The parties are slowly warming up to the European elections in the middle of next year. Martin Schirdewan – party leader in Germany and group leader in the European Parliament – is looking for allies.
A good six months before the European elections, Left Party leader Martin Schirdewan is warning of a “disintegration” of Europe and is looking for partners for a drastic change of course. This emerges from a theses paper for a “Pact of Solidarity” that is available to the German Press Agency. Specifically, the Left wants to implement, among other things, price caps for energy and basic foodstuffs as well as the disempowerment of private hospital, care and housing companies at the European level.
The European elections are at the beginning of June 2024. Schirdewan is also co-group leader of the Left in the European Parliament and is running again as the top candidate at a party conference next weekend. His party’s prospects are unclear, especially since the former leftist Sahra Wagenknecht wants to run a competing project. Overall, right-wing and right-wing extremist parties are on the rise across Europe.
Moving away from debt brakes
The Left leader is calling for a “turnaround” towards a “democratic and social EU that makes itself strategically independent of bloc confrontation and the dangerous arms race.” As in Germany, the Left wants a move away from debt brakes and much more public investment in climate protection, public transport and education. Money for this should come, among other things, from a Europe-wide minimum tax of 25 percent on companies as well as higher taxes on private wealth and excess profits.
A ban on speculation with food and a price cap should make food cheaper. The public sector should take back control of clinics and nursing homes, and apartments should increasingly be taken over by municipalities in order to cap rents. “We want to take the ground out of real estate funds and corporations,” writes Schirdewan. Such funds should lose their listing on the stock exchange. Bans on forced evictions and electricity and gas cuts are also proposed.
How and how the seven-point plan could be implemented is unclear. Legislation at the European level usually involves the EU Commission, Parliament and the Council of EU countries. As of now, there is no evidence of sufficient support in any of the institutions.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
