Seismic security in the New Deal: from L’Aquila to the whole of Europe
For the first time ever, a European political programme includes seismic vulnerability and hazard reduction among its top priorities – not just at a national scale, but at a European one. This, of course, is the vision of European Spring: the first ever transnational political list, launched by DiEM25, incorporates the seismic safety issue in the programme that it will take to the ballots of next spring’s European elections. The New Deal for Europe, says DiEM25 Italia NC member Paolo Della Ventura, includes “proposals through which we could change this Europe we dislike even tomorrow.”
So, while Salvini-Di Maio’s government decides to close “Italia Sicura” – the technical structure for renovating school buildings – and L’Aquila is once again facing the problem of school buildings safety, we set in our program what we call a kind of Marshall Plan for securing the territory, for public buildings as well as private ones.
European Spring proposes an Anti-seismic Plan to protect citizens and their communities from damage caused by earthquakes. The new plan will allocate funds for: (1) the classification of seismic hazard and the creation of a publicly accessible seismic hazard map, (2) the renovation of buildings having high levels of vulnerability and (3) the new construction of appropriate public buildings to anti-seismic standards.
The plan provides a detailed outline of how it will guide European seismic regulation:
- recognition and checking, in all member Countries, for the existence of the classification of the seismic zones and of the national seismic hazard map; the classification of the seismic zones for all the member Countries that have not yet implemented it, and its updating for all the Countries (as Italy) that already have it; the realisation of the seismic hazard map for the Countries that do not yet have it and its updating taking into account the historical trend of the last 10 years of seismic and geophysical data for the Countries (as Italy) that already have it; update of the European seismic hazard map, realized in 2013 with the SHARE project, on a five-year basis;
- obligation, in all member Countries, of publication (on institutional websites of owner Public Organization or anyway controlling and on the official websites of single structures) and data dissemination (for example: dedicated public databases, in open data mode) about the vulnerability index of all national public buildings, considered strategic and relevant, as well as of public interest (ex: shopping centers, stadiums and sports facilities); obligation, in all member Countries, to verify the seismic vulnerability, if it had not been carried out;
- obligation, in all member Countries, to carry out seismic adjustment of buildings with deficient vulnerability index, in relation to the aforementioned classification of seismic zones, to seismic micro-zonation and to the technical construction Standards of the individual member Countries;
- update, in all member Countries, of these technical Standards, in relation to the new regulatory obligations, referred to previous points;
- obligation, in all the member countries, of new construction of all strategic public buildings, with respect of these Standards.
Together, we believe, the details of the European Spring’s plan can guarantee safety to all European citizens;
Do you think we could improve our plan further? Help shape the European Spring programme at our.europeanspring.net.
The international community must condemn the actions of the Nicaraguan government
The international community must stand together in the condemnation of the extrajudicial executions, persecution and violence perpetrated by the Nicaraguan government against hundreds of Nicaraguan students. Up to 280 Nicaraguans have been murdered.
The government has tried to silence the students’ demands for social justice, accountability and opening of democratic spaces with bullets. We demand the cessation of violence, express our solidarity with the students and call on the international community to condemn the actions of the Nicaraguan government.
by Renata Avila, human rights lawyer and digital rights expert and member of DiEM25’s Coordinating Collective. Avila also sits on the Board of Creative Commons and is a trustee of the Courage Foundation.
It's time to open the black boxes!
On July 14, DiEM25 Advisory Panel member (AP), Danae Stratou, will inaugurate “It’s Time to Open the Black Boxes!” at the Iglesia del Convento de Santo Domingo, Pollença.
The project was first inaugurated in Athens, Greece, (2012). It has since traveled to Krems, Austria, (2016) and Paris, France, (2017) and now in Mallorca, Spain (2018). At the opening on July 14, short welcoming speeches will be delivered by the Mayor of Pollença as well as by the director of the Museu de Pollença, Andreu Aguilo, the artist Danae Stratou and the curator Ines Muñozcano. The show runs until September 30.
Saving lives along The Pier
Following last week’s migration summit, the EU appears to be moving quicker than ever toward isolation and seclusion. While the summit’s details remain vague, the approach amounts to a crackdown, not only on those who seek a better life in Europe, but also those who aid them in the process. It is clear now that millions of migrants will be handed over to regimes like Turkey or kept in camps on African lands.
