In this issue:

Impeachment Papers Filed Against Tony Blair

Two British Soldiers Charged in Death of Iraqi Youth

Blair Stalling on U.S. Trip

Wall Street Worries German Rallies Will Sink Hartz IV

Former CDU Official Speaks Out Against Hartz IV

German Politician Pushes 'Transrapid from Berlin to Moscow'

Volkswagen Seeks 30% Cut in Labor Costs

Wide Coverage in France of German Anti-Austerity Campaign

Anti-Austerity Contagion Spreads to France

From Volume 3, Issue Number 35 of EIR Online, Published Aug. 31, 2004

Western European News Digest

Impeachment Papers Filed Against Tony Blair

Adam Price, a member of the Welsh Plaid Cymru Party, with backing from 11 opposition MPs, has filed impeachment papers against British Prime Minister Tony Blair based on the "Principle of Ministerial Accountability," which was last used 150 years ago, Reuters reported Aug. 26. "Tony Blair has misled this country time and time again," said Price. Accusing Blair of "high crimes and misdemeanors" for his "less than truthful" justifications for the Iraq war, Price said that, despite the fact that the bill is unlikely to pass the Commons, "We should all remember that it was not the impeachment of Nixon that led to his resignation, it was the threat of impeachment that threw the spotlight on what he had done."

Two British Soldiers Charged in Death of Iraqi Youth

Two British soldiers have been charged in the death of an Iraqi youth, the Guardian reported Aug. 26. The case is one of more than 30 brought by Iraqis against British soldiers on grounds of abuse, and 75 other cases that are under investigation including on grounds of abuse, humiliation, forced sexual acts, and murder. Perhaps the only difference with the cases at Abu Ghraib is that the acts were not caught on tape—or were they?

Blair Stalling on U.S. Trip

Prime Minister Tony Blair is refusing, or stalling, a request from President George W. Bush to visit the USA to receive his Congressional Medal of Honor, the Aug. 22 Mirror of London reported. An unnamed senior government source is quoted saying that Bush is putting intense pressure on Blair to come for the medal before the election, as a political boost for Bush, since Blair is allegedly so popular here. The article notes that Blair is anything but popular back home, and is under attack from his own Labour Party over Iraq, and because he is not supporting Sen. John Kerry, the candidate of the Democratic Party, considered to be the sister-party to Labour. A trip to the U.S. would be seen as an open endorsement of Bush, and would be going too far, the source says.

Wall Street Worries German Rallies Will Sink Hartz IV

The synarchist bankers' Wall Street Journal Aug. 25 reflects fears that the growing Monday demonstrations in Germany, in which Helga Zepp-LaRouche and the LaRouche Youth Movement are playing a leading role, will overturn the Hartz IV austerity plan the bankers have foisted on Chancellor Gerhardt Schroeder. The prominent article, along with a photo of demonstrators in Leipzig, begins: "The restructuring of the world's third-largest national economy has hit an unexpected snag: Germany's depressed east is in revolt against welfare cuts and the dominant political parties."

"Civic groups have organized grassroot protests across eastern Germany on Monday nights for the past month. These hark back to the Monday-night demonstrations 15 years ago, when East Germans took to the streets to oppose communism. This time, however, the demonstrators are calling for an end to cuts in social-welfare programs—a key element of deregulation efforts—that are hitting those in the east particularly hard."

"The street protests—this week's drew nearly 80,000 people nationwide—come too late to derail Germany's economic retoolings. But with the east—where a preponderance of swing voters magnifies its influence—turning against further changes, political leaders are under pressure to talk less about free-market economics and more about social justice. The likely upshot: An end to further economic restructuring until national elections in two years...."

"That could be bad news for the world economy...."

"The protesters' primary target is a law passed last month that cuts benefits for the long-term unemployed....

The article complains that Schroeder's government, and western German unions, "object to turning the east into a low-wage zone."

It concludes: "Mr. Schroeder's government has had more success in overhauling taxes, welfare, labor regulation and pensions than some neighboring countries such as France and Italy. But the government has shown no appetite for further initiatives."

