|
8th
International Conference |
Contribution
of
KOL,
Luxemburg
Contribution of the Communist
Organization of Luxemburg (KOL) to the VIII. International Conference of
Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organisations
(Country
Report)
The development in Luxemburg
has to be explained in connection with the recent capitalist world economic
crisis. Whereas the world economic crisis, in the beginning of the 1990s, had no
big impact on the small state, since its economic structure is less industrial
and rather constitutes a service sector for EU imperialism, the recent world
economic crisis in its combination with structural and financial crises and
crises of the stock exchange hit Luxemburg hard. The world economic crisis
reduced the space for parasites.
Whilst in the 1990s there was
still an 8 or 9 % annual economic growth rate, it dropped to 0,1% in 2001;
currently it is at about 1 to 2%. A rapid decrease of economic growth, declining
public revenues, declining investments and declining perspectives characterize
the general development in Luxemburg today.
One expression of this crisis
is the development of the Luxemburg finance center, the 8th biggest
finance center in the world. The financial crisis accelerated the concentration
of bank institutes all over the world, which also manifested itself in
Luxemburg. Subsequent to the mergers and closings, there will be left only 169
banks of the former 220. More than 1200 (of 23,000) jobs in the finance sector
were destroyed in the last two years, and this development has only just
started. This is even more important as the finance center makes up more than
30% of the national income.
The introduction of the
withholding tax as well as tax amnesty for tax dodgers in a couple of countries,
among them Belgium and Germany, effect the finance center in a substantial way.
On top of that, the crisis reduced the public revenues of the neighbor
countries, which now increases the pressure on the Luxemburg finance center and
strengthens its banking secrecy. The decline of the finance center has
begun.
It now retaliates that the
government, from the 1970ies on when the structural crisis in the steel industry
(the key industry in Luxemburg for several hundred years) took place, failed to
apply a policy of industrial development and diversification but developed its
parasitic financial policy instead. Today industrial production makes only 10%
of thjeLuxemburg economy as a whole. And the crisis characterizes this sector,
too, as is shown by many dismissals, the reduction of jobs and rising
unemployment rates. ARCELOR alone, the biggest steel company worldwide seated in
Luxemburg, announced the destruction of 1000 (out of 7500) jobs next year. The slow
deindustrialisation leads to structural unemployment, which is at 4,5% right
now, not counting people in job creation schemes or unemployment exported via
cross-border commuters.
The government seems to be
surprised by the crisis-prone development and uses purposive optimism to hide
its lack of perspective. It continues to rely on a parasitic nichepolicy, but
wants to turn sovereignty niches into ”competence niches”. Whatever that means,
after all it is and stays a postbox economy in the interests of tax dodging capital, instead of a real
economy for the peoples’ concerns.
Cuts in social benefits
...
Beyond that the bourgeoisie
reacts in a classical way. The policy of flexibilization, liberalization and
privatization according to the EU-commission is the basis for cuts in social
benefits, which will largely expand after the elections on June
13th. In particular, the
issue of pensions will step into the fore of the social
conflict.
Another reaction to the
capitalist crisis is classical as well. Next to cuts in social benefits, the
government advances the policy of a reduction of democracy. The core issues of
this policy are the new anti-terror laws, which rather restrict the freedom of
movement of the workers and their organizations, the upgrading of the secret
service, known to the people as snooper service and the equipment of the police
as civil war troops. For the first time in Luxemburg, on April 17, 2003, police
took action against demonstrating steelworkers, who protested against the
planned destruction of jobs by ARCELOR capitalists: police helicopters in the
air, water cannons and tanks on the ground, teargas and rubber bullets and the
employment of a whole lot of snoopers camouflaged as journalists. New equipment
will be provided, last but not least due to the fact that Luxemburg will chair
the EU in the coming six months.
…and the deterioration of
living conditions
The people and the workers are
definitely not profiting from the parasitic policy of the government. For years,
among other things, living conditions have deteriorated, which is demonstrated
by an increase of traffic problems, uncontrolled urban spread and price
increases. Being a small state made it possible that more than 70% of the people
owned their private homes. Now, due to failed policy in the housing sector and
tremendous speculations in the real estate sector, it has become impossible for
common working people to buy their own private homes or just to buy land. A
growing debt level of private households and an increase of poverty are further
results. Alcoholism, drug problems and depressions have become public diseases,
while the government considers these problems normal. It does not even attempt
to tackle the solution of these problems.
In recent years, after a
period of relative calmness, social conflicts simultaneously accumulated in
different sectors, as, for instance, the steel sector, banks, air traffic,
railway, hospitals, etc..
Since the capital
and finance capital, in particular, are shy like deer, the government, in order
to grant ”social peace” in the interest of the finance center, promoted the
policy of class collaboration in the frame of the institutional Tripartite
(government, capital and trade union bureaucracy) over decades. It utilized the
division of the Luxemburg workers in local people, immigrants and cross border
commuters.
Nevertheless, an
intensification of class struggle has to be reckoned with in the near future due
to the intensifying policy of cutbacks in social benefits as part of the
anti-worker and anti-people EU
policy and the attacks of capital on the working and wage conditions as a result
of the crisis. Especially after the elections on June 13th ,
bourgeois crisis policy will quickly evolve. We, by the way, will call to vote
invalid, as there is an electoral duty by the law.
… and the growing significance
of a leading revolutionary party
Because of the expected
intensification in the situation of the class struggle, the growing significance
of the communists must be emphasized. Party building must keep pace with the new
requirements. At the end of this year, KOL will hold an organizational
Conference, which has the task to give direct orientation to the new tasks in
the class struggle in Luxemburg in context with the new phenomena of
capitalism-imperialism and the development of the basic contradictions in the
world. All that in regard of our
central aim