This so-called ‘migration crisis’ is, in fact, a crisis of democracy: the product of failed trade policies, political power struggles, and the populist resentment that has emerged from them. Europe is breeding a political monster that demands our collective, democratic effort to beat.
Since the summit, hundreds have drowned in the Mediterranean. Meanwhile, thousands depart daily on life-endangering journeys that may well lead them to one of Libya’s detention camps, where slavery, torture and abuse are rife.
But the Seehofers, Salvinis, Kurzs and Orbans are not the only voices, even though they may be the loudest.
There is hope, and together, we can foster it! We will not just give up our humanity and values. Together, we are the loud ones, we are the majority.
An active alliance of civil society organisations and activists has founded The Pier, and DiEM25 activists are stepping up to support this cause.
The ‘pier’ historically refers to the airlift that was initiated by the USA and Great Briton 70 years ago this year. The airlift saved the lives of many of those trapped in Berlin and operated for 322 days. For this year’s anniversary, activists hope to initiate a new pier, that should similarly operate for 322 days, from June 29th to May 16th 2019.
At its core, the pier demands: safe passage, fast admission and efficient integration.
Let´s build this pier together!
How it works?
- Take a stand: take a picture of you or your DSC wearing an orange accessory. It can be anything: a t-shirt, a scarf or even orange “piece paint”. Please send the pictures to: [email protected] or directly to [email protected]g. We will collect and share them.
- Demo in Berlin: if you happen to be in Berlin on July 7, don’t hesitate and join us. More information to follow.
- Organize your own demo in your city. Haven’t done it yet? – No problem. Write to [email protected], we are glad to support you!
- Tell everyone you know about The Pier!
We won’t just give up our humanity.
Carpe DiEM!
The European Evolution
Democratically refounding Europe, provoking a political and social renaissance on a continental scale: these are goals which will not be accomplished in a single day, nor will they be accomplished by the usual machinations of politicians.
Since 2016, DiEM25 has been working steadily to construct a viable Pan-European alternative.
This work began with the construction of a radically democratic transnational movement, which today boasts 70,000 members. It continued with the creation of a realistic agenda addressing economic, political, social, and ecological problems which was drafted by, and for, the European people and designed to restore faith in our ability to work towards a common goal. Finally, our efforts have resulted in an electoral platform and a framework to ensure that the 2019 European elections will not be the preserve of pro-austerity neoliberals and authoritarian sovereignists: European Spring.
The European Spring initiative is an answer to Europe’s need to evolve beyond the outdated, impotent, and backwards politics of the present EU and towards an ambitious, leftist alternative.
Until now, a viable political agenda of this kind has never been developed on a European scale: an agenda which is at once postcapitalist, ecological, feminist and based on sharing wealth, embracing multiculturalism, refusing blanket commercialisation, and using technology for the common good.
Our goal is to inspire hope for a changed future and to prove that creative problem-solving, intellectual courage, and endurance can overcome the challenges of working on a European scale.
The true source of the crisis which we find ourselves in today lies in how we have responded to the inevitable process of globalisation: the neoliberals influence it for their own ends, the nationalists and religious conservatives hold it up as an omen of decline, the people who it affects benefit only marginally at best, and the Left stays firmly entrenched within their mental and territorial borders.
Our agenda, embodied by the European Spring platform, is inherently transnational, created by Europeans, for Europeans and is based on the tenets of global political integration, decentralisation of democracy, social equality, and environmental sustainability.
No longer can we think nationally; we have had enough of fighting local battles against global powers where the only outcome can be heroic defeat and disillusionment. Instead, the organisations which have chosen to participate in European Spring are committed to pursuing a sustainable political strategy which will allow us to accomplish our long-term goals without sacrificing our ideals for short-term gains. Yes, we will participate in elections but while staying true to the principles that we have set out together with other Europeans in order to build something that is bigger, stronger, and more enduring than any of our respective countries are alone.
The European Union, and the peace which it has brought since the second half of the 20th century, must be made to evolve so that they may be preserved. Although today’s EU is inarguably governed by an illegitimate technocracy at the beck and call of lobbyists representing big business, and although the hold that these powers maintain over the lives of the European people has increasingly led to fractures, we reject the idea that political integration in Europe is responsible. As federalists, we maintain that it is a lack of integration, regulation, and harmonisation which has allowed the EU to be corrupted.
