European student protests newsletter 8

national | miscellaneous | news report Monday February 18, 2002 16:36 by Rene Schuijlenburg - EU Students eustudenten at gmx dot net

solidarity with students from Sevilla

In this international student protest newsletter: 1. The mobilisation for the upcoming protests in the Spanish cities Salamanca and Sevilla and reports on local protests across Europe and Canada; 2. The World Bank and public services(education); 3. GATS negotiations.

18.02.2002: Newsletter number 8

EU school-pupil and student protests
Newsletter number 8
February 18 th, 2002

In this newsletter:
1. The mobilisation for the upcoming protests in the Spanish cities Salamanca and Sevilla and reports on local protests across Europe and Canada;
2. The World Bank and public services (education);
3. GATS negotiations.

1. The mobilisation for the upcoming protests in the Spanish cities Salamanca and Sevilla and reports on local protests across Europe and Canada

Introduction

It`s more than a month ago since pupils and students in several European countries went on the streets to protest against the
privatisation of education and the GATS-treaty. The week of protests was a big success with protests in Denmark, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Greece and in Austria. At the end of the week a lot of students joined the international demonstration in Brussels during the EU summit. This year we have to intensify the protests and work further on building the European network. The working group will start to work on a platform text which should be finished and discussed in the several countries and at the international meetings in Salamanca (March 2002) and in Sevilla (June 2002). Very good news is the fact that the Dutch and the Danish governments are under growing pressure and that they have already withdrawn some of the proposals. But, of course, the main line of these governments is still the same. Bad news is that the Spanish government asked the EU governments to define globalisation-critics as "terrorists", as we are protesting against the GATS-treaty it could be that the EU governments could define student activists as "terrorists" as well. Spain has the EU Presidency at the moment.

European Protests:

This year 3 big European students' protests are planned so far: one during the EU Summit in Sevilla, Spain (June 2002); and one during
the EU summit in Copenhagen, Denmark (December 2002). We don`t have a call yet for the upcoming protests in Sevilla and Copenhagen but we know people are working hard on it. In Sevilla there will be a number of demonstrations and other forms of protest and the second international student and pupil meeting will take place in order to speak about future actions and the mobilisation for Copenhagen. Austrian students have proposed to organise protests during the WEF Summit in Salzburg, Austria (September 2002).

In March 2002 there will also an international mobilisation:

Protest at the EU Education Ministers' Summit in Salamanca, Spain, in March 2002!

The "Asamblea de Salamanca contra la lou" (Salamanca Committee Against the Lou*), together with the (Spanish) State Assembly of the Student Movement has called a European Assembly of Students Against the Lou*, to coincide with the visit of EU Education and Culture Ministers in March 2002.

An extensive discussion forum about the present situation and a mass demonstration to reply to the Lou* have been called.

The "Plataforma otro mundo es posible" (Another World Is Possible group), in association with the Spanish State Campaign Against
Capitalist Europe, are also organising a wide range of events, provisionally coming under the umbrella title "Social Forum Against
the Educational Policies of the Eu",including a number of pickets, conferences, non-violent direct actions and three demonstrations, to be held on the 17th, 18th and 19th March.

*The "Lou" is a proposed law, the "Ley Organica de Universidades", whose aim is to essentially privatise the Spanish higher education
system, to increase the involvement of business in universities, to forcecontracting-out of services inside the education system (security, office duties, cleaning, etc.), and to reduce the levels of democracy (student representation) inside universities.

For more information about the "Lou", see
http://int-protest-action.tripod.com/id77_m.htm

Protests in Spain:

Sevilla
At February 6 (4.30 am), 7 vans of the national police, 2 from the local police, 11 police patrols, and 3 city-cleaning trucks have ended the camping protest.

There were no discussions, instead the police forced the students to leave when they were sleeping (after waking them up), allowing them to get only their bags that were closest to their hands and then removing all other possessions, amassing it into the city-cleaning
trucks. It wasn`t possible to decide to resist.

