Daniel Oliveira on the reasons for the protests in Europe

Many European countries have seen protests and rioting against their government's austerity programmes recently. But the violent protests are also an expression of a crisis in democracy, Daniel Oliveira contends in his blog Antes pelo Contrário in the weekly paper Expresso: "When the sub-prime crisis broke out two years ago ... there were promises that the laws would be changed and the guilty brought to justice. Then the economic stimulus programmes were put in place. The EU encouraged member states to invest and spend. But suddenly everything changed. The European bank system had to be rescued with government money. ... Then the almost revolutionary process of the destruction of Europe's social welfare model began together with an unprecedented attack on social rights. Someone had to pay for the crisis, and it certainly wasn't going to be those who had caused it. ... We are experiencing not only an economic and social crisis but also a crisis of democracy. It is not just desperation that explains the escalation of the violent protests. It is the lack of democratic answers."

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