A VOTE in favour of the fiscal treaty would make a Greek scenario here more likely, a group of anti-austerity MEPs has warned.
Five members of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left were in Dublin yesterday to campaign for a No vote. They said “horrific austerity” in Greece had been imposed by the EU-IMF-ECB troika, and was causing “historic levels of instability”.
Paul Murphy MEP said it was “quite incredible” to hear Minister for Finance Michael Noonan “use the situation in Greece to argue for a Yes vote”.
“The situation in Greece has been caused by the horrific austerity demanded by the bailouts. The Government is lying about Greece, is lying about the question of funding, just as it lied in the Lisbon referendum about jobs.”
Joao Ferreira, a Portuguese MEP, said the EU-IMF package for his country had meant a 30 per cent pay cut for public servants, higher fees for medical care, new laws allowing employers to fire workers more easily and “historic high unemployment and historic social instability”.
“This is what this treaty means across all Europe. It does not mean stability. It means historic social and economic instability. This treaty should be called the impoverishment treaty.”
German MEP Sabine Wils said the economic model enshrined in the treaty had “failed working class people in Germany”. It had meant lower wages, worsening working conditions and the erosion of pension rights, she said.
“While it may have helped big business, it has undermined the living conditions of working class people in one of the richest countries in the world. German trade unions are fighting these policies. The people of Europe are beginning to fight back,” she said, pointing to recent election results in France, Germany and Greece.