At 5.30 am there wasn't anything left. Only some bags. We don't know if we will be able to retrieve all cooking things, the tents, the books, the tables, the chairs...

All this time the City Council and the Government Delegation were blaming each other about who is responsible for this eviction.

At February 12 the police arrested 15 students in Sevilla. They were released again at the evening of February 14. But all of these students have been prohibited of their rights as university students by means of the drastic and indefinite suspension of their academic records. They are thrown out and are not allowed to come to their courses anymore! The students of sevilla ask for international solidarity and for that protests are being planned in Copenhagen and Berlin (website with detailed information: http://int-protest-action.tripod.com ). They also ask people to send protest and solidarity faxes. ( More information on: http://www.antilou.org/index.php?newlang=eng )

Write to the students of Sevilla giving your support!!
e-mail: [email protected]

solidarity Demonstrations in solidarity with the spanish students fighting against the LOU, and the imprisonment and harassment of student activists:

Germany, Berlin: Manifestation in front of the Spanish embassy in Berlin at the 20th February, 13h. Meetingpoint: schöneberger ufer 89-91, u-bhf mendelsohn-bartholdy-park

Denmark, Copenhagen: The demonstration will take place on the 28th of February at the spanish embassy in Copenhagen

The State-wide Platform of Student Movement (Coordinadora Estatal de Movimiento Estudiantil -CEME-), wich groups student assemblies of more than 15 spanish Universities proposes to call to February 26 A DEMONSTRATION OF REFUSAL AGAINST THE STUDENT REPRESSION IN FRONT OF THE UNIVERSITY RECTORISHIPS

Denmark:

On the 7th of February 25,000 pupils and students demonstrated in 4 major cities against the planned education budget cuts. In
Copenhagen alone 15,000 were on the street to protest. The demonstrations were a big success, the pupil and student movements
were united and the media was on our side. Despite a media-stunt by the government (withdrawing some of the proposed cuts), there are still major cuts in education are still planned - and therefore our fight still continues.

The new neo-liberal government has a majority in Parliament to make budget cuts of 15% in the education sector within the next 3 years, furthermore they are letting 6,000 extra students (that's a lot in Denmark) into the system without extra funding. The government had also proposed to cut funding of scientific research by 6%, which is an invitation to the multinational companies to get the scientific research results they need. But they didn`t succeed, under pressure of massive protests the government took back the proposal. But the danger is not over yet. All the proposals of the new government are pure neoliberal policies - educational, social, and environmental projects, aid to developing countries, workers' rights and security, the integration of ethnic minorities and political refugees and the work with human rights are not prioritised for or have their state funding decreased. In other words all that doesn't generate profit is not prioritised (less money).

Solidarity - mails can be send to [email protected]

solidarity Demonstration in solidarity with the spanish students fighting against the LOU, and the imprisonment and harassment of student activists:

Denmark, Copenhagen: The demonstration will take place on the 28th of February at the spanish embassy in Copenhagen

Germany:

In Frankfurt am Main students protested from January 21st-28th. They occupied a university building and organised alternative courses and a demonstration.

In Wuppertal there was a demonstration of students and pupils against the commercialisation of education on January 28th. Between January 27th and February 1st students occupied a university building. Throughout the week student activists went into lectures and seminars and explained to fellow students about what the commercialisation of education will "bring" them (for instance tuition fees). They also did a lot of actions like symbolically asking for entrance-fees at the door of the lecture theatres or seminar rooms, and short
blockades. In the weeks before the protest week there where several small actions as a kind of warming-up. There was also a relatively heavy police-action when a few students painted slogans against the commercialisation of education on a road near the university. 3 people where held for about an hour and where forbidden to come within 1km of the road concerned.

In Berlin, there where actions at the FU (Free University) on January 16th - 17th.

In Duisburg and Essen students are protesting against the merger of the universities in these cities. The universities won`t allow
elected representatives of the students to follow the ongoing negotiations. They don`t tell them anything about what`s happening
exactly. Students blocked the entrance of the Duisburg university on February 16th.