Now is the time. As fascism exploits this weakness, gaining ground throughout Europe, we must have the courage to defend Europe as a lawful and democratic space like no other. Moreover, we must state loudly and clearly that the disintegration of the EU, which many claim would restore national sovereignty, will have only one outcome: weaker economies, more poverty, and the intensification of the kind of racist identity politics which have historically led to war.
The sensationalism surrounding immigration is an example of the egoistic opportunism that allows right-wing populists to thrive and regain lost power, and to which our response must be an unconditional welcome in the name of solidarity.
DiEM25 and European Spring want to bring democracy back to the European institutions, reconciling them with the Europeans they have alienated, so that the people might finally be truly represented and united. This is an intolerable prospect for both the neoliberals, who would keep the citizens as far away from the decision-making process as possible, as well as for the nationalists, who wish to keep Europeans sharply divided.
The movements which make up European Spring (which, apart from DiEM25, are largely national) have courageously chosen to view the world through a much wider lens, which could damage their electoral bases at home. However, we believe that it is precisely the clarity, the coherence, and the radicality of this pan-European movement which ensures its credibility and appeal.
The French singer Jacques Brel once wrote:
“There are two kinds of time: the time of waiting, and the time of hope.”
The time of waiting is over: the construction of a European force which is capable of speaking and acting on the same scale as the Commission is taking shape, slowly but inevitably. European Spring is now acting as a catalyst, enabling the Europeanist Left in Germany, Portugal, Italy, France, Poland, Belgium, Denmark, and Sweden to move forward together. The time of hope is now.
We’re advancing step by step: first by spreading our ideas. Since autumn, European Spring has traveled from Naples to Copenhagen, Lisbon to Paris, and most recently to Warsaw, bringing its members together, welcoming newcomers every step of the way, and continuing to develop a common manifesto through transparent, public meetings.
Secondly, through publication and exchange. In the autumn of 2018, on European Spring’s one-year anniversary, the final draft of our common manifesto, the European New Deal, will be released and accessible to all. It is on the back of this achievement, and with the organisations, movements, associations and individuals who will have joined European Spring, that we will set off on a campaign across the European Union, which we hold so dear.
In the overarching agenda of European Spring, elections are exactly that: just a spring, just the beginning of a transformational process. The long-term quality of our goals is evident both in the way we’ve constructed our agenda and in our multi-phase plan for the future.
We acknowledge that cultural differences can make crafting a truly European agenda difficult, but as we are unwilling to accept either war or perpetual social alienation as alternatives, we are confident that the reasonable and radical nature of our agenda can and must allow it to prevail. This is why the members of European Spring consult with one another constantly in matters regarding local commitments, such as forming coalitions or taking stances on local issues. By working in this way, we are able to develop common methods across disparate histories and cultures.
It is our desire, as members of DiEM25 and European Spring, to not only spread our hope for a renewed Europe but also to create a political vehicle capable of realising that hope.
Frédéric Kalfon is a membre of the French coordination of DiEM25
DiEM25’s response to the European Council: a coherent, human, effective migration policy
The 28 governments meeting in Brussels for the last European Council summit have abdicated their moral and political responsibility towards Europe’s citizens and towards future generations. A reckless non-agreement on the reform of the Dublin treaty has yielded:
- Ongoing deaths in the Mediterranean Sea
- Criminalisation of NGOs working to save human lives
- Focusing discussions on how to deal with “secondary movements”, so that all the weight of welcoming, hosting and eventually integrating migrants relies on southern European countries such as Italy and Greece;
- An agreement on the need for unanimity for any reform of the Dublin Treaty, a move that guarantees the impossibility of any progressive reform
No concrete solution has been advanced for a humane and effective management of migration flows. The governments of European countries are instead bowing to a reciprocal blame-game that instrumentally uses migrants for petty electoral gains.
The diplomatic failure of Salvini’s and Conte’s government further shows that different nationalist agendas cannot produce coherent pan-European policies. The “nationalist international” has nothing to offer but human misery for all – migrants and citizens alike.
