Austerity

The Eurozone crisis appears to have receeded, but threats of it still loom.

Nothing seems to disturb what feels like a silent coup d’état carried out with the tacit consent of 27 Heads of State and Government.

What use is the EU’s “free movement of people” if it is a right that only the elite can avail of? And how ‘free’ is it if the economic crisis is forcing young people to leave their country in search of work?

Are the neoliberal policies being pursued by the European Commission are feeding that populist forces that may tear the Union apart?

In the 2009 European Parliament elections, the Green Group of MEPs won 13 more seats to become the 4th largest group. However when the European Parliament faces elections again in 2014, the political environmental will be vastly different. How to the Greens repeat their success of 2009 in such a situation? The Green European Journal talks to European Green Party Co-Chair Reinhard Bütikofer about his plans.

An interview with Fintan Farrell, Director of the European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN).

The situation on the ground in Greece continues to worsen, with each bailout ending in failure and increased poverty. Not only do such conditions act as fertile ground for the far-right, but the failure of leadership from the EU also call into question the very future of Europe.

A common prescription for crisis countries is to cut wage costs, but what if the problem is one of low wages in the core? From this perspective, current German polices will worsen the crisis and threaten the future of the Eurozone.

A political union, with a “Eurobond Parliament”, might offer a solution to the Eurozone crisis.

Rather than focus on Spain’s overall public debt, is it smarter to look at a bailout tailored just for its banks? A leading German and Spanish Green politicians discuss the reality of this prospect.