EU must become a 'financial, democratic and cultural power'

EU must find 'innovative solutions' to break the tradition of 'professional politicians', says Stavros Theodorakis.

By Stavros Theodorakis

30 Apr 2014

When we decided to create a new movement in Greece, such as To Potami, our goal was to convince people that carry expertise in their field to enter politics, beginning with the European parliament elections. And this is what we did.

Our candidate list consists of people that, although very different from one another, share common principles and a passion to bring change to the country. We want to bring forward candidates that combine knowledge, experience and spirit. It is my honour to give way to these people and not place myself as a candidate for the European elections.

Greece is trying to get into its stride, but many burdens of the past still weigh heavily and hinder us from moving forward. We certainly recognise the considerable help that we have received, mostly by European taxpayers, who, alongside the huge sacrifices made by the Greek people, prevented our bankruptcy.

However, the European Union looks weak and divided, lacking a single voice and a political compass, not being able to deal with the financial crisis that plagues its member states. Mistakes made by both sides caused distrust between Greece and the EU.

EU institutions should, however, overcome their bureaucratic rigidity and take action to support European citizens, which is their actual role, even if it's presently forgotten. The latest reforms due to the financial crisis actually reinforced EU bureaucracy and further alienated European citizens.

Even today it is not clear yet how major decisions are made were decided here, such as the size of the financial aid packages and the reason behind Europe's change of mind. These decisions are between governments and not through institutional channels where transparency often lacks.

"The EU should honestly admit that the goals of the Lisbon strategy were not achieved. It has not become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge economy in the world"

The European parliament has been sidelined, while at the same time, recommendations for more technocratic forms of governance, through the establishment of new mechanisms, gain ground. This lack of transparency represents a serious danger.

The EU should honestly admit that the goals of the Lisbon strategy were not achieved. It has not become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge economy in the world, capable of achieving economic development and creating more and better job opportunities, while enhancing social cohesion.

This is why the EU should now draw up and effectively implement new policies to support innovation. North-south cultural differences should become a field of dynamic complementarity, instead of serving as a battlefield and being seen as a problem. The diversity of the European people is actually an asset, not a weakness. Discussions and thoughts about 'breaking up' Europe or designing a two-tier Europe should be abandoned.

The EU, both domestically and abroad, should act in unison and defend the interests of its citizens, without any exceptions, exclusions and preconceived notions getting in the way. The EU should care for creatively managing these differences, and instead of finding the lowest common denominator, strive for the best possible synthesis.

In the midterm, Europe's success will depend on how it will deal with the continuing economic crisis in the periphery countries, like Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, and Spain, and the prolonged stagnation in large countries, such as Italy and France.

Cohesion in Europe is at risk when youth unemployment is over 50 per cent. The main pillars of the recovery should include public investment which involves private capital and management schemes in networks, transport, research and technology.

It should also entail the swift completion of the banking union in combination with strict financial supervision, in order to guarantee bank deposits through a European guarantee fund, thus ensuring bank capital adequacy (ideally drawing from private funds), breaking the vicious cycle of debt, both in banks and states.

Furthermore, effective social protection along with increased unemployment benefits and extended benefit periods, especially in cases where someone is admittedly unable to find a job would better aid recovery.

"The eurozone priority should be to relieve the public debt of the periphery countries, on the premise that substantial reforms would be implemented"

Also, the EU should develop a joint and coherent strategy on the basis of integration in the fields of education, innovation and entrepreneurship, to promote and strengthen European competitiveness.

The eurozone priority should be to relieve the public debt of the periphery countries, on the premise that substantial reforms would be implemented. This kind of policy is an expression of solidarity that at the same time creates fair incentives.

Redesigning the, initially incomplete, eurozone architecture would effectively prevent and deal with the indebtedness of both member countries and European banks. Providing a precondition for building mutual trust, essential for this type of indirect funds transfer, would be to counter tax evasion in each member state.

The Dublin regulation that establishes the mechanisms for dealing with the EU's immigration issue has proven inadequate, placing at the same time a heavy burden on member states such as Greece. Effective border control is now needed in conjunction with showing European solidarity to refugees, along with care and equality for immigrants living here. Actually, the borders of Greece are at the same time Europe's borders.

The EU is one of the main pillars of both our civilization and the global economy, and, despite its problems, it serves as the only successful example of interstate cooperation. The European Union does not have the luxury any more to ignore an open field to act as a financial, democratic and cultural power.

At these elections, participation should exceed any expectation. The party establishment in Greece and Europe is comfortable with the low voter turnout in the elections, as this actually enables a small minority to dominate politics. We dared to come forward in the political scene, breaking the tradition of professional politicians claiming that politics is a privilege of the few.

As a European political power, we want to restructure a political stage that is currently in stagnation, by enabling fresh faces and innovative solutions to emerge. Come join us and let's move forward together.