Resolutionof the Federal Board of the Communist Party of Austria March 18th 2000

Aspects concerning thecomment to EU-sanctions against Austria

In ourcomment to the various sanctions, measures of boycott on an EU-wide levelrespectiveley by the 14 other members of the EU we are considering differentpoints of view.

1. Thedecision of the 14 EU-governments to freeze bilateral diplomatic contacts on apolitical level must be taken notice of. That also home political aspects ofvarious governments of  how tohandle parties of the extreme right in their own countries are considered showsthat rightest extremism and racism is not a national problem alone but also avirulent one an EU-wide scale. Governments and parties sharing governmentalpower in various EU-countries must therefore take into consideration thepressure exerted by antifascist and antiracist segments of public opinion. Weare not prepared to identify or exercise solidarity with the "blue-black"government (a coalition of rightest Freedom Party and the conservative People'sParty) against foreign countries.

2. Themeasures of the 14 EU-governments are ambiguous and hypocritical. The ambiguitystems, as one could have seen, from the fact that the treatment of Austriandelegations in the various (informal) councils of ministers is different. As faras real action is concerned, as for instance in ECOFIN (Ministers of Financestake counsel about the Euro), in the Council of Home Ministers or in the Councilof Ministers of Defence business as usual is persued in a very pragmatic way.Where on the other side procedure and result of meetings are of less priorityaccording to the actual self-understanding of the EU (such as meetings ofministers of social welfare and employment) measures of boycott are executed.The hypocrisy regarding the often cited (ethical) values of the EU becomesobvious for instance concerning Turkey, whose latest arbitrary acts againstelected mayors in Curdistan remained practically without sanctions.

It is thecommon attitude of the left fraction (GUE/NGL) in the European Parliament thatit is the neoliberal concept of capitalism impersonated in the EU which is in asocial, political and cultural respect mainly responsable for the growth oftrends of the extreme right. We therefore are not going to put back even in thisnew situation our criticism of the EU based on our understanding of social,cultural and democratic politics.

3. The mostenduring fact from the point of long-term future is that, consciously broughtabout by the main powers of the EU, an intervention into the home politicalprocesses of a member country has taken place for the first time. Though notconfirmed by existing EU-law this shows in what direction the Political Unionshall develop in the perspective of an enlargement of the EU. What now is mentto aim against a rightest-right coalition in Austria can be applied against leftand central-left governments tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. An extremelydangerous door has therfore been opened.

4. Speekingof international solidarity we are, in contrast to other powers opposing the"blue-black" government, referring above all to civil societies, NGOs,trade unions, left parties, antiracist and feminist movements and civil rightsmovements. We are against measures of boycott which could blocade or hamper thislevel of contact between the peoples. In the present situation it is of thegreatest importance to further intensify our contacts with the various leftmovements in Europe.