Contribution of the Italian trade union Segreteria Generale Rapporti Internazionali to the EuCET publication "THE FUTURE OF EUROPE"

For publication in the "THE FUTURE OF EUROPE".

EUROPEAN UNION CIVIL COOPERATION COUNCIL

about the future of Europe

We are pleased to announce that the Italian Christian trade union UGL has joined the European Union Council for Civil Cooperation (EuCET), which operates under the joint Hungarian-Polish presidency, and is a partner organization of the Hungarian National Association of Workers' Councils, which has been cooperating with us since its foundation.

We are sharing a letter from our civilian Italian friends, in which you can feel how close our identities are to each other.

We are also looking for like-minded people in the V4 countries. We trust that the civilian forces we represent can effectively represent the future of Europe in the future.

We plan to hold our third conference in Warsaw in late autumn. The materials of the 2020 online Budapest conference can be found on the EuCET website ( www.eucet.hu ).

László Csizmadia is
the co-president of EuCET

Unione Generale del Laboro Secreteria Generale Rapporti

The incompetence of the current European Union is becoming more and more obvious, as the tragically chaotic vaccine procurement recently showed. The reformation of the EU on new, moral, political, social and economic bases is increasingly urgent.

Our model of Europe is not the current supranational organization run by unelected bureaucrats and technocrats, which imposes its own values ​​and priorities on the peoples of Europe from above. We want the European Union to be instead a European confederation of free and sovereign nation-states, within the framework of which individual states are able to cooperate on major issues, i.e. in the areas of security, the single market, defence, immigration, research and foreign policy, but their self-determination cannot be reduced. We focus on the richest possible diversity and respect for differences, since these are what actually bind European nations together. We firmly support subsidiarity, which we believe is a fundamental principle of equal sharing of power between the EU, nations and local authorities, which is in the well-understood interests of all citizens.

During the rewriting of the European treaties, the classical and Christian roots of our European civilization must be clearly enforced.

The values ​​of freedom, democracy, equality and the secular state are the result of our identity and the most distinctive heritage of our culture. We cannot give in to those who want to erase the symbols of our Christian tradition, ban nativity scenes, and remove crucifixes from public places. We oppose the current Islamization: it must be forbidden for fundamentalist states to finance places of worship, media and cultural activities in Europe; we must confront the proselytizing zeal of the integralists, which fuels terrorism and helps Islamic integralism become part of our criminal legal system. We say no to Turkey belonging to Europe. It must set the maximum number of foreign students in school classes and implement an integration policy that prevents the formation of ghettos. We want a Europe that protects the discriminated and persecuted Christian communities of the world.

The model of the social market economy was born from European culture, which combines business freedom with support for those in difficult situations. We want to re-apply and strengthen this approach using European resources. Specific economic assistance must be provided to those who are unable to work for objective reasons: children, people with disabilities, pensioners, and people over the age of sixty who have no income. The minimum pension should be increased and the amount of disability benefits should be doubled. There is a need for real recognition of the social function of caregivers, those who take care of a family member unable to support themselves, providing them with concrete protection both in the workplace and in the regulatory environment. The third sector must be supported. A health pact is needed between the state and citizens through various incentives, including financial incentives, for all those who properly and regularly perform health-preserving activities. The right to health must be guaranteed by the development and expansion of health services, also in dental care, and by the widespread distribution of center hospitals. Action must be taken against drugs and addictions. Sports must be recognized as a fundamental tool for ensuring physical and mental well-being, enriching values, and preventing youth deviance. The possibility of exercise must be guaranteed from primary school age to old age.

