Given the scale of the task at hand, it would seem simpler to join an existing political organisation compatible with our intentions.
However, we choose to create an autonomous organisation, with the capacity to act directly in the political field, for the following reasons.
Existing political organisations, in the progressive spectrum corresponding to our aspirations, do not meet the need:
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for doctrinal reasons:
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the radical left perceives the need for public intervention, and does not hesitate to question, if necessary radically, the existing social and economic order. This is in line with our approach. On the other hand, it defines itself above all as critical, anti-capitalist and, increasingly, as hostile to globalisation (thereby forgetting its traditionally internationalistic stance). This negatively defined posture makes them unable to formulate alternatives and to exercise government responsibilities. Hostility to globalisation, combined with the illusion of a possibility of action at the national level, often leads to a drift towards a national flavour of socialism that is increasingly difficult to distinguish from its right-wing version;
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social democracy has a universalistic and responsible tradition, aiming at social justice through gradual reform. Its handicap is to have been based on the promise of material prosperity for all, based on the sharing of the fruits of growth and of productivity gains, without wishing to question either existing property or the fundamentals of society. Its model has been in severe crisis since material growth has effectively disappeared. In its view, environmental constraint is secondary: social democracy gives systematic priority to short-term employment concerns, and refuses to give up the prospect of permanent growth;
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Political ecology takes environmental constraints seriously, and is at the forefront of demanding radical actions to reduce our impact on the bio- and geosphere. On the other hand, it suffers from hostility towards the industry and any large system. Its preference for the small and local makes it blind to the major problem of coordinating these decentralised actions and of free-riding behaviour. Moreover, it has the illusion that an elitist community of virtuous ascets evolving separately from the rest of society has a capacity to lead by example only, and does not perceive the reality of the social issue beyond the question of discrimination based on genetics (gender, skin colour, sexual orientation);
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the Liberal Democrats claim to be progressive. Their enthusiastic support for economic growth through the permanent exploitation of new opportunities, with lip service to the environmental and social consequences of this model, makes them ill-equipped to undertake the profound reforms we are pursuing.
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for reasons of organisation and of internal democracy:
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all traditional political families operate at European level in the form of federations of national political parties, in which the source of legitimacy and of funding is national. The European level is subject to agreement between national parties, and reproduces the same characteristics of powerlessness and opacity as the inter-governmental bodies of the European Union (Council of the EU and European Council). This fragmentation into autonomous national political entities is even found in recent political formations that had been built on the promise of pan-European operation;
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their internal organisation oscillates between two modalities of denial of internal democracy: (1) rules made to silence or render ineffective any disagreement, or (2) an absence of rules leading to the seizure of power by a small clique strongly coordinated among its members. This makes it extremely difficult, and de facto impossible, to transform these organisations from within.
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These characteristics are of course stylized and can be contradicted by positions expressed by certain personalities. Nevertheless, they appear to us as representing the fundamentals to which these political groups refer to in times of crisis, and which define their choices between priorities when these priorities come into conflict. We note that none of the existing political formations combines our ambitions for radical reforms in terms of social justice, environmental sustainability and pan-European democracy, nor the rigour of our demands and resources for internal democracy on the same pan-European scale.
We have tried, in good faith and with great energy, to make our doctrinal and organisational contribution to existing or emerging political organisations. In vain. Ideological fundamentals and organisational principles (or lack of organisation) are almost irreversible. That is why we are creating the CosmoPolitical Cooperative as an autonomous political organisation.