Brussels, 15/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - No to a belt-tightening Europe: that was the message from a demonstration organised by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). As part of the trade unions against austerity campaign, demonstrators formed a human belt around the Commission headquarters in Brussels on 15 December.
Demonstrations coordinated by the ETUC took place throughout Europe on the eve of the meeting of heads of state and government on Thursday and Friday, which will be devoted mainly to discussing how to deal with the financial crisis in the euro area (see related articles). In general, these demonstrations passed off peacefully, often adopting a tone of bitter derision. Sometimes, however, things turned violent, as in Greece, where the 24-hour general strike was peppered with incidents. Tens of thousands of demonstrators protested against the severity and the economy measures applied against loans from the EU and the International Monetary Fund in a bid to prevent the country's becoming bankrupt.
In Luxembourg, some 800 people demonstrated outside the office of Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who is also the president of the Eurogroup, at a time when the euro has come under severe pressure from speculators.
ETUC General Secretary John Monks told the ANSA agency that the unions' message was “No more austerity” and the call for positive measures, such as eurobonds, which will consolidate debt and put a brake on speculation. He forecast a bleak year ahead, with increased unemployment, particularly along young people, wage and pensions cuts and redundancies. “We can't go on like that,” he said, “we need social measures”. (F.G./transl.rt).