German MEP, Fabio De Masi, commented: “The leading French economist, Piketty, calls the architecture of the euro a monster. The five presidents' report turns the monster into an economic zombie and deepens the depression. To benefit from the vague fiscal capacity, member states shall subject themselves to a permanent shock doctrine, i.e. slashing of wages and pensions. This will lead to a permanent eurocrisis in the pockets of workers. Such a euro will only benefit the 'Le Pens' of this world.”

GUE/NGL Coordinator on the Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, Miguel Viegas, added: “The report aims to put politics in place, but it does nothing to resolve the fact that we face a system in which countries that need to invest can't, and those that can afford to invest don't, because there's not enough internal demand.”

For Vice President of the European Parliament, Dimitrios Papadimoulis, the rise of the extreme right is one of the greatest threats to the eurozone. He explained: “The fact of the matter is that current economic policy is not paying off – there is no growth, there is high unemployment and poverty is on the rise. And with the far-right also on the rise, that means that the eurozone itself is in danger. If the eurozone is to survive, we must have substantial changes.”

Papadimoulis continued: “We need to do something about unemployment, the issue of debt and a European guarantee of deposits, which is the third pillar of the Commission proposal, as well as robust cohesion policies. We should not leave everything to the technocrats, as Mr Schäuble proposes.”

GUE/NGL Press Contact:

Nikki Sullings  +32 483 03 55 75

Gay Kavanagh +32 473 84 23 20