It was a miracle, in the spring of 2009, 3.7 trillion euros appeared below the stones to save the banks that were in a serious crisis in the Western world. And the Liberals were also determined to maintain a rigid relationship with the banks. But the parties, the regulations, the controls, and the money started to play with the debt of the European States.

And now, with those approved in the European Union in Brussels, the markets are expected to be pulled out and left the euro and the EU quiet. In the short term, however, there is no reason to think about it, at least until those that have been decided there, and in particular those that belong to the European Central Bank, come into force. The Moody’s rating agency has also understood the summit: before the meeting it threatened shame and little fear of the EU and then announced that it is continuing, that is, that it will lower the debt rating to fifteen EU countries, including the strongest such as Germany.

As regards measures to get out of the crisis, there are two main directions: the first is to tighten the belt, for a tight and prolonged duration; and the second, to open the doors to what a real public bank, the European Central Bank (ECB), should do, which can make eurobonds and buy external debt from the economies of the euro area in crisis. But nothing has been set for the ECB, because that would be a violation of the ECB’s independence. The ECB will take a decision in these days.

Major decisions affecting the construction of the EU have also been taken, including the most important one: so far decisions on major pacts had to be taken unanimously by all states and at the current summit a large majority was sufficient to take decisions (that is why London has been left out of the agreement).

Let us not deceive ourselves, however, that everything that has been agreed is done on the repayment of all the debt that States currently have, that is the supreme objective, the only one that is sacred. And that means that our lives are mortgaged for long years, that the social achievements of the last few decades are going to be canceled, and how else. The Chinese Deputy Prime Minister has just depicted this future in a Financial Times interview: “The Middle Ages, that’s what comes to us in the financial and social sphere.”

Moreover, the narrowing of the European Union (EU) belt will aggravate the economic recession for several years. Merkel knows very well what it means to link wages to production, because he knows that in the coming years production will fall rather than grow in the countries in crisis, and that in the best case it will grow little.

Countries in the eurozone that are in a critical situation must compete for selling by increasing production or lowering wages. And this summit, once again, has committed itself to lowering wages. This means that the flow of income that is continuously occurring between the working classes and the richest classes will remain the same. There are a lot of data that point to this, and one of them was the one known last week by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development: the differences between rich and poor are the biggest in the last 30 years, even in rich countries such as Germany, Austria and Sweden.

They want to sell us constantly that there is no alternative, but they do exist, no doubt. The key will be to keep the chaparron in the short term: for the next stalemate, solidarity; and for the historic achievements to be reduced as little as possible, the pressure of citizenship. In the medium and long term, however, there are alternatives for citizens to be able to live much better, some of which may come into force and others for the future.

Iceland refused to pay the debts its banks had to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands and the world has not fallen on them, as it had announced. A general audit of the debt of the Member States would be needed to see what is to be paid and what is not. Strengthen the European Parliament so that it controls the ECB and that it has the real role of a public bank; the ECB could start buying debt from some EU countries tomorrow. Strict regulation of the financial system, differentiating banks and bank investors to boost the real economy; a tax system for financial operations...

They are as many alternatives as they want, but the biggest problem with all these measures is that they need pressure from the citizens who want a different course, in the street, in the polls, in the institutions... and that at the moment is not enough to delve into the alternatives of pressure. Apparently, and unfortunately, much still needs to be lost in order to reach the high levels of pressure of the population.