[Imc-news] d14 in Brussels - the Euro

IMC NEWSBLAST | 10 JAN 2002

D14 IN BRUSSELS - EU & THE EURO? - NATO GATHERING IN MUNICH

Compiled by the Indymedia News Blast Team & IMC BELGIUM
http://archive.indymedia.be
imc-belgium@lists.indymedia.org

LANGUAGES: English
- En: http://archive.indymedia.be/front.php3?article_id=15631&group=webcast
- Fr: http://archive.indymedia.be/front.php3?article_id=16008&group=webcast
- Nl: http://archive.indymedia.be/front.php3?article_id=16007&group=webcast
- It: http://italy.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=34231
URL's of translations will be added on the url of English newsblast !

The IMC NEWS BLAST features a selection of news summaries and stories found on the Independent Media Center websites and in other media.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. SUMMARY: EU-SUMMIT IN BRUSSELS
2. IMC FEATURES ON THE D13-15 ACTIONS
3. ACTIONS
3.1 NGO Forum
3.2 d13 - Union Demonstration
3.3 d14 - demonstration
3.4 d15 - Peace March - Anarchist Demonstration - Street Parade
4. MEDIA WATCHING
5. OUTCOMES OF EU SUMMIT
6. LINKS
- Activism
- Extensive alternative media coverage
- Official sources
7. EU & THE EURO
8. NATO GATHERING IN
9. IMC RESOURCES AND ADDITIONAL COVERAGE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. SUMMARY: EU-SUMMIT IN BRUSSELS
In the second half of 2001, Belgium served as president of the European Union. During at least five of the 2001 EU summits there were protests: Brugge (s6), Leuven (s14-15), Liège (s21-22), Gent (o19) & Brussels (d13-15).

While the corporate media seemed to acknowledge somewhat the so-called antiglobalisation movement, most of the focus was on the "violence issue"
rather than on the political, social and economic aspects the movement is fighting for.

The summit in Brussels was a clear example of the repressive tactics being used against the anticapitalist movement by both the Belgian government and
the EU in general. Despite this repression, during the three days of the summit, at least 100,000 people demonstrated.

2. IMC FEATURES ON THE D13-15 ACTIONS
INDYMEDIA WWW FEATURES
For links and many reports on the actions around d13 - d15, see IMC center column features at: archive.indymedia.be, www.indymedia.org, athens.indymedia.org, austria.indymedia.org, barcelona.indymedia.org, france.indymedia.org, germany.indymedia.org, italy.indymedia.org, russia.indymedia.org, thessaloniki.indymedia.org, indymedia.org.uk, radio.indymedia.org, indymedia.nl and more.

INDYMEDIA BELGIUM COVERAGE:
A complete multimedia overview:
http://archive.indymedia.be/front.php3?article_id=14884&group=webcast
This article should continue to be updated to cover all articles, pictures, etc. that appear on the Belgium site about the actions. Other IMC and non-IMC coverage will also be compiled here. While reading this newsblast it may help to have this overview open as well. Links are grouped by day and are therefore easy to find while reading more details below.

RADIO BRUXXEL:
A collaboration between Bruxxel, Cinema Nova, Indymedia and others, Radio Bruxxel was a four-day-long, 24-hour non-stop radio broadcast on the web and
on four local radio stations in Brussels:
http://www.bruxxel.org/article.php3?id_article=17
http://www.indymedia.nl/live/

INDYMEDIA PAPiER
IMC Belgium ran a daily print of 6,000 copies on December 13, 14 and 15. All editions were trilingual (en - fr - du).
13 Dec: http://archive.indymedia.be/local/webcast/uploads/print13th_laeken.pdf
14 Dec: http://archive.indymedia.be/local/webcast/uploads/krantje2.pdf
15 Dec: http://archive.indymedia.be/local/webcast/uploads/krantje3.pdf
Print overview page: http://archive.indymedia.be/front.php3?article_id=11788&group=webcast

3 ACTIONS
3.1 NGO FORUM
A forum organised one week before the summit by a number of Belgium NGO's, with funding from the Belgian government. Even the big Unions ended up
supporting this forum.