There where also actions in Bielefeld, Mainz, Halle an der Saale and some other towns.

solidarity Demonstration in solidarity with the spanish students fighting against the LOU, and the imprisonment and harassment of student activists:

Germany, Berlin: Manifestation in front of the Spanish embassy in Berlin at the 20th February, 13h. Meetingpoint: schöneberger ufer 89-91, u-bhf mendelsohn-bartholdy-park

Netherlands:

At the New Year's reception at the University of Utrecht students took the microphone to read a declaration about the commercialisation of education to the audience. There was a demonstration in Den Haag and the Dutch government implemented the Bachelor/Master degrees. Good news is that for now the parliament didn`t agree to the proposal for tuition fees for a master degree.

Italy:

In Italy students and pupils are planning another day of action against the privatisation of education in February.

United Kingdom:

The National Union of Students (NUS) has called a demonstration for February 20th in London against tuition fees. The NUS "hopes" for a turnout of 25,000.

Tuition fees (in England, Scotland and in Northern Ireland) are currently set at £1,075 a year (1,700 Euro) and as we live on student
loans, most students graduate with a debt of about £13,000 (21,000 Euro) - after three years of study! - which we then pay back (plus
interest) to the government's Student Loans Company.

Tuition fees were introduced in the whole of the UK in 1997 by the "Labour" government, but after the formation and election of a
Scottish Parliament two years later, they were abolished in Scotland - but only for those born in Scotland and for other EU citizens (but
not for those born in England, Wales or in Northern Ireland, who still have to pay!). In Scotland, fees have been replaced with a
graduate tax, which is little better, shifting the cost of education from the undergraduate to the graduate.

(Other "foreigners" from outside the EU have to pay exorbitant tuition fees to study in Britain, through these fees the universities
fill in the funding gaps left by central government.)

When tuition fees were introduced in 1997, as the first policy of Blair's "New Labour" government, student maintenance grants were also abolished. These grants, on which students once upon a time (up to the election of Margaret Thatcher in 1979) could live, were basically a pittance by 1997, and were combined with the student loan from the mid-1980s.

The complete abolition of grants and the introduction of fees was much worse than a simple continuation of Thatcher's and Major's
Conservative policies. A Conservative government could never have got away with such an attack on an important sector in one stroke, if at all. But as "Labour" - supported by the Labour Students leadership of the NUS - were carrying out these cuts, the opposition
was sadly minimal.

Yes, the National Union of Students, which is meant to represent students' interests, called on the government to abolish grants! The
NUS leadership were willing to do anything to secure a place as one of "Tony's cronies" in Parliament (the past x NUS Presidents are all Labour MPs), and they sold out students' interests for their careers. They decided that the long-standing NUS policy to abolish loans and to reintroduce grants at 1979 levels, and to allow students to claim state benefits as used to be the case, was "unrealistic" and even "a revolutionary demand"!

They got neo-liberal "new-realism" through the NUS Conference but in 1999 the left candidate for President, Kate Buckell of the Campaign for Free Education, managed to get only 18 votes less than the Blairite candidate, which is the best result the left has had for
years.

The CFE is the group in NUS which has, since the "modernisers" began to talk "realism" in 1995, led the fight to reclaim the union as a
fighting organisation for students interests. This included calling a number of successful demonstrations in London and elsewhere for
grants, and against fees, and organising non-payment campaigns, as the NUS would not do so.

As a result the NUS eventually changed its policy and last year called a demonstration against fees.

If the NUS leadership seriously meant fighting the government on fees, they would do a lot more than call a demo in London once a
year. And they could "hope" to get more than 25,000 demonstrators. They don't seem to realise that you have to build demonstrations and organise transport to them, which the NUS could easily do - if the leadership wanted to- , as it has a great deal of money. They call these demonstrations to give themselves a "left face" before NUS Conference.

