The Council of Chairpersons of the Party of the European Left gathered today in the European Parliament headquarters’ in Brussels to discuss on the joint action and alternative political response from the Left to the current crisis.

The proposals from the Left have to be visible and coherent, showing that European Left it is united against the neoliberal policies and institutions and the globalised financial capitalism, concluded the Presidents of the several national European Left member parties from Austria, Belgium, Belarus, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Germany, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Turkey.

The Party Presidents reaffirmed their support to the general strike on the 29^th September and agreed that a post action should be developed, namely in the NATO summit period, among other national and European actions.

The recent developments in the various countries demonstrate that the crisis is crossing social, ecological, economic and also institutional spheres in every country and the unemployment is reaching a peak that has never been seen before, together with the austere attacks to the social rights acquired during the last 100 years. A new balance of powers is indispensable to build a new social model with a more effective fight against poverty. The way governments chose to fight the crisis with severe measures and  the demolition of our social rights it is not clearly the solution and the European Left cannot allow that the lack of democracy persists, causing the emergence of right wing and xenophobic parties. European Left, in this difficult period, must fight against and the assault of financial speculative markets. 

The Council of Chairpersons also confirmed the membership of the new parties presented in Barcelona Ex Board meeting and agreed to continue working on an objective political document underlining the answers from the European Left to the crisis which will be exposed in the 3^rd EL Congress to be held in Paris in the first weekend of December.