3.2 D13
The big unions didn't want to demonstrate together with the leftist parties/NGO's on D14. There were around 100,000 at this demonstration, where people from the bankrupt Sabena took the lead, together with Greek syndicalists. People came from all over Europe, with big delegations from France (10,000+), Germany, Greece (2,000+), etc.

3.3 D14
Twenty-five thousand people from the more radical side of the movement demonstrated. The demonstration itself was calm until some people started throwing bricks at bank offices. For the police this was the excuse for a repression campaign ending in the blocking of about 25,000 at the Turn&Taxis site. Numerous undercover cops (and provocateurs ??) were identified, despite the mayor's promise that no undercover cops would be used.
http://www.d14.be

3.4 D15
- D14 peace demo.
About 5,000 people gathered at a summit and peace march organised by "D14".
http://www.d14.be

- Anarchist demo:
3,000 anarchists demonstrated from Hallepoort to the south station. Again, numerous masked and unmasked undercover cops were present. Some riots with the police took place, and video cameras, a bank, and cars were trashed. At the end of the demo most people went on in the street parade. There was a bigger riot with the police near the south station resulting in a lot of arrests.
http://www.anarchy.be

- Street parade
This street party was organised by the "Bruxxel" collective. Five thousand people were expressing themselves in the streets. The police blocked the whole parade in a small street for more then one hour. People stayed relatively quiet until the police finally let the parade go on.
http://www.bruxxel.org

4. Media Watching
A mediawatch team kept busy tracking the corporate press response. One of their most important conclusions was that the corporate press focused most of its time and energy on following the violence. While there were many big reports about the violence, there was almost no analysis of why people were protesting or of the violence and repression used by the government.
http://archive.indymedia.be/front.php3?article_id=14884&group=webcast#repression

5 OUTCOMES OF THE EU SUMMIT
The EU summit in Laeken was important for several reasons. First: the issue of the growth of the union. At least 10 countries are nearly ready to become full members of the EU. At some point in 2003-04 (before the next European elections) they'll become members.

In addition to the issue of the growth, some European Institutions are having problems with their function in the context of the union, and aren't adapted to working in a bigger EU. Therefore, it has been decided that a "convention" will work on this matter. The EU is also working on its critics. They want things to look more democratic without being it.

On issues with more direct impact on the people, some information can be found in the offical documents: There were agreements on further privatisation of public services -- at least, for the Postal Services there's an agreement. Immigration (especially stopping it) is also an important issue in "Fort Europe". There will be a coordinated and common asylum and immigration policy. The aftermath of the WTC attack lead to new laws on terrorism. According to Statewatch, this law is also dangerous for protestors.

9. IMC RESOURCES AND ADDITIONAL COVERAGE

- Ongoing Coverage

See these indymedia websites: IMC global, http://www.indymedia.org, and links in the left column of IMC websites to over 60 IMC local websites and various media projects, including the following:

IMC Print
For upcoming print summaries of the WTO actions and other issues in distributable newsletter-flier format, see:
http://print.indymedia.org

IMC Radio (ongoing radio coverage)
http://radio.indymedia.org

IMC TV (ongoing video coverage from various IMCs)
http://www.indymedia.org/video/imc.ram

Past IMC Newsblasts:
http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/public/imc-news/

- Subscriber Info and Feedback

If you'd like to receive the IMC Newsblasts, you can subscribe by going to www.indymedia.org and clicking on the IMC-News Updates in the left column.

Suggestions? Feedback? Thoughts?
Send a message to: imc-nbwg@indymedia.org (or imc-belgium@indymedia.org, for this edition only)

SOLIDARITY.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

INDEPENDENT MEDIA CENTER
The IMC is a decentralized network of independent media makers, organizers, and activists working to increase democracy and social justice by reporting events and producing information as acts of autonomy, resistance, and liberation. A working group comprising individuals throughout the network compiled this News Blast.

The IMC was established to cover the WTO protests in Seattle in November, 1999. Hundreds of media activists have since set up more than 60 independent media centers around the world, including sites in Argentina, Belgium, Brasil, Chiapas, Canada, France, Italy, Prague, South Africa, Sydney, U.S., and many more.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
(c) - http://www.opencontent.org -- free for non-profit usage

arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)