by Karl Widerquist | Jul 12, 2014 | News
UBIEurope
This year’s International Basic Income Week is scheduled to run from September 15–21, 2014. Preparations are already under way in Austria, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and the Netherlands. The organizers invite all basic income initiatives and activists to spread the efforts within Europe and beyond.
In 2008 basic income initiatives from German speaking countries initiated the first International Week for a Basic Income (https://www.woche-des-grundeinkommens.eu/) with the aim of creating visibility for this simple and beautiful idea by bundling events and actions during the 38th week of the year.
In 2014 the international website https://basicincomeweek.org was created. This reflects the Europeanization of the Basic Income Week based on the citizen initiatives in the European Union and Switzerland that led to the creation of the new European alliance called UBIE (Unconditional Basic Income Europe). Building on these recent developments, the 7th International Basic Income Week will have more countries participating than ever before.
The first confirmed events for Austria have already been announced (https://basicincomeweek.org/preliminary-programme-austria/). Groups in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Romania, Slovenia and the UK are thinking about how to get involved.
Basic Income Week
In the call for participation, UBIE draws attention to the fact that Europe is facing increasingly violent conflicts, both within EU countries and on the EU periphery. According to the organizers, “Considering this explosive context, we want to highlight the current social and democratic significance of Unconditional Basic Income: it can become the basis for ‘Building Social Cohesion in Europe.’ This is the motto of this year’s Basic Income Week.”
Of course the issue of conflicts and the need for social cohesion is not limited to Europe, and so the organizers give the following message:
“We want you to be a part of the 7th International Basic Income Week.
In Februari 2014, the UBIE team was formed after the ECI-UBI ended
by Harry Pitts | Jun 29, 2014 | Research
PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: ‘Philippe Van Parijs argues for a basic income for all legal residents of the European Union to be financed by Value Added Tax. Unlike the US, the EU lacks automatic inter-state transfers and migration between states is much less common. A universal basic income would serve as a buffering mechanism and enable a stronger recovery from economic downturns. It would also help the Union overcome the pressures of competitiveness, while the EU may also be seen as more legitimate and less of a heartless bureaucracy in the eyes of its residents.’
Philippe Van Parijs, “The Eurodividend: Why the EU should introduce a basic income for all”, LSE EUROPP Blog, 24th July 2013
Philippe Van Parijs
by Karl Widerquist | Jun 13, 2014 | Research
SUMMARY: The author argues, unconditional basic income is being heralded as the solution to all of Europe’s financial problems, but the salary for everyone is not all it’s cracked up to be, because UBI fails most financial feasibility tests. She concludes, “An unconditional basic income discourages career progression and innovation, could potentially have detrimental economic effects and relies on a non-binding social contract. This leaves many questions unanswered on the possible effects of UBI, suggesting a basic income is not so much a solution to all our problems, but a utopian nightmare we’d do best to wake up from soon.”
Sandra Kilhof, “Why unconditional basic income is no more than a socialist fairytale.” The New Economy, June 11th, 2014.
Swiss franc notes (above). Critics argue unconditional basic income will give people money for no cause (the New Economy)
by Citizens' Income Trust | May 5, 2014 | Opinion
A seminar and round-table discussion entitled ‘Beyond Welfare Reform to a Citizen’s Income: the desirability and feasibility of a CI scheme’, was hosted by Jim Eadie, Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) on Wednesday 15 January at the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood. Over 60 people attended, including four other MSPs and some Parliamentary Assistants. The majority of the participants were employees and activists in the Voluntary Sector, together with representatives from several Scottish churches, civil servants, academics, and some private individuals.
Jim Eadie opened the proceedings with a warm welcome to the guests, reminding them of the importance and timeliness of the topic under discussion. The meeting was chaired by Sir John Elvidge, former First Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government. The first speaker was Ailsa McKay, Professor of Economics at Glasgow Caledonian University, who addressed the question of the desirability of a CI and gave a passionate, but reasoned, discursive presentation on the philosophical and political aspects of a Citizen’s Basic Income. She emphasised that a CI is not a mere reform of our current welfare system, but is a radical transformation that involves the acceptance of a whole new way of thinking about social security policy, and helps to secure both equality and efficiency objectives. She pointed out that the National Insurance system was designed for an industrial society, and does not help those who experience in-work-poverty, and helps those who are self-employed only minimally; nor does it take women’s contributions into account. A Citizen’s Basic Income breaks the link between paid employ-ment and income, and leads to greater gender equality.
