Arbeitslosenselbsthilfe O l d e n b u r g
Kaiserstr. 19
D-26122 Oldenburg (Oldenburg)
e-mail: also@also-zentrum.de
European March against unemployment, job insecurity and social exclusion European Coordination Committee - Paris - Saturday, 28 June 1997 At the European coordination meeting of 28 June, were about 40 people. Those present were : delegations from 7 countries - Belgium, Holland, Germany, Spain, Great Britain, Luxembourg and France. The agenda included a preliminary exchange of views on the marches, a debat on future possibilities, and a decision for the next European coordination committee meeting. Plenary Coordination Meeting, 4 and 5 October 1997, A decision was taken by the coordination committee, to fix the date for a plenary coordination meeting to be held on the 4 and 5 October 1997, in Luxembourg. This date was chosen because it coincides with the European Summit on Employment due to take place around that date (exact date not yet fixed), in Luxembourg. The coordination committee's agenda will be : to choose a name and decide on the structure of the European Network, post European March. It will also decide on European joint actions for 1998 or 1999, based on the Florence Appeal and the Declaration of the Brussels Assizes. From the observations exchanged on the assessment of the March, it was possible to conclude that there was a common desire to continue on the basis on what had already been achieved. The successful outcome of the Amsterdam demonstration made the overall evaluation of the March positive. For the first time, due to the marches, it was possible to make comparisions, and carry out joint European actions by wage-earners, jobless and the socially excluded. The organisors initial objectives were achieved : a combined effort on the themes of unemployment, exclusion and a Social Europe ; a high level of mobilisation by the joblesss and the socially exlcuded; the final total number of people at the rally was bigger than the original estimate of 30,000 people and beyond all expectations. Most of the delegates stated that an evaluation of the March had not yet been carried out in their country. Meetings are planned, and there will be an exchange of documents in the national language with an English version. The French group is mandated to circulate these documents, which should be sent in by 6 September the latest, to the French coordination committee, Paris. A discussion took place on the future after the march. There was overall agreement on the necessity to develop a European Network based on unemployment associations, the fight against social exclusion and with the trade unions who supported the marches. The objectives of this network and any intiatives and debats, will in no way replace existing networks of wage-earners, small-farmers, and youth organisations, but will be a means of combining what different networks are doing. The setting up of such a large scale entreprise is to be organised by the next coordination meeting in Luxembourg. The Paris coordination meeting decided that it would be better to spend the time evaluating the marches now for better long term results. A series of initiatives and actions were examined or are under discussion. - ENU will be holding a conference in Glasgow, November 1997. - Trade union news : the Italians (Alternative trade union, CGIL), propose a meeting of trade unionists against neo-liberal Europe to be held in the Autumn. - The Italian marches action committee, the social centres with Y Basta plan a Youth coordination meeting in Venise, 12 September 1997. We will circulate more detailled information as soon as possible. With reference to future joint actions by all the participants of the marches, two propositions are under discussion. Demonstrations during the course of the European Summit, at the end of the Luxembourg presidency, to take place around the middle of December 1997. This summit agenda is to finalise the chapter on "employment" as agreed in Amsterdam. Demonstrations could be simultaneously carried out in all European capitals. There could also be an international demo regrouping all countries sharing a common border with Luxembourg within a rang of 100 to 200 km. The European Network Assizes might be held either in London, in January or February, at the same time as the G8 meeting, or in Brussels in February. Other proposals for intiatives, included in particular, Cardiff, Wales, Great Britain, to coincide with the British take-over of the presidency of the EU, in January 1998. Marches Europeennes 104 rue des Couronnes 75020 Paris E-mail : marches97@ras.eu.org
Last Modified: Saturday, August 23, 1997 at 03:36 PM