Europe’s Social Democrats Launch ‘Europeans for Financial Reform’

The Party of European Socialists, the umbrella group of European Social Democratic and Labour parties with whom the IUF has worked closely on legislative proposals for regulating private equity and hedge funds, has launched a call for action to bring about fundamental financial reform in Europe.

Europeans for Financial Reform seeks to build mass support for a program of fundamental reforms to address the “…  crisis of unregulated financial markets driven by neoliberal ideology that have sold out long-term investment, jobs, wages, the environment and the general well-being of the planet and its people for the benefit of a few.”

Among the core elements in the campaign are: calls for comprehensive limitation of speculative funds; genuine action on tax havens; the introduction of a comprehensive tax on financial transactions; consumer protection from predatory financial products and lending practices; and a far greater role for democratic participation in relevant decision-making and regulatory/supervisory institutions.

These proposals have the backing of the IUF, and have been endorsed by the ITUC, ETUC and other international union organizations.