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Home arrow newsitems arrow CoE Experts to EF on Social Charter compared to Other Tools v. Poverty (Basic Income, US MedicAid +)

CoE Experts to EF on Social Charter compared to Other Tools v. Poverty (Basic Income, US MedicAid +)

Pisac ACM
24. 01. 2018.

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*Strasbourg/CoE/Angelo Marcopolo/- Some First, but Interesting Comparisons between CoE's PanEuropean Social Charter and Other Tools to Fight against Poverty Today, (as Basic Income, USA's MedicAid, etc), started to be made during the Annual Press Conference for the Year 2017, thanks to the Replies given to relevant "Eurofora"'s Questions by the President of the European Committee of Social Rights, Giuseppe Palmisano, and its General Rapporteur, Eliane Chemla.

 

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The main Focus of this January 2018 CoE's Press Conference on Social throughout more than 33 European Countries,, was about Medical Assistance, and Protection against Poverty/Social Exclusion, together with Social Welfare, Social Protection of Elderly People, etc.

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- Initially, "Eurofora" asked President Palmisano's view about the Topical Issue of "Basic Citizens Income", on which CoE's Parliamentary Assembly had just Debated and Voted a new Report, Yesterday in Strasbourg, after several quite "Hot" Exchanges, and in the middle of a Strong Controversy.

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- Palmisano's first reaction was quite Positive, welcoming, in substance, a tool like the Basic Citizens' Income that CoE's Assembly had just Adopted, as another tool which could Respond to several Needs covered by the Social Charter, and provide some Satisfactory Answers in real Practice.

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- But, at the same time, he carefully added that, in fact, such a move wasn't always absolutely Necessary, since CoE's Social Charter was, in his view, able to Meet many among those Needs also by Different Mechanisms, according to its own prescriptions.

 

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+ More Complex appeared, a priori, anOther Topical comparative Question raised by "Eurofora", (this time to the General Rapporteur, Eliane Chemla), about the European Social Charter's "Right to Medical Assistance", etc., and the well-known current "Hot" Debate in the USA on "MedicAid", in the Wider Context of Attempts to Reform the American "MediCare" System in general, (similar to Europe's "Social Security" and/or "Right to Protecion of Health", etc:

 

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- Initially, Chemla focused on a rather Classical Distinction between a very Different European Model of Social Security, and an American one, much more related to Private schemas, estimating that the respective situations would be beyond any comparison, on those key points.


>>> But, interestingly, when she Discussed with "Eurofora", Later-on, in more concrete details, a Comparison between USA's "MedicAid" and CoE's "Socio-Medical Assistance", including "Social Protection" for the "Elderly" (a very Topical Issue Nowadays even in Germany, it seems, but Similar to what exists in the USA since the Late 1960ies), and/or USA's "Food-Stumps" compared to CoE's wider "Protection against Poverty", etc., Chemla appeared more Thoughtfull :


- Indeed, her subsequent estimation was, in substance, that what exists in Europe, but not yet in the USA, was an Elementary Right to Social Security in general, which helped also prevent risks of extreme poverty in this regard. But, in Fact, when it really came to cases of real Extreme Poverty and/or Social Exclusion risks, the situation did Not necessarily seem to be so Radically Different between CoE's and USA's relevant tools, as some hasty comparisons used to claim...


=> In Conclusion, CoE's Social Rights' General Rapporteur agreed with "Eurofora" that, Nowadays, a Serious and concrete Comparative Analysis between various Different Approaches of the common but MultiFacet Fight against Poverty, had become Necessary and useful, in order to Better Clarify the real Situations, Choose the more Efficient Solutions, in full Knowledge of the main Facts.

- Sometimes, there might be certain Unexpected "Surprises", at First Sight, as, f.ex., the Fact that a so  Important European Country as Germany, has Not yet Ratified CoE's "Collective Complaints" Procedure, for the Protection of Social Rights, while, on the Contrary, several Less Rich and Powerfull European Countries have already done so, as President Palmisano critically observed, in Reply to anOther Question by a German Collegue Journalist, during that same Annual 2018 Press Conference in Strasbourg...

 

(../..)


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(NDLR : "DraftNews", as already send to "Eurofora"s Subscribers/Donors, Earlier. A more accurate, full Final Version, might be Published asap).


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Former "Green-Red" German government's Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer's job at the controversial Turkish pipeline "Nabucco" was denounced as "not proper", "very bad", and "incompatible with Democracy", by the new President of EU Parliament's EuroLeft Group, German Lothar Bisky, replying to an "EuroFora" question.

For once, criticism of Joschka Fischer's doings with Turkey affecting Europe, didn't come only from the Center-Right of the political spectrum, but even from his Left side : The experienced Bisky, who has been chairing all over 1993-2009 the PDS - Die Linke party :  

- "Former Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer got involved in dealings with oil-gaz business in a foreign country, Turkey, and its controversial Nabucco pipeline. This raises questions about Democracy, also because of the well known problems of Human Rights violations in that country. Do you thing that this might be abused in order to cover up and close EU's eyes on Human Rights violations ?", "EuroFora" asked Bisky.