The second speaker was Annie Miller, Chair of the Citizen’s Income Trust and retired academic economist, who tackled the feasibility question. She said that the discussion could be relevant to the whole UK, or to an independent Scotland, or to a devolved Scotland with greater fiscal powers within the union. She described the current Social Security system as a Gordian Knot that cannot be unravelled or reformed. It must be cut through and replaced by a new radical alternative, designed to meet the needs of the economy and society in the 21st century, but robust enough to meet the needs of changing societies in the future. She defined a CI in terms of the recent European Citizens’ Initiative on Unconditional Basic Income, that is, universal, individual, unconditional, and high enough for a life of dignity and participation in society. However, this does not define the whole system. She emphasised that there is not one unique optimum CI scheme, and that each scheme should be designed to meet a set of specified, prioritised objectives. Annie listed a range of objectives that a CI can fulfil. She briefly reviewed some of the suggested sources for funding a CI scheme, including a sales tax, a sovereign wealth fund, and income tax, but only the latter could redistribute income from rich to poor, men to women, and geographically, reversing the trend of recent decades.
The speakers responded to questions from the floor before the discussion was opened up to the participants. Sir John Elvidge asked the delegates to focus on three questions that needed to be addressed.
- What are your priorities with respect to a CI scheme: preventing poverty; increasing financial security; reducing income inequalities; restoring incentives to work-for-pay for poorer people; simplification of the welfare system; or stimulating aggregate demand?
- What do you think are the main stumbling blocks in implementing a CI?
- If you think that a CI is good thing in general, where would you like the matter taken next?
The ensuing discussion tackled all of these questions, and raised many other important issues. Specific answers were not necessarily forthcoming, but the general feeling was one of sympathy for the concept of a CI, and encouragement for the advocates to take it further.
by Karl Widerquist | Apr 4, 2014 | News
UBIE
Politicians and major European organisations working in the fields of health, poverty, democracy, education and the environment will discuss the potential benefits of unconditional basic income at the European Economic and Social Committee on Thursday, 10 April 2014. The conference will also mark the launch of a new network, Unconditional Basic Income Europe, which formed around the European Citizens Initiative for Unconditional Basic Income (ECI for UBI) last year. Citizens from 25 European countries have collaborated to hold this conference.
Entitled ‘Unconditional Basic Income: Emancipating European Welfare’, the conference will bring together activists, politicians, organisations and interested individuals to highlight the potential benefits of this idea. UBI gained an unprecedented amount of press coverage last year, and was backed by over 300,000 supporters across Europe during the ECI for UBI.
Unconditional Basic Income Europe
During its yearlong run the number of countries involved with this European Citizens’ Initiative swelled from 13 to 25. “As momentum built in the last two months of the collection period of the ECI on UBI, signatures doubled,” said Klaus Sambor, general organiser of the ECI for UBI. The conference will celebrate organisers’ achievements during this ECI with reports from several of the countries involved, including the latest developments of UBI campaigns within their borders.
There will also be presentations from Guy Standing about a recent pilot project in India, Philippe van Parijs about his proposal for a ‘Eurodividend’ to be paid to all EU citizens, Ronald Blaschke of Netzwerk Grundeinskommen Germany on UBI’s potential to ameliorate hidden poverty. Others including Sian Jones of the European AntiPoverty Network and Plamen Dimitrov, President of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria will speak about UBI’s beneficial effects on health, the environment, democracy and social solidarity.
The conference’s moderator will be Karl Widerquist, coChair of the Basic Income Earth Network and editor of BINews.org. “With the UBI movement,” Widerquist writes, “people are beginning to realise that there is no freedom without freedom from poverty, and there is no freedom from poverty without unconditional access to the basic necessities of life.”
Title of the Conference: “Unconditional Basic Income: Emancipating European Welfare”
Time and place: Thursday 10 April 2014 (9.30 – 17.30) European Economic and Social Committee, Van Maerlant Building 99 rue Belliard, 1040 Brussels (Room VM3, 2nd floor)
Registration required by 5pm, Monday 7 April: please email conference@ubie.org
For more information see: https://basicincomeeurope.org email: press@ubie.org
Or contact: Barb Jacobson +44 7985 670 688
