A new day always comes

The specter of the world financial crisis has paid a visit to Europe. However, some time was needed for the European governments to acknowledge it. When the crisis exploded in the US, few people in the Old World were worried; silence reigned here. This situation lasted until the full force of the explosive wave reached the shores of Europe, where huge international banks are going bankrupt, stock markets are plunging rapidly, and international capital is being withdrawn from the markets.

The latest estimates indicate that Europe will need two trillion dollars to save its financial system —nearly a billion more than the US needed for a similar operation.

The situation has become very grave, but fortunately European leaders have begun to talk about it, and, more importantly, they have started to act. Today (Oct. 21 — Ed.) President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, whose country heads the European Union, unveiled a report on the results of the latest EU summit before the members of the European Parliament, who gathered for a plenary session in Strasbourg.

A vast number of coordinated actions have been carried out in order to save the banking system and prevent similar crises from happening in the future. In a nutshell, government aid was offered as a means of saving financial institutions. Of course, there is general agreement that the system must be rescued in order to prevent our economies from totally collapsing.

But when the French president, who represents right-wing forces and is a great friend of the US, talks about creating a new global financial system with the aim of rebuilding capitalism by rethinking certain principles, and he says that economic competition is not a goal in itself but a means of economic growth, my socialist heart fills with happiness.

I would be even happier if Sarkozy had reached these conclusions not out of fear, when the crisis happened, but earlier, when there was still time at least to mitigate the effects of the world’s greatest storm since the 1970s. This was no surprise to some people. More than 18 months ago, in late March 2007, my socialist group in the European Parliament published a 300-page experts’ report that confirmed the need for stronger regulation of hedge funds and private capital.

Unfortunately, responsible people were deaf to these alarm signals at that time. I am not going to blame any specific individual, but I want to show that the bomb mechanism has been working for quite a while.

However, the fact that the European Union is acting in unity, as usual in times of crisis, and trying to cope with the situation in such a way that citizens are affected as little as possible is good news. I can also say with certainty that after a slow start we are now at the center of the struggle.

This crisis cannot last forever. Of course, there will be losses as well as consequences, but a new day will come. The main question is what kind of day it will be. One thing is certain: it won’t look the way it does now. If we are to believe Sarkozy’s words and paraphrase the old saying (socialism with a human face — Ed.) into capitalism with a human face, this time around the future will be somewhat more successful.