1 / 12

Lessons and experiences from Europe and People's Agenda for Alternative Regionalisms (PAAR) Cecilia Olivet – Transnati

Lessons and experiences from Europe and People's Agenda for Alternative Regionalisms (PAAR) Cecilia Olivet – Transnational Institute (TNI). When thinking about alternative regionalisms... ...is the European Union the regional integration model to follow?.

nitesh
Télécharger la présentation

Lessons and experiences from Europe and People's Agenda for Alternative Regionalisms (PAAR) Cecilia Olivet – Transnati

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Lessons and experiences from Europe and People's Agenda for Alternative Regionalisms (PAAR) Cecilia Olivet – Transnational Institute (TNI)

  2. When thinking about alternative regionalisms......is the European Union the regional integration model to follow? CORPORATE EUROPENot the right model to take as example

  3. WHAT DEFINES CORPORATE EUROPE? • Neoliberal constitutionalisation: • directives, norms, laws, strategies and common practices • Global Europe Strategy, The Lisbon Agenda and the Bolkestein Directive, The European Constitution, the Return Directive, Militarisation of EU, Lobby-EC privileged relation • Combined, they promote and shape the 3 key areas that define NEOLIBERAL FORTRESS EUROPE: • Competitiveness and liberalisation, military ambitions and Migration policy EU has been hijacked by the corporate agenda and by the neoliberal forces. EU is serving the interests of EU elites and TNCs.

  4. The EU neoliberal legal framework in few words COMPETITIVINESS AND LIBERALISATION - LISBON STRATEGY (2000): aims to boost to growth and job-creation in Europe by strengthening the European internal market and improving Europe’s competitiveness in the global economy - BOLKESTEIN DIRECTIVE (2004): complete liberalisation of service industries. Recruit workers on the basis of less favourable employment laws in the ‘country of origin’. - GLOBAL EUROPE STRATEGY (2006): for EU to achieve competitiveness in the global market, it must create opportunities for its companies abroad, targeting the regulatory environment in third countries and creating a more business-friendly environment at home”.

  5. The EU neoliberal legal framework in few words MIGRATION POLICY - RETURN DIRECTIVE (2008): direct attack on the estimated EU's 10 million undocumented migrants. Allows member states to detain undocumented migrants for up to 18 months. EU MILITARISATION - A new security agenda: EU Security Research Programme (ESRP) - increase of the military capabilities: rapid reaction forces with more than 60000 soldiers. -EU Constitution is serving as a blue print for the Militarisation of the EU

  6. The EU neoliberal legal framework in few words EU CONSTITUTION - Brings all these dimensions together and seals them in one document - defined principles values and objectives, but also modify the institutional framework and formulated concrete policies Susan George has called it: “The most complete neoliberal compendium ever drafted”.

  7. The democratic deficit • POLITICAL DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT: • the case of the Vote on EU Constitution • - NO PUBLIC DEBATE • - EU LEADERS: FULL COMPLIANCE BEFORE EVEN KNOWING THE TEXT • - REFERENDUMS and NO VOTE IGNORED

  8. The democratic deficit • INSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT:the case of the privileged relation between the Lobby of big corporations and the EU Commission • - 10.000 lobbyists based in Brussels • - Direct Access to Commission officials • - Revolving doors • - Conflict of interests • - No system to secure lobbying transparency in the EU

  9. WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NEOLIBERAL EUROPE? • Erosion of Social Europe • Undermining development in the South

  10. European Social Movements searching for “another Europe”? • - Lack of pan-European movement that challenges European model • - Important movilisations against EU Constitution and Bolkestein Directive • - Sustained challenge to TNCs Lobbies • - Progressive forces in Europe have embarked in the the struggle against neoliberal Europe and in the rethinking of the EU model and a search for alternatives

  11. The need to RECLAIM the regions and DEVELOP regional alternatives • - The regions are privileged arenas where to develop and implement alternatives... several reasons why. • - RECLAIMING the regions means RECREATING regional integration based on different principles. • WE need a people-centred, people-oriented regional integration!

  12. People's Agenda for Alternative Regionallisms (PAAR) • - Big challenge: to respond to the question: What kind of regional integration is the one needed to really challenge the neoliberal model? • - Importance of cross-fertilisation of experiences among the different regions • - PAAR aims to: • - encourage these exchanges popularising the current alternatives that civil society are developing within and around regional integration processes as well as the civil society perspectives on the innovative and progressive governmental regional alternatives.

More Related