Unexpected escalation

“We expected something different”, said Luca Jahier, Councillor of the European Economic and Social Committee (CESE), commenting, from Brussels, on the outcomes of the “Eurostrike”, the demonstrations called for Wednesday, November 14, by the European Confederation of Unions (CES). CES urged the establishment of a common path leading to a social pact for Europe, for job creation and solidarity, proteting against austerity measures that have worsened the crisis and fuelled recession. SIR Europe interviewed Jahier.What went wrong in the protests?”The intention was to call for serious and decisive measures, marked by investments aimed at sustainable growth as well as securing employment in the middle and long terms. Instead, we witnessed an outbreak of violence”.Mostly young people led the riots.”The reasons for the malaise bite into the live flesh of citizens, enterprises and families. In the emergence of escalating protests we must beware of extremist political fringes”.Significantly, demonstrations were held in 23 European countries out of 27, different countries sharing the same difficulties.”It should not be forgotten and in the 1990s Emilio Gabaglio transformed the European Union in an effective network. Thus there is a 20-year-long experience. Today it is marked by a specific connotation in terms of force and dimension of the demonstrations, as well as the profound reasons for the protests”.In Italy the education system was at the centre of the protests. According to figures, in the rest of Europe no less than 300 thousand students joined the march. How should we interpret the youths’ participation?”The reasons for the demonstrations were much deeper. European unions encouraged the expression of surging disquiet, fatigue, social exclusion, fear of the future and growing anger, harboured by increasingly large population brackets, especially by the young”.What could be the expected consequences?”I think there has already been a concrete consequence. European Parliament and Council failed to reach an agreement on the 2013 budget. There are no funds for Erasmus, nor to pay back debts linked to the cohesion fund. I’m not saying that it’s the result of the demonstrations, but it certainly signals a difficulty of the EU in taking decisions”.