Gabi Zimmer is a member of the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Group GUE/NGL, reelected on last 7th June for a new term. She has also been spokesperson for the deputies of Die Linke (Germany). In 2007 Gabi wrote an article for the first issue of the Tranform! journal, where she summarized 8 key "problems" facing the left debate around Europe. In the aftermath of recent elections, with the upcoming second Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty and the emblematic process of appointing a new President for the European Comission, all the issues became maybe more relavant now than ever. We publish those "problems" and Zimmer's own views on them on the next days.

1. The problem: Europe – and especially the European Union – does not have natural borders. However, a political union must define its boundaries.

2. The problem: the European Union is a player in neoliberal globalisation, but political limits on exploitation by capitalism are removed and political room to conditionate the situation also tend to disappear.

3. The problem: a prerequisite of the European Union’s development as a global player is EU-European integration. As a global player, the EU can promote or hinder social and ecological sustainable development.

4. The problem: the left is a political minority. A European constitution should in the long run be acceptable to all those who wish to be democratically involved in openly shaping today’s society.

5. The problem: the growing heterogeneity of the European Union and the political attempt to make the EU a free-trade area prevent EU-European integration to enable the EU becoming a global player in sustainable development.

6. The problem: the EU is accelerating the militarisation of international relations and is developing the ability to wage offensive warfare.

7. The problem: there is growing acknowledgement of the increasingly diverse and pressing reasons that people have for fleeing and migrating, as well as the increasing and several problems posed to countries.

8. The problem: those working on developing socio-political alternatives are subject, just as the population as a whole, to cultural processes that promote agreement with the policies of those in power. Both have social and political interests, tied to their actual position within society. How strong is the capacity for critical reflection in this case? How strong is the desire to fight for hegemony and win over the majority via concrete alternatives?

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