to the affirmation of substantial freedom, which anti G8 mobilisations mean to affirm. The community that lives in Rostock’s, Reddelich’s and all others camping is capable of connections, of staying together without stupid ideological conflicts. This capacity is leading to the full confrontation of practises and objectives. To be sincere we must also state the we everyday live G8 in our own metropolises through the system of control, though the development of capitalism, through the permanent condition of global war. G8 is not an event. Powers of the earth wish to create a spectacular media event, which of course assume contestations as a part of it. The truth is that contestations continuously exceed the symbolic representation of powers. In this sense international networks decide to point out that what we now want to move the spirit of Rostock and Reddelich in one of the most important capitals of the world: Berlin. This is the political framework within which tomorrow in the evening we shall reclaim the city in Berlin through radical disobedience since everywhere else in Germany demos are forbidden.

Source: http://www.globalproject.info/index-en.html

Trade union assembly for the Charter of Fundamental Rights - Brussels, 20 June 2007

Europe — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 11:08:00 +02:00

BRUSSELS - ROND-POINT SCHUMAN (PETITE RUE DE LA LOI), 20 JUNE 2007 AT 11H30 On the offensive with the ETUC to defend fundamental rights, Social Europe, and more and better jobs

Why?

In the current negotiations to devise a new Constitutional Treaty, there are already indications that the Charter of Fundamental Rights (including the right to organise and to strike) will be ignored and not made binding on Member States. The ETUC has campaigned for the incorporation of the Charter in EU treaties for many years (including holding demonstrations in Nice and Laeken, Brussels). We were successful in the Convention which drew up the present draft Constitutional Treaty. That success is now at risk.

On the eve of the European summit taking place on 21-22 June 2007, the ETUC is therefore going on the offensive and warns that if the outcome is the relegation of the Charter, the ETUC will campaign against any new treaty (an emergency statement adopted by the ETUC Congress on May 24 is attached).

Where & When?

Place of assembly: Rond-Point Schuman - Petite Rue de la Loi at 11:30. There will be a mass assembly of European trade unionists, and a delegation of union leaders will meet the President of the European Commission to present the ETUC’s case.

Thousands protested in Prague against planned US base

Europe — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 10:45:00 +02:00

May 26, 2007. Prague, Czech Republic

Several thousand protesters gathered in Prague during demonstration against planned US radar base in the Czech Republic. Protesters traveled from across the country and included people of all ages, backgrounds and political affiliations. The demonstration was organized by the “No to the Bases” initiative, which formed in July 2006 and actively opposes the US administration plan to build National Missile Defense (NMD) base in the Czech Republic.

"We are fighting a David and Goliath battle" declared Jan Tamas spokesperson for the initiative, after denouncing the government's decision not to call a nationwide referendum on hosting the US base. "After a year we can see that the government ignores public opinion and all arguments against the base. "We must call for their dismissal," Tamas said, prompting chants of "dismiss, dismiss," from the crowd. “Our demonstrations are bigger and bigger every time and ever more important people from the cultural, environmental and political areas are participating,” “but we are not going to stop now, we will come again in less than two weeks during the visit of President Bush on June 4th.”.

After the speeches the demonstration continued with the protest march to Prague’s castle – the seat of the President. During the march protesters were calling for national referendum, rejected the base and called for the resignation of the government.

The initiative currently unites 50 Czech and international organizations opposing the US plan to establish a new military base in the Czech Republic. It was formed in July 2006 and calls for a national referendum on this issue. Its website address is www.NeZakladnam.cz.

European trade unions plan action in support of EU charter of fundamental rights

Europe — Tue, 29 May 2007 12:53:00 +02:00

Trade union delegates from 36 European countries today backed a call by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) to demonstrate, in view of the forthcoming EU Summit in Brussels on 21-22 June, for the European Charter of Fundamental Rights to be included as a legally binding part of any agreed treaty reform.

The trade unions, meeting at the ETUC Congress in Seville, Spain, condemned any move by EU leaders to downgrade or drop the Charter.

