By Paolo Teobaldelli
ROME — After the June 14 European march in Amsterdam against the Maastricht treaty, the Italian independent newspaper Il Manifesto explored the differences shown by the left parties in Italy and the absence of the Italian union federation.
More than 10,000 persons demonstrated in Amsterdam — people from all European countries, communists, anarchists, greens, workers and unemployed, old and young, trade unions, punks and homosexual movements, all united by opposition to the Maastricht idea of a neo-liberal Europe. They called upon the European governments to add social welfare and employment measures to the treaty.
In Amsterdam from Italy were the European deputies of the Party of Communist Refoundation (PRC), young people from radical groups and delegations of FIM, FIOM, and UILM, the local trade unions of some large factories of northern Italy.
In Il Manifesto on June 17, Loris Campetti asked why the Party of the Democratic Left (PDS, formerly the Communist Party), the major left party, and the CGIL, the national left trade union, were not present in Amsterdam.
The PDS, which is the biggest party within the government "Olive Tree" coalition, seems not to have reconsidered its ambiguous position towards Maastricht; similarly, the CGIL, which is close to the PDS, doesn't have a clear position.
By contrast, the presence of many European social democrat parties in Amsterdam signalled a change, since the social democracy was at first a firm supporter of the Maastricht guidelines. Therefore it is natural to ask whether the PDS, which has related to social democrat models since its turn from Communism, would follow the moving of the European left towards a critical position on Maastricht.
Yet within the PDS there is some pressure over welfare measures and social guarantees. On the day of the Amsterdam demonstration, the PDS left asked the government coalition for a revision of program for economy and finance.
Alfiero Grandi, chair for employment policy of the PDS, declared: "Things are changed in Europe and those ties [Maastricht] create many risks for an improvement of the economy". He added, "It is important to open a coherent discussion about the new political situation in Europe".
Grandi was referring to the French Socialist Party, which won the June 1 election by promising a firm effort to modify the Maastricht agenda.
Gloria Buffo, the official spokesperson of the PDS left, said, "The example of France pushes us to go beyond the political limits of [Premier Romano] Prodi's government". She demanded an emphasis on reform and criticised the line of the leader of PDS, Massimo D'Alema, who is trying to move the party more towards the centre.
The CGIL also was sharply criticised for its absence from Amsterdam. Campetti wrote: "Why didn't the largest organisation of the Italian left participate in the march? Perhaps [CGIL leader] Cofferati thinks that italian problems are only Italian ones, and that European political relations can be left to a government that is friendly one day and hostile the next?"
In the last three years, the only left party in Italy that immediately opposed the Maastricht guidelines was the PRC. That position isolated it from the other left parties and organisations, which looked at opposition to Maastricht as a sort of hostility to European cooperation.
As well, they made of this difference with the PRC a proof of their having abandoned communist ideas.
The move by European left parties away from Maastricht, calling for more attention to welfare and employment policy, has taken PDS aback. It is now hesitating and swinging from side to side without reaching a firm position. In the meantime, the Green Party, which is in the government, has situated itself firmly among those who oppose Maastricht and is trying to push the government to the left.
The PRC has various internal troubles. A small but consistent grouping has often criticised the leadership for what it sees as an "unconditional support" for the policy of the government; some analysts see this as storm clouds which could lead to a crisis for the coalition.
Discussion about reform of the welfare state started officially last week with a round table among the government, the trade unions and Confindustria, the national industrialists' association. In the first round the trade unions opposed the government's proposal, which was supported by Confindustria.
In this case, a decision of the PDS to support progressive reforms of welfare would not only save the government from possible internal conflicts, but would be seen as a strong signal of agreement with the new position of the European left against a neo-liberal Europe.