Former CDU Official Speaks Out Against Hartz IV

In an interview with western Pfalz edition of the Saarlaendische Zeitung daily, Aug. 21, former CDU official Heiner Geissler voiced harsh criticism of the pro-Hartz IV policy of party chairwoman Angela Merkel. Geissler said that with Hartz IV, growing impoverishment will increase, resembling the situation in the United States. He said the CDU should never have voted for the Hartz IV package in the first place, because the policy runs contrary to the essence of Christian Democracy. Moreover, Hartz IV's drive toward expropriation of welfare recipients and long-term unemployed, is a violation of the German Constitution, Geissler said.

German Politician Pushes 'Transrapid from Berlin to Moscow'

Peter Gauweiler, a maverick member of the CSU party, was host of the popular talk show "Muenchener Runde" on Bavarian television Sept. 25, together with former Finance Minister and current Schroeder Social Democratic opponent Oskar LaFontaine. The discussion theme was the popular protest against Hartz IV, and what opponents are proposing as alternatives. Soon, the discussion came to the issue of jobs-creation, and the moderator asked his guests whether they really think it could be possible to create many jobs and quickly, and with what policy.

Gauweiler answered: "With a few large projects, for instance a Transrapid from Berlin to Moscow, or the Munich-Prague highway, we could do it overnight." Gauweiler also insisted that the German government should impose a stop to EU open-bid regulations, which are preventing German firms from winning public work bids in Germany. Challenged by the moderator, Gauweiler was not afraid to say that the state should borrow money (i.e., incur "debt") in order to finance such projects.

LaFontaine did not interrupt or criticize Gauweiler, and supported the idea of a "conjunctural investment program." However, he came out with a doctrinaire Keynesian formula, saying that the government should imitate Alan Greenspan's money policy, and lower interest rates. The result of such a policy shift, LaFontaine said, would be visible in terms of job creation in one-and-half years.

Volkswagen Seeks 30% Cut in Labor Costs

Peter Hartz, who is VW's personnel chief, and head of the Hartz IV austerity commission, announced at an Aug. 23 press conference in Wolfsburg that the VW management is heading for a confrontation in the contract talks starting on Sept. 15. Hartz said there is "no room for salary increases" because, "times have changed." Volkswagen could only keep its 177,000 jobs in Germany over the next two years if it can freeze wages in the same period. Until 2011, Volkswagen is seeking a 30% cut in labor costs, in order to become more "competitive." The trade union IG Metall described the Hartz proposals as "extreme, unrealistic and poorly thought out."

Wide Coverage in France of German Anti-Austerity Campaign

On Aug. 24 a flurry of articles appeared in the French press prior to and following the Monday Aug. 23 demonstrations in Germany. Le Monde reported extensively on the 70,000 who demonstrated in 140 German cities, noting that the movement is divided and has no long-term program.

The lead article, written by the Leipzig correspondent, conveys a clear sense of history in the making: "Perhaps historians and political scientists will one day talk about the moment when 'the mayonnaise' took hold, the day when thousands of demonstrators of eastern Germany decided to go demonstrate each Monday in the streets to protest against the social reforms of Schroeder." Le Monde quotes Volker Kuelow, president of the former East German Leipzig PDS, who claims that it was the day when the unemployment agency started distributing the 16-page questionnaire worked up by the Economics Ministry, upon which further unemployment pay depended. "All of a sudden, people realized that this would hit them. All those questions about their small means of subsistence were not reassuring. They felt undressed, socially degraded. And, since then, they are demonstrating." Kuelow explains then that "when the wall fell [in 1989], Leipzig had 500,000 inhabitants and 100,000 industrial jobs. Fifteen years later, there are still 500,000 inhabitants, but no more than 12,000 jobs." Le Monde's Leipzig correspondent, George Marion, reports the current sentiment in the former East Germany that they are victims of a reunification that was nothing but looting.

Anti-Austerity Contagion Spreads to France

Le Figaro Economie had a front-page article on Aug. 17 on the Monday demonstrations, noting how many parallels one can establish between this reform and the one the French government would like to carry out. After reporting on the growth of the demonstrations, Figaro's Cecile Calla reports from Berlin, that this reform "has numerous points in common with that initiated in France." She reports on the Schroeder government's appeasement policies which however have not been able to "lighten up the social climate," and cites Sedram Sharyar, an ATTAC leader, to the effect that "The corrections are clearly a consequence of the demonstrations and show that it is worth revolting."

All rights reserved © 2004 EIRNS