15.05.2002

Which way for European left?

Over 200 people attended the preparatory meeting of the European Social Forum in Vienna on May 11-12. Tina Becker reports

Vienna saw an important and lively debate on the future of the ESF and, on a larger scale, the World Social Forum, which was set up two years ago in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The intention was to decide on the structure and themes of the first ESF, to take place in Florence in November. Unfortunately though, due to the numbers participating and a good deal of poor preparation, not many decisions were actually taken. It is difficult to say how many different groups were present, as the organisers chose to hand around sign-in sheets, but did not inform the meeting of the results. Nevertheless, in each country there seems to be a healthy number of political organisations, trade unions and other groups willing to be involved. Most of the bigger leftwing European organisations kept a very low profile in Vienna. The German Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) sent only one observer, as did the German Communist Party (DKP). Representatives from France's Lutte Ouvrière and Ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire hardly contributed to any of the debates, and neither did anyone from Italy's Rifondazione Comunista. In fact, the whole meeting was dominated by members of smaller organisations and the French-based pressure group, Attac, which had dozens of comrades present. There were also many trade unionists present, speaking either as individuals or as representatives of their organisations. Cobas (Italy) is among the many trade union bodies that have signed up to the ESF. The European Transport Workers Federation is participating, as is the Austrian Railway Workers Union. The Greek Confederation of Trade Unions is "in the process" of signing up, according to Dimitris Tsoukalas, member of the confederation's general council. The small British delegation was made up of representatives from the Socialist Workers Party/Globalise Resistance, the CPGB, Attac Britain, War on Want and a comrade from the International Socialist Group (although he was officially representing only his local Unison branch). The debates focused very quickly on one major question: what kind of organisation do we want the ESF to be? A loose network of campaigns, trade unions and NGOs that meets once a year to exchange ideas? Or a formation capable of organising ongoing joint activities on a European level? In Vienna, every shade of opinion between these two options was expressed. The trade union representatives were in general on the more conservative side, while the revolutionary organisations were pushing for closer cooperation. In general, however, the ESF is already far more political and leftwing than the WSF, which is still heavily dominated by charities and NGOs. During the debates there were several calls for the agenda to be tightened - why, for example, call one of the main themes 'Neoliberalism', when it is clear that we are all fighting against the global system of capitalism itself? Is 'Food sovereignty' really such an important issue that deserves pride of place on the draft agenda? How radical should our own 'social charter' be? These debates were lively and extremely comradely. We sat through workshops that lasted four hours and more - with hardly anyone leaving, instead listening to each other's contributions. The whole meeting had been prepared by the Italian mobilising committee, which is dominated by Rifondazione Comunista, the trade union federation Cobas and the organisers of the Genoa Social Forum, which was behind last year's huge demonstration in response to the G8 meeting in the city. Their proposals for Florence formed the basis of discussion. According to the Italian proposal, the ESF in November should debate one major issue on each of the three days. General conferences with 2,000 to 3,000 people in attendance are planned for the morning; smaller workshops, seminars and campaigns for the afternoons. The Italian comrades suggest that these afternoon session be organised by the various groups and campaigns themselves. Generally a good idea - however, the question of the participation of political parties needs to be resolved urgently before the organisation of any of these meetings can go ahead (see below). Although no other organisation had prepared any alternative suggestions, the debate was sometimes a little unstructured and lacking in direction. Everybody who wanted to contribute to the debate was allowed to speak for up to 10 minutes - on any subject they wished. While this certainly stands in stark contrast to the restrictive one-minute speeches that are almost the norm on most of the British left, predictably, given the loose agenda, it did not lead to productive results. While it was very inspiring and interesting to meet so many European comrades, it seems clear that the real decisions in the ESF will not be made at such large meetings. The power base is Italy. The Italian comrades seem to be very aware of a certain imbalance and chose to keep a low profile in Vienna, only introducing a number of sessions, but keeping out of contentious debates. In fact, Italian comrades hardly contributed at all. While I see no problem with a small number of people making the real decisions, this process must be transparent and democratic and the comrades concerned must be accountable. If we want to create an organisation that is inclusive and open, we need a leadership that reflects the variety of opinions represented. It needs to report back regularly and consult the participating groups. The meeting in Vienna recommended that there should be an ESF organising committee that will consist of a maximum of one representative from each country, although a final decision on this will be taken elsewhere. At the moment, backroom deals still dominate - a practice that needs to be changed as soon as possible. Europe is on the move. The right is gathering strength and the ruling classes are more united than ever before. We must be too. We need to meet as often as we can, in order to debate our differences and points of agreement. A joint European-wide campaign against the war in Afghanistan could have delivered an unprecedentedly powerful message to the ruling classes. What about a joint slate in the European Union elections? Or European-wide strikes against the transnationals or EU bureaucracy? Unfortunately such questions did not rise to the surface in Vienna. We must ensure that the ESF devotes its energies not merely to mobilising for the yearly gathering, but to fighting to create a powerful, united and democratic challenge to the Europe of the bosses. * Buying into influence European Social Forum November 7-10 2002, Conference Centre, Florence, Italy World Social Forum January 23-28 2003, Porto Alegre, Brazil * http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br