LEXIT NETWORK

For a Left Exit from neoliberal integration and and the Euro-system

Blowback. Brexit and its aftermath

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Commenting on his EU referendum pledge in 2013 and the referendum on Scottish independence, British prime minister David Cameron claimed in 2014 that he would win the latter easily and put to bed the Scottish question for 20 years, and that the same would go for Europe. From the start, the referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union was a political gamble to appease the euro sceptic Tory right and to curb the rise of the right wing populist UKIP, which reached a peak in the months prior to the 2015 UK General Election. The victory of the No campaign on Scottish independence and Cameron’s success at the General Election seemed to prove his strategy right.

The deal that Cameron finally reached with the EU on staying in offered greater guarantees of the City’s status as the euro-zone’s offshore financial centre, allowed EU migrants initially to be denied welfare benefits and put a special focus on liberalisation and ‘strengthening competitiveness’. So for Britain to remain a member of the EU would have meant even less ‘social Europe’ – a deal that content wise could hardly be supported even by the mildest social democrat. From a leftist perspective, this EU-deal versus Brexit as propagated by the Tory right and UKIP offered only a cynical choice between a rock and a hard place. [Read more…]

How the EU pushed France to Reforms of Labour Law

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The conflict on the labour law reforms in France is currently one of the most burning issues in the Eurozone. We are witnessing a very sharp confrontation in one of the most powerful Eurozone countries: On the one side, the establishment tries to impose far-reaching ‘liberalization’ measures directed among other goals, at undermining collective bargaining –even if pushing them through requires a bypassing of current parliamentary rules. On the other hand, the French unions, movements and Civil Society have taken the streets in an impressive mobilization that has repeatedly brought the country to a standstill.

Despite the appearances, this is not just a domestic issue: Kenneth Haar, from Corporate Europe Observatory, has just published a very important analysis on the role of the EU- and the Eurozone-framework in bringing about these reforms. Haar’s report shows how the economic governance framework pushed through on the wake of the Eurozone crisis since 2010 creates very concrete pressure on France to implement exactly these reforms. [Read more…]

The European Union is dead as a project. What do we do now?

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With the Brexit, a new historical situation arises. The European Union is dead as an avatar of Europe. What killed it were its policies, its institutions and its governments. Until now, we could say that the EU did not have a monopoly on Europe. Today we must say that the EU is disqualified as “being Europe”.

However the EU structure is not simply going to disintegrate, contrary to what the media and Eurocrats will purport in their bid to regroup and alarm. It will continue to fulfil its functions: deregulating, producing austerity, administering the interests of financial markets and free trade. To this end, negotiations with the UK government will seek to safeguard the interests of the business and financial communities. [Read more…]

About Lexit Blogging

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This blog is maintained by different members of the Lexit (Left Exit) Network, a network of individuals from different backgrounds and from different European countries united by the idea that a Left exit from neoliberal integration and the Eurozone is now the only way to effectively fight neoliberalism and uphold democracy in Europe.

The contributions in this blog are the sole responsibility of the author (the blogger concerned). The statements and opinions expressed in such contributions do not always necessarily reflect a shared opinion of the network as a whole. [Read more…]