Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt

Next to forums, plenaries and a lot of workshops on the main issues we deal with and fight about (tax and climate justice; defence of public common goods Common goods In economics, common goods are characterized by being collectively owned, as opposed to either privately or publicly owned. In philosophy, the term denotes what is shared by the members of one community, whether a town or indeed all humanity, from a juridical, political or moral standpoint. ; access to lodgings, health care, public transports, culture, education; labour and wages; feminisms; international fair trade; peace, etc.), it offers topical excursions (forests, social history) and stimulating cultural activities.

Those European summer universities are organized on the initiative of the European Attac Network in partnership with such organizations as the Rosa-Luxemburg Fundation, Transform Europe, the Transnational Institute, CRID, CADTM, Agora of the Earth’s Inhabitants.

They take place every three year (this edition was delayed because opf health measures). The first was held in Saarbrucken in 2008, then in Freiburg in 2011, in Paris in 2014 and in Toulouse in 2017.

On Thursday 18 August, 10-12 a.m. (room S304), we will examine the issue of Ukraine’s debt whose cancellation we demand, with Ukrainian economist Yuliya Yurchenko, professor at the University of Greenwich and activist in the Ukrainian social movement (on line intervention) and with Éric Toussaint, spokesperson for CADTM international. We will attempt to unravel the way the debt system works in this country that is the victim of Poutin’s military aggression.

When, how and why has Ukraine contracted a huge external debt? What part does the IMF IMF
International Monetary Fund Along with the World Bank, the IMF was founded on the day the Bretton Woods Agreements were signed. Its first mission was to support the new system of standard exchange rates.

When the Bretton Wood fixed rates system came to an end in 1971, the main function of the IMF became that of being both policeman and fireman for global capital: it acts as policeman when it enforces its Structural Adjustment Policies and as fireman when it steps in to help out governments in risk of defaulting on debt repayments.

As for the World Bank, a weighted voting system operates: depending on the amount paid as contribution by each member state. 85% of the votes is required to modify the IMF Charter (which means that the USA with 17,68% % of the votes has a de facto veto on any change).

The institution is dominated by five countries: the United States (16,74%), Japan (6,23%), Germany (5,81%), France (4,29%) and the UK (4,29%).
The other 183 member countries are divided into groups led by one country. The most important one (6,57% of the votes) is led by Belgium. The least important group of countries (1,55% of the votes) is led by Gabon and brings together African countries.

http://imf.org play? Next to war damages, economic and political processes are lasting sources of suffering for the people, and we have to understand them in order to better fight them.

Thursday 18, 4:30 – 6:30 (room 209) workshop 070, The European Union, beyond neoliberalism, which absorbs workshop 017 on the EU and financial speculation, organized by Thomas Sablowski, with Éric Toussaint as a speaker.

Also on Thursday 4:30 – 6:30 (room S301), we participate in a workshop Debt, finance and climate justice, coordinated by Daniel Willis (Global Justice Now). It will expose again how funding the fossile industry and refusing to cancel debts of countries of the South contribute to climate change and deteriorate the living conditions in countries of the South that are the first to bear the brunt. A fair transition must be financed by taxes imposed on polluters and by ‘climate compensations’.

On Friday 19, 10 - 12 (room W310), two workshops have merged: the Argentine people against the loan contracted by its government with the IMF is now part of the workshop entitled ‘From North to South: denouncing the illegitimate debt of the working classes around the globe’. After defining the notion of illegitimate debt, we shall examine together how it can be applied to most loans contracted with international financial institutions as to private debts such as micro -credit, mortgage Mortgage A loan made against property collateral. There are two sorts of mortgages:
1) the most common form where the property that the loan is used to purchase is used as the collateral;
2) a broader use of property to guarantee any loan: it is sufficient that the borrower possesses and engages the property as collateral. or students’ debts. In the current context we will illustrate our point through an illuminating comparison between profits made by pharmaceutical and IC TNCs on the one hand and public debt s on the other.

Éric Toussaint will present his recent book World Bank World Bank
WB The World Bank was founded as part of the new international monetary system set up at Bretton Woods in 1944. Its capital is provided by member states’ contributions and loans on the international money markets. It financed public and private projects in Third World and East European countries.

It consists of several closely associated institutions, among which :

1. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, 189 members in 2017), which provides loans in productive sectors such as farming or energy ;

2. The International Development Association (IDA, 159 members in 1997), which provides less advanced countries with long-term loans (35-40 years) at very low interest (1%) ;

3. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), which provides both loan and equity finance for business ventures in developing countries.

As Third World Debt gets worse, the World Bank (along with the IMF) tends to adopt a macro-economic perspective. For instance, it enforces adjustment policies that are intended to balance heavily indebted countries’ payments. The World Bank advises those countries that have to undergo the IMF’s therapy on such matters as how to reduce budget deficits, round up savings, enduce foreign investors to settle within their borders, or free prices and exchange rates.

: a critical history (Syllepses, 2022, soon to come out with Pluto Press), Friday 19, 2 to 4, Culture room. The book traces the destructive course of this international institution, which, like its twin sister the IMF, implements policies that are directly opposed to those they had been assigned in 1944 and are still present in their official discourse. It offers numerous case studies.

Saturday 20, 10 to 12 (room Z134c), meeting with ATTAC Germany on a common campaign against illegitimate debts.

Join us there! Free or cheap accommodation is available.

More info at https://www.esu22.eu/en/.