All of Europe is experiencing a dramatic demographic crisis, and if this trend is not reversed, European peoples are doomed to extinction. It is amazing and outrageous that childbearing support has never been included in the EU's priorities until now. We must finally do this by making family benefits and improving the birth rate the main expenditure items of the European budget. We must finally do this in such a way that we consider the support of the family and the birth rate as the main expenditure item of the European budget, by providing significant resources: "European maternity income", i.e. the introduction of a monthly allowance for each dependent child; encouraging the employment of women with small children or women of childbearing age or of childbearing age; maintenance of long-open, free kindergartens also during the summer; deductibility of housework from the tax base; protection of self-employed women; free baby food. Supporting families and the birth rate also means protecting the natural family and protecting life from conception, against the unacceptable practice of surrogacy, which the European bureaucracy wants to impose on all member states. Gender ideology must be opposed.

Europe must also protect nature and the environment. We want Europe to be at the forefront of land, landscape and nature protection. Environmental awareness must be taught even at school; ban non-biodegradable products; fight against all forms of environmental pollution; the transformation of companies with a large environmental impact or that produce a large amount of plastic must be supported; clean and renewable energies must be supported; our seas must be protected, our beaches must be restored; the culture of the villages and the countryside and the activities that carry it and carry it on must be protected; action must be taken against the methods of intensive agriculture that cause suffering to animals and damage human health. Punitive duties should be imposed on member states that do not respect the environment.

One principle must be clear: you cannot enter Europe illegally. Europe's external borders are unique and must be subject to common rules, which is why we want the whole of the European Union to renounce the UN Global Compact, which seeks to promote unrestricted immigration. The external borders should be brought under military control and a maritime blockade should be used as part of a European mission to prevent migrant boats from leaving the coast of North Africa, thus preventing deaths at sea. Those who enter Europe illegally must be detained in controlled centers and resettled in accordance with agreements between the EU and third countries. We say no to the of ius soli . Official immigration quotas should only apply to immigrants of nationalities that have been proven to integrate and not pose security problems or terrorist threats. Action must be taken against all forms of African neo-colonialism, which is the cause of poverty and migration; the CFA African Franc system with which France exploits its former colonies must be ended and replaced with the CFA Euro system so that a European investment and development plan can be launched in Africa.

Europe must be a safe place to live. Crime, all forms of criminality - which is partly promoted by free movement - must be resolutely suppressed. The maximum cooperation of European states is needed to put an end to these criminal activities. A relentless war must be waged against drugs and drug traffickers; action must be taken against gangs of thieves and burglars; all mafias must be suppressed, including the emerging Nigerian mafia, which has been severely underestimated so far. It is necessary to support the bringing of law enforcement organizations and the armed forces to European standards: they must receive decent salaries and overtime pay, they must be provided with the appropriate number of personnel, and they must be provided with the tools and technologies that can be used in the fight against crime and terrorism. The army must also participate in the control of our territory. The judgments made must be certain: the automatic release of sentences must be stopped, new prisons must be built. Foreigners who commit crimes must be deported immediately and their sentences must be carried out in their country of origin.

Europe cannot become a playground for France and Germany, which use European institutions to serve their interests at the expense of other member states. The European Union serves the interests of big capital, multinational corporations and lobbies that generate huge turnover, which in turn only minimally enriches national communities and creates little jobs. The austerity measures introduced by the European Union have failed, impoverished the population, plunged companies into crisis, and increased unemployment. Only Germany and large companies did well with this. It is time for a change of direction; the suffocating austerity must be put an end to, but not in order to encourage non-productive public spending, but in order to create a large-scale national and European investment plan that goes beyond the limits set by European parameters for infrastructure, transport, digital in order to develop networks, school buildings, and border protection capabilities.

The introduction of the euro was a big deal for some states, while others did poorly. The common currency was undoubtedly a huge advantage for the Germans, who earned an average of 1,300 euros per person this year. Italy was the nation that lost the most with it: 4,000 euros per year for every Italian. This situation is unacceptable. Therefore, measures must be taken in Europe to ensure that states that suffer losses, like Italy, are compensated by states that benefit from the use of the common currency. A radical reform of the European Central Bank is necessary. The regulation of the operation of European banks must be fundamentally revised so that the banking system is a means of supporting businesses and families and not at the service of speculative financial actors. Commercial banks and investment banks should be separated immediately.