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- "Nabucco pipeline is (only) at the planning stage". And "there are some difficulties",  he observed from the start. But "'I don't want to get into the details of Nabucco pipeline, because I don't think that there is any point for it at the moment".
 
At any case,  "we  (EU Parliament's EuroLeft Group) strongly believe that Politicians should not get involved in the Energy Business, and all these commercial transactions", President Bisky declared on the Joschka Fiischer's affair.

- "We feel that it's something that shouldn't be done. It's not proper !"           

- "We don't think that it's compatible with Democracy either, and it gets politics into a very Bad track", Bisky went on to denounce.
                                                                                                                                                                        
- "EuroLeft  and "Die Linke" always spoke against that, saying that politicians should not get directly into the arms of private enterprises"

- "It is pretty bad if a former Minister takes a job f.ex. in a major Energy producer. So, it's an issue if a Minister who may have seen excellent opportunities, subsequently gets personally grasp of them, in very serious parts of the economy, once he has given up his (Government) job."

- "It doesn't really make politics in general look any better'", Bisky concluded.

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Earlier, this week in Strasbourg, other Journalists had also raised critical questions on former Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer's involvement in the conroversial Turkish Nabucco pipeline to the President of his own EuroParty : Kohn-Bendit of the "Greens", who, contrary to Bisky, tried to find excuses for Fischer, while criticizing his long-time partner, Schroeder for having done a similar move :

- "Shroeder was chancellor", and he "negociated" with "Russians", who gave him a job only "3 Months" after he resigned from the Government. While "Joschka Fischer", on the contrary, got a job with the controversial Turkish Nabucco pipeline only "4 Years after" he left the Government. "He didn't negociate Nabucco", so I have "no objection", Kohn Bendit claimed.

But, many Facts indicate the contrary :

Joschka Fischer was Foreign Minister in Germany from 1999 up to 2005 : I.e. from the year that EU took the controversial decision to give Turkey a "Candidate" status, until he year it started controversial "accession negotiations, (later declared "open-ended" after Sarkozy-Merkel's arrival from 2005-2007).

During that period was prepared the controversial so-called "Annan" Plan (in fact, drafted by others and attributed afterwards to the former UN SG) on Cyprus, which failed after a Popular Referendum said "No" on 2004 with a large Majoriy of 3/4 : 75%. Mainly because it was criticized for making too much concessions to the Turkish side :  Particularly by restricting Greek Cypriot Refugees' Human Right to return to their ancestral Land and/or get restitution of their Familiy Homes and private properties, usurpated by Ankara's Army since the 1974 militay invasion and continuing occupation of the northern part of Cyprus. And by weakening the Central Government, leaving to 2 "constituent States" so much powers and separate interests that more conflicts appeared inevitable, provoking the danger of a break-down in the foreseable future, with more crisis, troubles, perhaps bloodshed, etc., instead of creating an harmoniously integrated, really one federal State.

The controversial Plan was finalized on March-April 2004 at Burgenstock (Switzerland), curiously in the presence of an Envoy by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany, then governed by Joschka Fischer, but in the absence of a French and not even an European Union's Envoy, contrary to what was usually practiced on similar occasions in Switzerland (fex. in 1997 at Montreux, in 2000 at Geneva, etc).

Turkey notoriously exploited the failure of the "Annan" Plan in order to convince the EU to decide to start accession Negotiations on December 2004. This provoked an unprecedented series of Institutional Crisis inside the EU, shortly afterwards, when French and Dutch People rejected, 2 popular EuroReferenda by a majority "'No" vote to the EU Constitutional Treaty on 2005, aggraveted in 2004 a Majority Abstention to EU Elections, etc., followed by the recent Irish "No", etc.

"Nabucco" Gas pipeline was notoriously planned since ..2002. It follows an even earlier idea, for an Oil pipeline Baku-Ceyhun, which started to be prepared on 1999-2001 and was meanwhile recently completed.  

So, facts indicate that what is now at stake is based on decisions made during Joschka Fischer's term as former Foreign Minister, closely interested in Turkey's controversial EU-bid.

To the point that he now practically ...switched jobs with a poliician from Turkey, (the State which pays today openly Joschka Fischer), Mr. Ozdemir, who came earlier in Germany, got fast the nationality, and became EiuroMP in a few years, continuing now as head of the "Greens" in Germany, i.e. in Joschka's former job !...

Such astonishing facts risk, unfotunately, to give to German politician Lothar Bisky's criticism of  representative Democracy a topical meaning :

 - "We (EuroLeft Group) think that what is really at stake is Democracy. It's not only about Gas Pipelines or Energy sources", President Lothar Bisky went on to add in his reply to "EuroFora"'s question on Joscka Fischer's personal interests in the controversial Turkish "Nabuco" pipeline.

Such facts, "make People get more distance from Politics. ...People had had enough, and they are fed up !".

- "That's why we (EuroParliament's "EuroLeft" Group) want to strengthen Direct Democracy in Europe. Citizens should be involved in the (EU) Decision-making. In the end of the day, it's not going to help anyone if Politicians are always taking decisions, without involving Citizens. We want to give a voice to the People of Europe. They've got to have their say in the decisions that are taken. That's one of our absolutely fixed and steadfast views. We want more Direct Democracy in Europe. That's how it can become more effective and stronger", he concluded.

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