Dutch Austerity 2.0 | 48 comments (48 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Dutch Austerity 2.0 (none / 0)

At the European level only the Nordic Green Left caucuses with the "European United Left". The rest of the Green Parties are with the European Free Alliance (of non-ALDE liberals and regionalists).

That has to be telling us something...

guaranteed to evoke a violent reaction from police is to challenge their right to "define the situation." --- David Graeber citing Marc Cooper

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Apr 27th, 2012 at 04:55:05 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Dutch Austerity 2.0 (none / 0)

I always had the impression that groenLinks - because of the "Links" and after all the communist party of the Netherlands was one founding elements - was to the left of say the German greens or the French greens.

But I should leave my early nineties impressions behind. Time and tide wait for no man and not for political parties either, t seems.

And the name is The Greens - European Free Alliance so I am not that surprised it is the first choice for green parties.

by IM on Fri Apr 27th, 2012 at 05:09:18 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Dutch Austerity 2.0 (none / 0)

the name is The Greens - European Free Alliance so I am not that surprised it is the first choice for green parties

No, the question is why The European Green Party_ decide to form a European Parliament Group with the EFA instead of other forces, or to group by themselves.

The EFA, after all,

>generally limited its membership to progressive parties, and therefore, not all European regionalist parties are members of EFA."

Also, the alliance of the European Green Party with the European Left Regionalists explains this spat.

guaranteed to evoke a violent reaction from police is to challenge their right to "define the situation." --- David Graeber citing Marc Cooper

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Apr 27th, 2012 at 05:17:10 AM EST
[ Parent ]

You've answered your own question (4.00 / 2)

Communist parties, despite their theoretical adherence to internationalism, generally seem to turn out to be nationalist, anti-regionalist and anti-federalist in European terms.

Greens, on the other hand, are in favour of both localizing and internationalizing decision-making, and in general, tend to regard the nation-state as the most counter-productive decision-making level.

And I would put it the other way round with respect to the spat.

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue
- Queen Elizabeth II}

by eurogreen on Fri Apr 27th, 2012 at 05:49:50 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: You've answered your own question (4.00 / 3)

I think the spat has nothing to with the party groups in the european parliament, who are all a bit unusual on the fringes. The question identity as citizen - identity as member of a cultural group - language as technological and administrative tool versus language as part of heritage and identity are much deeper.

And It can be argued that the still centralising french left is the outsider here.

And is doubtful if dwindling languages can be revived: Just look at Irish. On the other hand look at welsh.
Our communists were quite supportive to the sorabians by the way: Didn't help them much, though

And no I don't think the current position of GroenLinks on the budget has a connection to their position on frisian. (Whatever that position is)

by IM on Fri Apr 27th, 2012 at 06:12:18 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: You've answered your own question (none / 1)

I think the spat has nothing to with the party groups in the european parliament

No, I think it illustrates quite nicely why european greens feel more comfortable caucusing with progressive regionalists than with communists. I hope you are right about the French left being the outlier with respect to the centralizing state, in which case there may be hope for future co-operation, insofar as they are, belatedly, greening their views.

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue
- Queen Elizabeth II}

by eurogreen on Fri Apr 27th, 2012 at 07:11:31 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: You've answered your own question (4.00 / 3)

The problem with regionalism and European federalism is that in contemporary political reality that means deregulation and privatisation, because in contemporary European political reality, the only entity powerful enough to police business is the state.

Devolving power to the regions and ceding it to the EU is to place the cart before the horse: Those institutions need to actually be useful before they can be entrusted with additional power.

tl;dr: Bring the ECB decisively to heel and we can talk about a federal Europe.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Sat Apr 28th, 2012 at 05:52:07 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Dutch Austerity 2.0 (none / 0)

Well. The "Nordic Green Left" group only includes two parties which have "green" in their title : the icelandic "Left-Green movement", and the Danish "Red-Green Alliance". Between them they have one MEP. I don't know enough about the other member parties to say whether the group's title is a case of greenwashing or not, but the member parties all seem to be of communist origin.

The European Green Party forms a group (47 of the total 58) with regionalists of progressive stripe (with an embarassing Flemish exception), and various colourful independents. I'm not able to identify the "non-ALDE liberals", who did you have in mind?

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue
- Queen Elizabeth II}

by eurogreen on Fri Apr 27th, 2012 at 05:41:39 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Dutch Austerity 2.0 (none / 1)

The "non-ALDE liberals" was a brainfart on my part. It's actually the "non-progressive regionalists" that end up in ALDE.

Regionalist parties appeal to the social-liberal streak in their political allies, be it the European Greens or the ELDR. As IM points out, the traditional Communist left tended to be statist and illiberal (seeing both individualism and regionalism as bourgeois or reactionnary). Right at the core of the spat, if you ask me.

guaranteed to evoke a violent reaction from police is to challenge their right to "define the situation." --- David Graeber citing Marc Cooper

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Apr 27th, 2012 at 07:12:10 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Dutch Austerity 2.0 | 48 comments (48 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Top Diaries

Of Childless Cat Ladies and other matters...

Lest we forget: How extreme violence and division have been...

A blog policeman's lot is not a happy one

The Amazing thing that's happening in the US Presidential...

Hoover's FBI: Patriotism, Nationalism, MAGA, Fascism

Net Zero Energy - August 24, 2024

Recent Diaries

Tampered AP-900 Pagers Explode Across Lebanon

Of Childless Cat Ladies and other matters...

Hasbara Content U.S. State Dep't Briefing

Trump's Loomer Agent Provocateur

Dominique De Villepin Se Rend Immortel

Al Jazeera Documentary Egyptian Icon Inji

Jewish Terror and Genocide - Israel Firster

Impunity the New Judeo-Evangelical Coalition

Lest we forget: How extreme violence and division have been...

The EU In Inevitable Economic Backslide

Incoherent On Morals and Law & Order

Dutch Cabinet and Israeli Threats to ICC Prosecutors

Alan Dershowitz the Closet Republican

Israel Murders Peace Activists

GS: MAGA Policy Hits EU Economy Hard

Hoover's FBI: Patriotism, Nationalism, MAGA, Fascism

Trump Victory, Communism, Divine Intervention

City Agriculture - September 4, 2024

President Sees US NATO Policy Succeed in UA

Turkey Turns 'East' Towards BRICS

Occasional Series