Concrete alternatives exist. The European Parliament has recently issues a substantial resolution presenting a coherent, functional reform to the Dublin Treaty. Europe’s only elected transnational body has done what 27 petty national elites have failed to achieve: guarantee the common interests of Europeans. It is clearer than ever that reckless national elites, reckless national governments, and an undemocratic inter-governmental system is leading the European Union on a path to disintegration.
DiEM25, together with its transnational list European Spring, has prepared a comprehensive policy programme on migration and refugees that we will bring to the entire European electorate during the May 2019 European elections. This programme, together with the full programme of our transnational list, will be placed in public consultation shortly.
Our proposals for a comprehensive, humane, and effective European migration policy are as follows:
European Common Asylum System
- Our New Deal aims to create a more just global society, with less conflict, lower inequality, and fewer causes of involuntary migration. But we must also be prepared to welcome newcomers to Europe, support their transition into our societies, and build a new future together.
- This process begins with emergency measures to address Europe’s humanitarian crisis. More than 500,000 migrants arrived in Europe through the Mediterranean in the last two years — one in four of which are children. We must come together to formulate an effective pan-European response.
- We are calling for the establishment of a pan-European Common Asylum System in full respect of the TFEU, the charter of fundamental rights, the Geneva Convention and other international law obligations. The system will require all Europeans to respect the internationally protected right of non-refoulement, which forbids Europe from returning asylum-seekers to a country in which they would be in likely danger of persecution.
- Instead, European countries will facilitate mutual recognition of asylum decisions and the swift transfer of protection statuses so that refugees and asylum-seekers can settle where they have better prospects for employment, stronger family ties, or better language skills. We call for the implementation of the EU Joint Refugee Resettlement Programme, which provides support to Member States that volunteer to welcome refugees.
- Detention centres must be closed down. Reception facilities must improve. And authorities must guarantee access to physical and mental healthcare for all newcomers — with EU funding conditional on compliance.
Integration & Investment Programme
- Our challenge is not only to welcome newcomers — but also to build their ties with communities across Europe. We believe that we must consider the rights and needs of host communities just as much as those of the migrants. No successful inclusion or integration process is possible otherwise. Integration is a two-sided process.
- We will introduce a new Integration and Investment Programme that directs EU funding to municipalities that welcome newcomers into their communities. New funds will be earmarked for programmes that support (i) economic integration into local economies, (ii) celebration of culture, of all members of the community, and (iii) mixed social housing projects that help bridge new and older communities.
- We will also fight to include the newcomers into EU politics in their actual places of residence. Despite the fact that millions of EU-migrants, refugees, and newcomers pay their taxes, they do not get to enjoy the full rights of their residence. They are excluded from political decisions that will determine their futures in fundamental ways. We will fight for all newcomers to enjoy full voting rights after a minimum period of residency, including a right to vote in national elections and referenda as well as a right to stand for elections.
Ending Fortress Europe
- While promoting intervention against authoritarian regimes, many Member-States continue to cut backdoor deals with despots to keep asylum-seekers out of Europe. We must create new avenues for legal migration, and we must end the exportation of migration control.
- We will fight to allow job-seeker Schengen visas to be granted by EU consulates all around the world, creating safe, legal, and open avenues for newcomers to pursue opportunities in Europe. We will also support the establishment of an International Humanitarian Passport for the most vulnerable categories of refugees.
- At the same time, we are calling for the termination of the EU-Turkey Refugee Deal that has pushed asylum-seekers back into peril in the countries from which they fled. We will also call for an end to deals with Libyan local authorities and militias, and to the termination of the agreements for the training and equipment of the Libyan coastguards. The same must apply to the backdoor agreements with the corrupt, authoritarian governments of Chad and Niger.
- We are calling for the establishment of a European Search and Rescue Operation (ESRO) geared at saving, welcoming, and introducing migrants to Europe. With the ESRO, we call for the immediate suspension of any externalisation of EU borders and migration controls, to comply with its responsibility to allow all people to request protection on European territory. We will increase cooperation with and funding of International Organisations working with refugees (UNHCR) and migrants (IOM), while demanding increased accountability and exerting a stronger supervision of the implementation of their principles in their activities. We will support civil society organisations working with migrants and potential migrants in their countries of origin and countries of transit.
Read the full European Spring programme here.
