Massive European demonstration and counter-conference held against 'Bologna process'

On 10 March, Education Ministers from across Europe met in Budapest to review the ‘progress’ made in the 10 years since the first declaration of the Bologna Process which declared war on the principles of free, universal access to all levels of education.

The next evening, the same Ministers planned to hit Vienna for an expenses-fuelled conference after-party where they would mingle with assorted lobbyists, dignitaries, and cocktails. This black-tie event was held to congratulate themselves on finding something they all agreed on for once: the fact that their continued co-operation was necessary to maintain the scale of attacks required to steamroll over resistance to Bologna, and that the economic crisis battering the world provided the perfect cover to do so.

A march and rally was scheduled to take place in the day, with blockades planned around the government district in the evening to disrupt the revellers. We wanted to send the message that wherever the bosses’ stooges organise for Bologna, Europe’s students and education workers will organise against it.

The demonstration had a genuinely international character with students travelling from every country in the EU with school and college students especially well-represented among the 10,000 who braved the freezing weather.

REVOLUTION joined blockade number 5, but it was quickly dispersed by police. Hearing that the blockades had failed, REVO members went out to see if we could gather first-hand information, and find out whether any of the blockades were still intact. In the end, the blockades had been more successful than anticipated; some of us joined blockade number 3 which was an unlikely assortment of anarchists and peaceniks. As the ministers’ coach approached we sat down in the road, and although we were quickly dragged off by police, the coach was forced to turn back and find another way in.

You shall not pass!
To the delight of protestors we discovered that two shuttle buses full of dignitaries and guests for the party had inadvertently driven towards our blockade and were now surrounded. Much chanting and banging on windows followed. After about an hour we were eventually driven off as riot police cleared a path for the shuttles. So although we didn’t stop the Ministers getting to their party, the following day we found out that the minsters’ train which they originally planned to travel on had been blockaded, and the coaches used to complete their journey had to negotiate repeated blockades which hopefully soured their celebratory canapés: our voice was heard not only by the ministers at the conference, but also by the protest movements around the world.

Friday 12 the Bologna counter-summit was kicked off, to last until the Sunday. Held at the University of Vienna, the counter-summit saw a series of workshops and rallies to discuss the Bologna process, and organise resistance as the screws are turned on education by governments desperate to recoup the cash they spent bailing out the financial wizards in the banks.

On Saturday, more workshops were held covering every aspect of ten years of Bologna and what we can expect from a future of ever-deeper attacks on education – from Greece to Portugal, from universities to nurseries.

REVOLUTION held a joint workshop with SUD-Étudiants – a French students’ union – on youth struggles, the context of education attacks under capitalism, and perspectives for mobilising mass opposition to the implementation of the Bologna Process. A detailed report from a French student provided important insights into methods of resistance to cutbacks in a country with a high-level of student organisation and militancy.

In the evening, a plenary session was attended by over 300 people to discuss future perspectives for the European student movement. A panel of speakers spoke, including a delegate from a factory occupation in Italy, a Greek lecturer involved in the recent protests against the austerity budget – and myself from REVOLUTION and the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts.

REVOLUTION members spoke on the critical need to set up European-wide structures for co-ordinating a European resistance to Bologna. Just as the capitalists must meet regularly to organise such a concerted attack on the education of millions, so must activists organise ourselves into our own democratic international structures to have a chance at effective resistance. We said that the experience of the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts in Britain of uniting regional and national structures was an important model – despite Britain having a lower level of resistance to education attacks than many countries on the continent.

Many people present spoke on the need to set up more ‘information networks’ to spread news of the struggle to other countries. But this does not go far enough. Opposition is rising everywhere, but the level of struggle is uneven across borders. To generalise experience in the struggle, we need to unite around a common political strategy. This means a democratic debate about the politics of the movement and its methods of struggle – to do this means we need to overcome the movement’s spontaneity.

Socialists think that a capitalist assault on education must be opposed with anticapitalist politics, and this is what REVOLUTION argued for at the rally. Education attacks are part of a wider capitalist offensive on the living conditions, wages and jobs of the working class and youth across the world. The £billions spent bailing out the banks means that the bosses will try and claw back as much of the cost as they can by driving down wages, freezing recruitment, and slashing public services. Education has been on the frontline of this offensive which will see hospitals, the post, welfare, and the civil service face devastating cuts. REVOLUTION argued that the response of workers and youth everywhere resisting massive attacks should be ‘we won’t pay for their crisis’. This is what REVOLUTION is organising young students and workers to do across Europe.