The government are though under pressure and Blair is on the run. A year ago the government announced a review of student financial
support across the UK. However there appears little commitment to a free state-funded education in the government. The fact is they want 50% of all 18 year-olds to go to uni, but working class students are discouraged by the debt they will build up (the loan itself is not
enough anyway - students have to borrow loads from the bank too) and the fees they have to pay. The government are also privatising whole local education authorities (who run schools) if they deem that they are "failing". For Blair and Co., the market rules.

The NUS is still dominated by Labour Students but the most of the left-wing has again formed a coalition (United for Free Education)
that is helping to reduce the Labour hold.

We have to keep pushing and we need to continue to link up with the education and other trade unions, and their members, in favour of our demands (e.g. the national railway workers' union RMT is affiliated to the CFE).

Education is a right, not a privilege. We are against a graduate tax and means testing. It stigmatises poverty and means that thousands of students simply don't get the money they need.

The only way to extend access to university, ensure adequate financial support for all students and guarantee freedom of choice is
a full grant for every student. Those with higher incomes should pay more, but through progressive taxation. A tax on wealth rather than a tax on education. That way, wealthy families will contribute not just to their own children's education, but to everyone's.

Meeting point for the demonstration: ULU (University of London Union), Malet St., Euston at 11am, February 20th 2002.

Emails of support to the Campaign for Free Education:
[email protected]

Contact the CFE at PO Box 22615, London N4 1WT, England. [email protected]

Belgium:

At the French-language University of Brussels (ULB) there were elections for the students' parliament and the leftwing student group
"Dispense à 12" received 56% of the votes. More than 50% of the students voted, which is a lot. Most people of "Dispense à 12" took
part in the demonstrations during the EU summit in Brussels (December 2001). They organised a massive election campaign, went into courses and talked with the students. The ULB students in the past often voted in the majority for a neo-liberal student group. The group wich has the majority now organised a lot of protests against the commercialisation of education and was also active in the legal teams of D14.

Canada:

On February 21 a demonstration will be held in Quebec City, against neoliberal reforms in education and against the subjection of
education to market laws. Organised by the students' union "Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante" (ASSÉ)

Web site (in french): http://www.asse-solidarite.qc.ca/

2.
THE THREAT TO BASIC SERVICES (WATER, HEALTH AND EDUCATION):

THE WORLD BANK GROUP'S PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT (PSD) STRATEGY

I. OVERVIEW OF THE PSD STRATEGY. The PSD Strategy would expand four types of operations financed by the World Bank Group: structural adjustment, privatization of infrastructure and services, social funds, and microfinance.

Two arms of the World Bank Group would partner to privatize infrastructure and service provision, especially in low-income countries: the World Bank's private sector affiliate, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank's soft loan arm, the International Development Association (IDA). The IFC will increasingly take the lead in expanding private provision of services, while IDA will work with governments to design subsidy and other schemes to offset the costs of private provision to low-income consumers.

In the past several months, the Bank's Board of Executive Directors considered, debated, and rejected successive drafts of the PSD
Strategy.

Some officials said that they had never seen the U.S. -- the main proponent of the Strategy -- in such an isolated position. The Board
has postponed decisions on the PSD Strategy for several weeks. In a related decision, the IDA Deputies also postponed action on a U.S. proposal to convert half of IDA's resources from loans to grants.)

The three prongs of the PSD Strategy would:

A. Launch a new and expanded generation of structural adjustment programs (SAPs) with policy conditions intended to induce borrowers to adopt "minimum investment standards." The launch of this investment initiative comes just after the announcement by the World Trade Organization in November of a new round of negotiations on investment rules (which will revive the Multilateral Agreement on Investment). Bank promotion of output-based aid (see "B," below) depends, among other things, upon easier private sector entry into markets of low-income countries.

B. Accelerate the privatization of infrastructure and basic services (e.g., health, education, water) on a commercial basis- that is, with
cost-covering user fees. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) would help spearhead this process by, among other things, urging
governments to employ more output-based aid (OBA) schemes. OBA schemes delegate basic service provision to private firms (and NGOs) under contracts that tie provision of financial support to the outputs or services delivered. These schemes can be risky, especially in poorly regulated environments.