“We cannot accept this,” declared ETUC General Secretary John Monks. “We call for the full inclusion of the Charter in any text – no ifs, no buts, but the full inclusion, making it legally binding. And we propose to go on the offensive to achieve that.” This will be the first step in an ongoing campaign of action, with further activities to be announced shortly.

More information: Patricia Grillo Head of Press and Communications +32 (0)477 770 164 Pgrillo@etuc.org

Make the G8 Precarious, Flexi-Fight the New World Order

Europe — Mon, 28 May 2007 19:47:00 +02:00

Superfluous and Superheroes of the World: Unite and Take Over!

From 6-8 June, together with thousands of others, as part of the Block G8 campaign, we will cut the G8 Summit in Heiligendamm off from its infrastructure. The other world – the one we say is possible – will, once again, be revealed as already here.

The successful blockade of the World Trade Organisation in Seattle 1999 was an important moment of rupture. Famously, the common amongst environmentalists and trade unionists, nuns and queers, anarchists and communists was constituted through an act – a blockade – of practical delegitimation. The world was changed on those teargas-filled streets. Or rather, our perception of our own ability to influence the direction of the world was what underwent the greatest transformation.

The events of Seattle found their continuation in a series of counter-summit mobilisations (in Washington DC, Prague, Genoa, Cancun, Gleneagles, Hong Kong…), as well as revealing a previously hidden past; namely, the numero us revolts and rebellions against neoliberalism, primarily in the global South: from the so-called 'IMF riots' which swept from country to country during the 1980s, the Zapatista uprising in 1994, and the struggles against employment reforms in South Korea from 1996-7. More than history's return, Seattle showed that it had never gone away!

Movement of Movements

With this breaking of the surface of public consciousness, the singular nature of the global 'movement of movements' became immediately apparent. Unlike so many of the 'new social movements' of the 1970s and 80s, the new movement was a rejection (rather than defence) of identity. It is composed of an irreducible multiplicity of actors. It has constantly sought – sometimes more successfully than others – to address two overlapping problematics. Firstly, how can it move beyond a condition in which its constituent parts simply exist indifferently alongside one another? And secondly, how can it simultaneously ensure that no single actor is able to assume the hegemonic role played by the party-form in previous eras of struggle?

Over the eight years since Seattle, the movement has transformed. Its composition, forms of political practice, and language have shifted; its relation to that which is not itself (which has always been something hard to define) in constant flux. Sometimes acting antagonistically; sometimes finding resonance. The declaration of war on the body of the movement in Genoa – and the onset of an open ended global war a few months later – have perhaps presented the movement its biggest challenges yet. Meanwhile, neoliberalism's own crisis – manifested variously by the series of electoral victories in Latin America and beyond, won on an anti-neoliberal ticket; the rejection of the EU constitution; and the faltering of talks in almost every round of negotiations of the WTO, the FTAA, and the CAFTA since Seattle – have placed new demands on the movement. How does something which was born anti-neoliberal (rather than anti-capitalist per se) overcome its own internal contradictions and reject the increasingly vocal calls – from Jeffry Sachs, from Bono, from others – for a 'capitalism with a human face'? How do we respond to such efforts to transform the movement for a globalisation from below into a lobby for change from above?

What are the possibilities for productive interaction, today, between movements and parties and other institutions: In Latin America? In Europe? And elsewhere? And importantly, how does a movement so celebratory of its diversity and with such porous borders rule out influence and involvement from the political right? These are questions as yet without definitive answers, and about which we eagerly await discussion with you in Heiligendamm.

Glocal Struggles Within and Against Neoliberalism

The complex webs of social relations which compose the capitalist mode of (re)production today ensure that all conflicts – as local as they may at first seem – are in fact immediately global. For resistance movements, the G8 (like the WTO, the IMF, the World Bank…) function as symbolic nodes in the network of global governance and command. Yet the mobilisation around the G8 Summit is not purely symbolic. It serves the function of bringing together, intensifying and creating resonance amongst the more everyday struggles against and within globalised capitalism.

