Following the spirit of the Conferences of the Plan B for Europe, the Observatori del Deute en la Globalització (ODG) and the Plataforma por la Auditoría Ciudadana de la Deuda (PACD) , toghether with international partner organizations and with collaboration of the City Council of Barcelona, organize in Barcelona the cicle of workshops and debates “Debt Common Project for Europe” between Wednesday 18 and Saturday 21 of November. These sessions will gather entities, experts and activists that work for debt justice and against the use of finance as a means for political control, with the aim of generating debates that translate into the elaboration of common strategies.
The sessions will welcome activists and experts of all around the world, like Bodo Ellmers, one of the authors of the Resolution of the UN on the Basic Principles for Debt Restructuring; Sargon Nissan, economist of the Bretton Woods Project, organization that does a critical assessment of the policies enforced by the IMF and the WB; Jihen Chandoul, economist of the Observatory of the Economy of Tunisse; Éric Toussaint, Speaker of the Comittee for the Abolition of Third Word Debt and scientific coordinator of the Debt Truth Comittee on the Greek Debt ; Carlos Sánchez Mato finance Councilor of the City of Madrid, who has started a debt audit process in Madrid, together with the social movements; and Zoe Konstantopoulou, fomer Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament, organizer of the Debt Truth Comittee on the Greek Debt and promoter of the Plan B for Europe.
Due to the limited capacity of the room, for the session on Saturday 21 at MACBA, inscriptions are requested here.
Programme:
Wednesday 18 November 9:30-18:00
Location: Federació Catalana d’ONGs
Map: Street Tàpies, 1 – https://goo.gl/maps/8Lyb38U3MLt
Language: English
9:30-11:30 Public-Private Partnerships: Experiences
- Presentations and open discussions (In English with translation to Spanish). Guest speakers:
- Changing institutional landscape – Maria Jose Romero, Eurodad Belgium.
- PPPs in the MENA region, active institutions – Jihen Chandoul, Observatoire Tunisien de l’Economie.
- PPPs and Education – Dr. Antoni Verger, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
- PPPs in Africa and active multilateral institutions – Fanwell Bokosi, Afrodad.
- The relevance of debt and economic and financial stability – Tim Jones, Jubilee Debt Campaign UK.
- The new role of institutions and the PPPs – Rayyan Hassan, NGO Forum on the Asian Development Bank (TBC).
14:00-16:00 The next debt crisis: The new debt challenges in different regions
- Overview – Tim Jones, Jubilee Debt Campaign.
- Africa/LIC – Fanwell Bokosi, Afrodad.
- MENA – Jihen Chandoul, Observatoire Tunisien de l’Economie.
- Europe – Sergi Cutillas, ODG.
- SIDS – Kristina Rehbein, Jubilee Debt Campaign Germany.
16:00-16:30 Coffee Break
16:30-18:00 Key institutional reform processes
- Debt workout mechanisms – Bodo Ellmers, Eurodad.
- Responsible Lending and Borrowing – Maren Hemsett, Debt Justice Norway.
- Vulture funds legislation (Antonio Gambini)
Friday 20 November 9.30-10:30 Press Conference and Coffee with journalists
Location: Civic Center of Pati Llimona
Map: Street Regomir, 3 – https://goo.gl/maps/ncqFT2zhFTo
Language: English (with translation to Spanish)
Debt crises; state of affairs and presentation of proposals for a Debt Common Project for Europe
- Bodo Ellmers, Eurodad.
- Sargon Nissan, Bretton Woods Project.
- Maeve Bateman, Debt & Development Coalition.
- Emma Avilés, Plataforma Auditoría Ciudadana de la Deuda (PACD).
Saturday 21 November 17:00-19:00
Location: MACBA (Museu of Contemporary Art of Barcelona)
Map: Plaça dels Àngels, 1 – https://goo.gl/maps/mGWUBCw7eyt
Language: English (with translation to Spanish)
Debt Illegitimacy and Debt Audits as a proposal to Democratize Europe.
- Debt audits as a proposal to democratize Europe – Éric Toussaint, Comittee for the Abolition of Third World Debt (CADMT)
- The Citizen Audit of Madrid – Carlos Sánchez Mato, Finance Councilor of Madrid
- Debt Truth Comittee on the Public Debt of Greece – Zoe Konstantopoulou, former Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament
- Auditing Barcelona, proposals and experiences so far – Gerardo Pisarello, vice Mayor of Barcelona.
- Citizen Participation and Debt Audits in Spain and Catalonia – Jezabel Goudinoff, Plataforma Auditoría Ciudadana de la Deuda (PACD)