ETUC: “Whoever the Commission President, stop austerity”

The head of L’Altra Europa delegation at the European Parliament, Eleonora Forenza, has protested during the second day of Plenary in Strasbourg, holding a sign during the hearing of the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. After Barbara Spinelli’s speech, Forenza held a sign reading “If uncertainty and crisis are your present, income and conflict will be your future. Do not count on our trust.”

The Spanish MEP Marina Albiol Guzmán, from Izquierda Unida, arrived yesterday at the Parliament with an ‘Antifascist Action’ t-shirt – and wore it for voting the European Parliament President too. A symbolic choice, making her look like a protester more than a MEP. There is no ‘dress code’ at the European Parliament, and every MEP is free to wear as he/she like.

The President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, held several meeting with the leaders of political groups of the European Parliament to discuss about the creation of the next European Commission. With the only exception of conservatives, every group reiterated that the next leader of the Commission should be one of those presented by parties during the campaign for European elections, Juncker first.

A visual action to ask the next European Commission President the end of austerity policies and the beginning of the focus on growth and job creation. This is the campaign promoted by ETUC, the European Trade Union Confederation, which brought its posters at the entrance of each European institutions’ building.