Since at least 2001, with the first EuroMayDay parade in Milan, a shift of focus has slowly been taking place within some areas of the global movement of movements; away from the symbols of global rule, and in search of commonality amongst the various singular subjectivities of the neoliberal era. Many have found this commonality in the notion of 'precariousness'; the social tendency towards an increasing insecurity which – in vastly different ways – is beginning to effect us all. The parades have been a conscious effort to bring together these various subjectivities (and like the summit mobilisations of Seattle, Genoa and beyond) to uncover commonality despite and beyond difference through experimentation with new forms of political practice.

Simultaneously, more territorially rooted struggles around the issues of access to social wealth and processes of inclusion/exclusion have also erupted. In France, first in the banlieue, and then around the CPE (First Employment Law). In Germany, around the introduction of the Harz IV welfare reforms and the restructuring of higher education. And in Oaxaca, Mexico, what began as a teachers' strike to highlight their economic plight generalised, over the summer of 2006, into a broad based, explicitly anti-capitalist struggle.

The potential of the mobilisation around this year's G8 Summit in Heiligendamm lies in its ability to connect these and other struggles, making them visib le on the global stage and allowing the space for them to interact and interplay with one another. Not 'Unity in Diversity'; but an open-ended search for commonality in the process of us all becoming something different, together.

Block G8! To realise their full potential, the mass blockades of this year's G8 Summit need to move beyond the discourse of (il)legitimacy and start making connections to our everyday struggles against precariousness (in all its various forms) and for the good life. We reject the G8 and the form of global governance of which it makes up only one part. And we are constantly looking for ways out of the capital relation for which they stand as a symbol. Yet where we ultimately want to go, and how we want to get there, is far more ambiguous.

The fact that there are no immediately clear solutions to the problem of to how to constitute another possible world must not stop us from experimenting. Tentatively, we propose a number of concrete demands which we feel, if won – and these are demands which must be fought for – would move us in the right direction. They point a way out of capitalist social relations, whilst clearly distinguishing ourselves from the right that tries to become a part of the movement whilst promoting racist and nationalist ideology. The demands are for:

__A universal basic income, de-linked from productivity!
Global freedom of movement and the right to remain!
Equal rights for everyone!__

Through adopting the carnivalesqe form of the (Euro)MayDay parades, through taking up the struggles of the Superfluous (see box), through supporting the striking Telekom workers, and through making visible the precarious 'superheroes' who have fought against neoliberalism over the last few years (see box), we hope – together with you – to be able to articulate these demands through the body of the movement: in the international demonstration on June 2, in the day of action on migration, through discussion and debate, and in the mass disobedient blockades of the streets around Heiligendamm on June 6.

FelS - Berlin

The following is a list of places and events in which we will be present and participating. We hope to see you there!

June 1: Opening of the camps! FelS will be in the Interventionist Left barrio of the camp in Rostock (Fischereihafen, Am Grenzschlachthof 1, Rostock). www.camping-07.de

June 2: International Demonstration. Join the Interventionist Left's 'Make Capitalism History' bloc – where there will also be a MayDay 'bloc within a bloc'. Rostock Central Station, 12:00. www.heiligendamm2007.de

June 3: International Networking Meetings. Convergence Centre, Knut-Rasmussen-Straße 8, Rostock.

June 4: Day of Action on Migration. Decentralised actions in the morning. Demo 'For Global Freedom of Movement and Equal Rights for Everyone'. Satower Strasse, Rostock. 13:00. http://g8-migration.net.tf/

June 6-8: Block G8! Mass blockades of the G8 Summit, with precarious superheroes, the Superfluous and others! Block G8 Info Line: +49 (0)3811282702. www.block-g8.org

Box #1

The Superfluous

The Superfluous (Überflüssigen) are those who, within globalised neoliberal capitalism, have to fight for survival. Their lives consist of unemployment, poverty, hunger and war. In the industrialised countries, they are those excluded from social wealth. They are the object of the class struggle from above. Superfluous, in capitalism, are the unemployed whose rights are being ever-further restricted – in Germany and beyond. They are refugees, asylum applicants and single mothers forced into low-paid jobs. But the Superfluous don't allow themselves to be dispensed with as easily as some may hope…

