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The side effects of the austerity treatment administered for the last three years have been increasing the number of sick men of Europe. The quarantine zone has now gone beyond Greece to include Portugal, Spain, Ireland, the UK and Cyprus.

The contagion is making the Brussels doctors more cautious on the medicine to be given to contaminated patients: on February 20, the European Commission did not initiate measures of excessive deficit against some countries such as France despite the instructions prescribed in the fiscal consolidation treaty for countries going beyond 3% budget deficit.

We have known the side effects of that treatment from the beginning: cuts to social budgets, 120 million people living in poverty instead of 116 million in 2010 and 26 million people unemployed instead of 23 million in 2010… and the trends are gloomy.

The South of Europe under quarantine is the most impacted by the crisis and the austerity measures. The unemployment rate has increased in 19 member states but the highest increases are in Greece (27.0%), Spain (26.2%) and Portugal (17.6%).

Despite doctor’s positive diagnosis, the financial crisis is not resolved and relapses are witnessed now in Cyprus which is preparing an EU bailout of 17 billion Euros by the end of this month. One of the smallest EU countries is agitating the markets and raises the risk of another financial crisis despite the ongoing negotiations for a banking union that the Commission sells in the media as the vaccine to avoid future financial crisis.

Well at least one country, using the opportunity of democracy, has decided to say “no” to that treatment last week: Italy. While I will leave to internal politics whether or not new elections should be organised and the interpretation of the votes, one of the key messages that was sent to Brussels was the rejection of austerity measures. A brand new political party, the M5S won more votes in Italy than any other party on the ballot with 108 members elected to the Parliament and 54 senators.

This new party is holding the functioning of the Italian Parliament in its hands. Some argue that it symbolises the surge of populism, other like Gianroberto Casaleggio, joint founder of M5S, said to the Guardian that “what is happening in Italy is just the beginning of a much more radical change”. “It’s a change that is going to touch all democracies.”

I will stop here with a question: is this a sign of remission that can respond to the crisis or the triggering of another sickness, a political one this time that will make things worse.

Let’s engage!

Pierre Baussand – Director