ABSTRACT
This is how the Declaration of the Assembly of the Movements of the fourth European Social Forum in Athens addresses the European Union on 7 May 2006. It rejects neither the need for a European level of governance, nor the existence of a European identity (that goes beyond the borders of the EU), but criticizes EU policies and asks for ‘another Europe’: a feminist, ecological, open, supportive, and just Europe. Similarly, the previous Assembly of the Movements, held at the third ESF in 2004, stated:
We are fighting for another Europe. Our mobilisations bring hope of a Europe where job insecurity and unemployment are not part of the agenda. We are fighting for viable agriculture controlled by the farmers themselves, a farming industry that preserves jobs, and defends the quality of the environment and food products as public assets. We want to open Europe up to the world, with the right to asylum, free movement of people and citizenship for everyone in the country they live in. We demand real social equality between men and women, and equal pay. Our Europe will respect and promote cultural and linguistic diversity and respect the right of peoples to self-determination and allow all the different peoples of Europe to decide
upon their futures democratically. We are struggling for another Europe, which is respectful of workers’ rights and guarantees a decent salary and a high level of social protection. We are struggling against any laws that establish insecurity through new ways of subcontracting work.