All over the world, those deemed superfluous by capital have adorned white to symbolise their invisibility and reduction to a faceless commodity. For the same reason, in Germany, the Superfluous wear white masks: A face for the faceless. In reality, though, the masks reveal far more than they conceal: commonality. It is through the constitution of this commonality that the Superfluous are able to go about collective re-appropriation: of life's essentials, life's luxuries, life itself. Capitalism is superfluous! www.ueberfluessig.tk ++

Box #2

Precarious Superheroes

The reproduction of neoliberal social relations demands superheroism. Ever more mobility, flexibility, multitask-ability. Superhero subjectivities ready fo rsuper-exploitation. Yet everywhere, the figure of the superhero is becoming a symbol of resistance. From Superbarrio, who for over a decade has fought for Mexico City's poor; over the Unbeatables (like SpiderMom and SuperFlex) of the Milanese Euromayday; to the superheroes of Hamburg, who redistributed luxuries they appropriated from a delicatessen. More and more people are discovering that with their extra-ordinary powers, they can make another world possible. berlin.euromayday.org // hamburg.euromayday.org // euromayday.org ++

Box #3

FelS (For a Leftwing Current) is a Berlin-based group which, since the early-1990s, has attempted to intervene in and influence the direction of various social and political struggles in Germany and beyond. The group seeks to articulate a radical-left politics, and to develop new forms of political practice, within the context of broad coalitions and social networks. FelS was involved with the 2006 and 2007 Mayday Parades in Berlin, and is mobilising to Heiligendamm against the G8 Summit. The group produces the quarterly magazine arranca! and belongs to the Interventionist Left. www.fels-berlin.de // fels@nadir.org // www.g8-2007.de ++

Box #4

Useful Contacts Rostock Camp Info Line: +49 (0) 1577 230 2168 // Reddelich Camp Info Line: +49(0) 1577 463 0055 // Mobile Info Point (5 and 6 June only): +49 (0) 175 892 78 68 // Medics: +49 (0)178 654 1308 // Legal Team (EA): +49 (0) 38204 768111 (www.ermittlungsausschuss.antifa.net)

A referendum action at European level on 16 June 2007. Act locally!

Europe — Fri, 18 May 2007 11:22:00 +02:00

Young European Federalists are launching a referendum action at European level on 16 June 2007. Contact asa.gunven@jef-europe.net if you want contribute actively in your city.

JEF PAN-EUROPEAN REFERENDUM CAMPAIGN * 16 June 2007

When, why, aims, action plan, find partners, press work.

When: Saturday 16 June 2007

Why then? The European Council meets 21-22 June and we want to send a strong message from every corner of Europe by acting jointly for a European Referendum. Also German Chancellor Angela Merkel will speak in the European Parliament (Strasbourg) on Wednesday 20 June to conclude on the German Presidency. In case of a successful campaign day, we will try to hand over our results from the action to her.

Aims: • Get our message in the media and generally increase the awareness of the referendum campaign and webpage • Collect signatures for the 1 million goal and jointly show how many people across Europe are prepared to work for and to support our demand • Provoke debate about the constitution, the referendum and about Europe • To show that the demand for a constitution and a pan-European consultative referendum reaches across the borders of Europe and that JEF is always prepared to act for its beliefs through acting together, using innovation, motivation and limitless federal energy and a true pan-European network beaten by few!

A "3-step" action plan:

1. Get attention In every participating city we will build a huge artsy ballot box that also has the slogan of the campaign and web address on it - "www.europeanreferendum.eu - Let the European people decide!". The box should preferably be 2x2x1 meter and be put in a strategic place – either on its own or in the place where the activists are collecting the signatures. You can build the huge box e.g. from empty cartons/boxes you take in super markets, and then put them together. Use your imagination as a real democrat to build the coolest and biggest ballot box in Europe!

