Statement by the Communist Party of Ireland
26 September 2012
The recent joint statement by the German, Dutch and Finnish finance ministers exposes the carefully constructed myth built up by the Irish government that it is winning the argument in relation to a solution to the socialised corporate debt—the bank guarantee—imposed upon the Irish people to save the euro and the German finance houses.
Their statement clearly says that “legacy assets should be under the responsibility of national authorities.” What this means in effect is that we must take full responsibility and pay for the socialised corporate debt, which was itself created by the banks in the core countries; but if in the future the German banks get into trouble, the European Central Bank should take responsibility. We would therefore be contributing to paying German bank debts through the ESM mechanism.
They are making sure that saving German bankers and financial speculators is of far greater priority than feeding hungry Irish children, providing medical care to those who need it, educating children, and looking after the elderly.
Austerity and debt repayments are now effectually built in to the very fabric of the EU and in particular the structured debt relationship between the central powers and the peoples of the peripheral countries. In the immediate term, repudiation of the debt is the only way forward, as the debt is simply not payable.
The contradictions at the heart of the EU are resulting in great pain for the people throughout Europe, which can be solved only by a radical rupture in the current direction and policies, a rupture with the system itself.