The EU is killing our democratic spaces using copyright as a Trojan horse
Europe was one of the regions that connected massively to the Internet. Not only that, it was one of the few adopting literacy and inclusion programs early enough on to unleash the power of connected citizens, showing them how to create new business models and improve education but also how to express themselves, create, organize and protest.
But alarmingly, the European Parliament is on the verge of a dramatic change of direction. The EU has recently embarked on a new mission: controlling the Internet through the monopoly of copyright. This attempt to reform and control the Internet has not received half the attention it deserves.
As Julia Reda, MEP for the Pirate Party, has explained, the current project of EU legislation would impose automatic filters that control ANY content that anyone wants to upload. The reason would be the protection of copyright, a monopoly right that primarily benefits large media behemoths, without any possibility of advance verification.
You read that right: the EU wants to put in place a global censorship machine, on the basis of unverifiable monopoly rights, mostly held by large media corporations.
In DiEM25, we do not see this as just an outdated law, isolated from current politics. Indeed, that is precisely what is most worrying about it. We cannot see it as unconnected to the big push in Europe by authoritarian leaders wanting to restrict, to truly shrink the spaces of civil society. Increasing censorship online will reduce the ability of citizens to say what they think, filtering content before it is published. This will not only harm speech but increase surveillance and the meting out of punishments for things we say online. This is combined with all the existing online state surveillance already endured by EU citizens, which remains as powerful as ever.
With dismay, we are witnessing now an open boycott of the democratic achievement of a connected Europe. The European Parliament Legal Committee has just given the green light to a law that will be a tool to control speech, expression, criticism and increase the surveillance levels imposed on all EU citizens.
Disguised as a copyright reform, this is is a move to remove power from the hands of people and silence voices. Diem25 stands against it and urges all progressive MEPs to reconsider their position.
Otherwise, be prepared to wave goodbye to free speech, because you may want to use something that someone claims “exclusive rights” on. And while you are at it, say Bye, Ciao, Adios to democracy.
Why is this such a problem?
Because of free speech. Free speech is a fundamental right, right at the heart of any democratic system. If you can’t say a word, before checking if someone else has a publishing monopoly on that word (and don’t forget there is no way to check this), you effectively abolish free speech. Copyright dates from the days of the printing press, when copying was difficult and expensive. It ensured a distribution monopoly for businesses who would distribute content that was hard to gather, hard to assess, hard to distribute, and hard to market.
Let us shift the vote on July 5 and create a space to discuss the democratic future of the Internet.
But we live in the 21st century, not the 19th. The Internet changed all that. Yet, the distribution monopoly holders want to keep their rent-seeking practices, to benefit from the creative work of the real authors and creative people. And the European Parliament looks like they want to support the monopoly holders over the rights of democratic debate and free speech. What can we do?
We need to engage in meaningful democratic debate. On July 5, the European Parliament will vote on the proposed Copyright Reform. The proposed text is deeply wrong for three reasons:
- First, it has the balance between monopoly, expressed through copyright, and freedom of speech fundamentally wrong. As Europeans we expected our representatives to be designing the institutions of the future, not relying on and constructing all the architecture for our shared information based on outdated nineteenth century copyright laws.
- Second, there has been no proper debate about this. DiEM25 is the one political movement that is adopting a serious, crowd-sourced approach to issues such as the relationship between technology and free speech, through its current adoption of its Seventh Pillar on Technological Sovereignty in its ‘Progressive Agenda for the Internet and other technologies in Europe’. Remember the Cambridge Analytica scandal? DiEM25 is the only political movement with a structural approach to this problem. Rather than the sad cosmetic media-shows we’ve seen in the European Parliament.
- Third, from a democratic and transparent perspective, we need to take back power over technology. Technology is great, but it is we humans who must have a democratic control over it. Europe won’t be democratised without democratising its technologies. The future of democracies, economies, the environment, public life, equality, freedom and justice are entwined with the futures of technologies – and vice versa.
Join us in shaping the policies for a democratic future and send us your proposals.
Meanwhile, call your MEP to block this awful “copyright reform”.
Renata Avila sits on the Board of Creative Commons, is a trustee of the Courage Foundation and is an Coordinating Collective member of DiEM25. She is currently writing a book about Digital Colonialism.
DiEM25 stands with El Día Después
Mexico – just like Europe – has arrived at a crossroads.