2. Activists in action The action consist of two parts – feel free to use your own imagination to develop them in any way!

Collect signatures through a street referendum Across the borders of Europe we will all go out in our cities and local community on the campaign day to collect signatures for our 1 million signature goal. To ask people to sign a list with a take it or leave it approach is not the most innovative or interactive approach. Instead we will let people participate in a street referendum where people can "vote" for if they want to have a referendum on the constitution or not – a method that has proven to be successful for interacting and provoking debate.

How to do it: 1. Make some artsy ballot boxes with www.europeanreferendum.eu visible on them. The ballot papers that you can use will be sent out by JEF Europe. 2. Leave the info stall/table at home and spread out the activists everywhere with their ballot boxes, maybe with balloons or even painted faces, and approach people on the streets, at bus stations or even people having picnics or on the beach. The people will be asked to vote if they want a European referendum or not. Once they voted ask if they want to sign the petition - this is of course the goal of the action☺ (we will send out signature lists). 3. It is of course better that the more people you are, the bigger and cooler box you build to catch attention – but don't make it complicated: at the UEF stall at the Europa Fest in Berlin on 25 March, we managed to collect 500 signatures over a day – with 2 people standing there!

Stickers guerrilla action JEF will send out templates for stickers/labels you can print using your own printer and also mini posters, with the web address and slogan on it. We will try to put these low budget – but yet efficient! – stickers/mini posters up across all of Europe in all visible places like the inside of the door of public toilets in bars, cafes, libraries, universities and on lampposts, garbage bins etc. This is by far the most effective way to reach out to many people with the webpage. Remember: toilets are an excellent place for (political) meditation in today's society! ☺

3. Getting political support and media Important people! Try to get some responsible politicians (e.g. the mayor of the town, an MP, a government ministry or someone else high profile) to either come to your action on the 16th or otherwise to get a meeting with them on the following Monday to hand over the result of the action. The purpose of this is two-fold. Firstly, you are making this person aware of the campaign and offering him/her to sign. Secondly, meeting (10 minutes is really enough) a public person and handing over signatures, is always interesting for the local media and newspaper!

Find partners! Try to involve as many other NGOs as possible in the action – remember that you don't have to be a mad pro-European to be a friend of a Pan-European referenda. This is a great opportunity for us to interact with groups we usually don't meet and obviously to increase the support for the campaign. Also UEF, that is leading the referendum campaign, is very likely to join your activities if you invite them.

Press work! Press is of course the number one method to get a message out to many people. Just before the end of the German presidency this issue will have a high media potential. JEF Europe will as usual prepare a PR to be sent out both before and after the action, that you can adapt. We have seen again and again that doing early press work, phoning, emailing and above all finding the most likely media, like local press, TV etc can really work! Remember that it is quite unique to have an action taking place simultaneously in so many cities.

Use your imagination to develop the action and don't foget to tell me about your plans on asa.gunven@jef.eu. And good luck!

Checklist: • If you have questions as to what concretely you can do and how to organise it, please contact Åsa at: asa.gunven@gmail.com! • When you decided whether to join the action or not please inform asa.gunven@gmail.com of your plans • Don't forget to take photos of your action and your meeting with politicians etc. to hand over the result! Email them to vdh.vincent@gmail.com directly after the action so they can go online directly! • Check the campaign website www.europeanreferendum.eu and inform Vincent if you need further material than what is provided there • Write a very short impression of your experience with the action, and about the arguments our fellow citizens had! Send them also to vdh.vincent@gmail.com

Material checklist: • Huge artsy ballot box to catch attention • Small artsy ballot boxes to be used by activists • Ballot papers (from JEF Europe) • Petition lists (from JEF Europe) • Campaign stickers/posters (templates from JEF Europe)

-- åsa gunvén vice-president JEF-europe

(m-portugal) +351 96045 39 44 (m-sweden) +46 708 38 46 33 (e) asa.gunven@jef-europe.net