Also, because OBA schemes provide back-loaded finance, they often favor international actors with "deep pockets"rather than domestic enterprises. The U.S. is pressuring the shareholders of the World Bank to convert IDA resources from loans to grants so that, among other things, grant financing can subsidize private provision of services, including OBA schemes.

C. Launch more aggressive efforts to expand the reach of markets by supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, mainly through
expanded business development services and microfinance schemes. The Bank plans to revise its operational policies to ensure that finance is provided on unsubsidized terms. Some loan operations contain microfinance schemes to enable low-income consumers to borrow at market rates in order to purchase basic services, such as water.

II. Key Messages

1. Undermining Democratic Processes. The World Bank and other creditors and donors should not use pressure tactics to induce recipient governments to privatise basic services. Examples of pressure tactics include: failing to involve the public and affected unions in privatization decisions, failing to publicly disclose information about privatization plans; withholding aid until recipient governments agree to privatize; running "public information"campaigns to persuade publics to privatize; and supporting biased cost-benefit analyses of policy options. Important political decisions about modes of service delivery should be made by domestic groups, including poor and
vulnerable groups, without outside interference.

2. Privatizing Social Services. The World Bank Group poses as a "knowledge bank," but the PSD Strategy states that there has been no evaluation of operations that privatize social services. Yet, new loans show expanded support for such privatization!

3. Imposing User Fees. People may be deprived of basic services because (a) exemptions and subsidizes for private primary education and basic health care may fail to reach the people who need them; (b) low-income groups may not be able to afford fees, especially for non-compulsory levels of education and secondary/tertiary health care; and (c) the PSD Strategy practically overlooks the necessity for regulation of social sectors.

4. Privatizing into Poorly Regulated Environments. The World Bank Group is "harmonizing" regulatory standards with those of other
development institutions. In this process, World Bank safeguard (and other) policies are being weakened with adverse implications for poor and vulnerable groups and the environment. (Ultimately, this process may be guided by the WTO's ambiguous emphasis on "least burdensome" regulation.)

5. Sidelining Domestic Actors. Output-based aid (OBA) schemes compensate service providers AFTER services have been delivered. Back-loaded finance will favor international actors with "deep pockets" over domestic service providers. Domestic actors should not be
sidelined, especially in service sectors.

6. Providing Grants rather than Loans. The Bank has not disclosed the uses to which grants might be put and, in particular, whether grants would subsidize OBA schemes. Many groups feel that grants are inappropriate in certain circumstances. [For instance, according to Bank publications ("Note on IDA13 and PSD," November 2001), the Bank envisions subsidizing corporations that have not recouped costs through tariffs.]

7. Increasing Fiscal Burdens. The PSD Strategy overlooks off-budget fiscal risks implicit in privatization schemes (e.g., the failed
Enron project in Maharastra). Acknowledgement of risks would undermine claims that the PSD Strategy would shift performance risk
to private actors and Northern taxpayers

8. Deepening World Bank - WTO Collaboration. The World Bank Group has not disclosed the ways in which the PSD Strategy will pave the way for a new WTO agreements on investment and services, which are currently in the works.

9. Expanding Ineffective Operations. The World Bank's own evaluators have demonstrated the ineffectiveness of PSD operations in low-income countries. The Bank should not expand ineffective operations.

For further information, see "News & Notices for IMF and World Bank Watchers," Winter 2002. The Overview and Conclusion are attached (below). The entire issue can be viewed at:

http://www.CHALLENGEGLOBALIZATION.ORG/html/news_notices/winter2002/Winter02N&N.pdf

Join the e-mail action on our website ( http://int-protest-action.tripod.com )