Down one road, the country moves deeper into violence, prejudice, and poverty. The level of homicide in Mexico is reaching record highs: 30,000 citizens were murdered in 2017, while another 30,000 remain missing. The level of solidarity is reaching record lows: over half of the country lives below the poverty line, while the country’s richest man owns more than the poorest 20 per cent of all Mexicans combined. The first road will guide Mexico toward even higher levels of inequality and mistrust between citizens.
But there is another road. Down it, Mexican citizens rally together to share wealth, rebuild democracy, and ensure that no one gets left behind. The war in Mexico – a war that has been raging for nearly two decades – comes to an end. The country enters the new century with its arms open to peace.
The ongoing campaign for Mexico’s July 1 elections have shown the country at its best and at its worst. We have seen citizens come into the streets to fight for their principles and share their dreams with their candidates. But we have also seen incredible violence, with over 100 candidates slain in the course of the campaign. Communication between citizens has collapsed, and social networks have become shouting matches where nobody really listens.
That is why DiEM25 supports El Día Después, a new initiative that aims to push Mexico down the path toward a stronger democracy – whatever the outcome of the July 1 election. The campaign, which translates to “The Day After,” brings citizens together around 12 commitments for the day after the election, from peace and tolerance to equality and solidarity. Just like DiEM25, El Día Después is not about supporting a single party or politician, but a shared vision for the country’s future.
We believe that oppression anywhere is a threat to democracy everywhere. As Europeans, we must stand together with our friends in Mexico and across the world. Join us in standing behind these 12 commitments and lend your support for their movement here.
12 Citizen Commitments for the 21st Century
BECAUSE THERE IS NO GREATER RESPONSIBILITY THAN BEING A CITIZEN
- PEACE AND TOLERANCE ARE NOT DREAMS. They must be realised.
- NO TO RACISM OR CLASSISM. NO TO A COUNTRY THAT EXCLUDES PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES. We are all equals, and we should treat each other as such. Our differences strengthen our whole.
- I ALWAYS REMAIN CRITICAL OF THOSE WHO GOVERN US, independent of my own or their political affiliation.
- CORRUPTION KILLS, it creates violence and it divides. I do not tolerate it and I denounce its practice.
- POVERTY IS A FORM OF VIOLENCE. I commit to combat inequality in all its forms, in all its spaces.
- I LISTEN TO THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF MEXICO and make sure their decisions and autonomy are respected.
- GENDER EQUALITY IS A FUNDAMENTAL CONDITION FOR A JUST SOCIETY. I fight for social and economic equality for women. I condemn any act of violence against them.
- I RESPECT THE GENDER IDENTITY AND SEXUAL ORIENTATION OF EACH HUMAN BEING. We all have the same rights.
- I EXPRESS MY SOLIDARITY WITH THE UNDOCUMENTED MIGRANT COMMUNITY. I defend the rights of my conationals on the other side of the Mexico/U.S. border in the same way I defend and welcome those who migrate to or through Mexico.
- I SUPPORT EDUCATION, CULTURE, SCIENCE AND ART AS THE BASIC PILLARS on which our country must be constructed.
- RESPECTING THE ENVIRONMENT means respecting myself.
- I DEFEND FREEDOM OF SPEECH IN ALL ITS FORMS. Freedom is a right that I protect and demand.
The myth of the ‘migrant burden’ debunked
We are frequently asked: Do we really want refugees to come into “our” countries, or will they only hurt our economies and take from our social services? Right-wing politicians and their allies in the mainstream media call for Europe to restrict immigration flows on the basis of their financial burden, throwing in some extra fear-mongering around dangers to our culture and threats of violence and terrorism.
But recent research has provided definitive proof to the contrary: migrants and refugees actually boost growth in their host countries! And these gains are not only felt in the long-term, after a couple of generations – but also in the short-term. Within five years, migrants have a very strong positive impact on economies, without accounting for the gains the accrue to societies by dint of their new ideas. This myth has been conclusively debunked.
DiEM25’s position has always been clear: Let them in! We refuse to turn our eyes away from the problem. Migrants are human beings struggling for survival, and we ought to treat them with respect and dignity. We promote peace and peaceful negotiations to support their integration. To support this effort, it is urgent to act now! Let’s fight together!