3.
GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services)

By means of GATS (General Agreement on Trade on Services, a WTO - World Trade Organisation - treaty) state (public) services like
education services and healthcare are declared a tradable commodity. At the moment the liberalisation of education and healthcare sectors are being negociated under the umbrella of GATS. The USA, New Sealand and Australia made proposals for the GATS-negociations about education. The European Commission ( The unelected "government" of the EU, which negotiates in the WTO on behalf of EU member states) has also demonstrated its commitment to the liberalisation of public services. The European Union already accepted to open their markets for primary education services, secundary education services, higher education services and adult education services for public - private partnerships. And since the negociations about education are not finished yet, there is a danger that the EU will even go further. Given that the Commission's 'Towards GATS 2000' statement of intent calls GATS "first and foremost an instrument for the benefit of business", the coverage of education by GATS will contribute to the extension of private initiatives to education at all levels throughout the world (at January 1st 2002 144 countries were member of the WTO). At the WTO ministerial meeting in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001 the WTO member states have agreed that requests for countries to open up their services sectors will be submitted by 30 June 2002 and initial offers of countries to liberalise will be submitted by 31 March 2003. Negotiations on services, as with the other agreements, will be completed by 1 January 2005. GATS rules may effectively prevent government subsidies from being selectively applied to public services. There are two key trade principles at the core of the GATS. These two principles are designed to limit government interventions in the service sector. For example under the national treatment principle, once a government signs up a service, it could face WTO challenge if it implements legislation which favours local suppliers over foreign suppliers. This has implications when it comes to the granting of subsidies. For example, where a GATS commitment has been made, governments providing subsidies to domestic service suppliers also have to make an equivalent subsidy available to foreign providers operating in the country. This raises the possibility of having a basic government-funded education system, with funding given to all providers (private- and public), and then allowing individuals to enhance this by paying top-up fees to providers with varying so called "elite universities", or for the provision of 'optional extras' at an additional charge. In other words, GATS could dramatically boost the trend away from universal and equal access to free, publicly provided quality education, towards the spread of education systems based on the ability of pupils and students to pay. Another big problem is that the education programms will change when there is more and more competition between private- and public schools and universities. Private institutions will only learn people what "big bussiness" wants them to know. The companies will only employ people that learned what the companies want, there will be no place for independent thinking people. So state schools and universities will follow, otherwise they will lose pupils and students. Perhaps the biggest threat posed by GATS is the threat to democracy. Once decisions are reached under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), government activities in the services sector that are seen to 'interfere' with trade faces the threat of WTO legal action. GATS means that if a government listens to the voice of its people and responds by making appropriate policy changes it also faces the threat of WTO legal action. For commercial and political reasons it may be easier to "trade" higher education in particular for access to other countries' markets for EU businesses. But the stakes are high: Pascal Lamy, the EU Trade commissionair, stated, "For the EU, services are central. We are number one in the world: 26% of world trade. Services account for two thirds of EU GNP" and on another location he said about the trade in services:"If we want to improve our own access to foreign markets then we can't keep our protected sectors out of the sunlight. We have to be open in negotiating them all if we are going to have the material for a big deal. In the US and the EU, that means some pain in some sectors but gain in many others, and I think we both know that we are going to have to bite the bullet to get what we want". Alexa McDonough, the leader of Canada's National Democratic Party, stated that the GATS constitutes "the greatest transfer of economic and political power in history... from communities and nation states into the hands of a small number of global corporations".

The consequences:
- More and more schools and universities in Europe are being privatised
- Studyfees are being introduced or the fees are getting higher and higher
- The right to get a good education is more and more a question of money
- Democratic rights for pupils and students at schools and universities are being cut
- The things we learn are increasingly the things companies want us to learn

Websites:
http://www.studi-protest.de.vu or
http://int-protest-action.tripod.com

anti-lou.org a student newssite with open-posting: (English, Spanish
and Catalan):
http://www.antilou.org
The anti-lou website is looking for Spanish-English translaters and
also Spanish-other languages!

Website of Salamanca students (Organising the forum at March 17-19):
http://www.geocities.com/observaglobal/ (Spanish/English/)

Mailing lists:

English:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/international-pupil-and-studentactions

German:
http://de.groups.yahoo.com/group/int-schueler-und-studentenaktionen

Dutch:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/int-scholieren-en-studentenakties

We need translators to translate the newsletter in all European languages!!! contact: [email protected]