<nettime> a hot summer in amsterdam

[Geert Lovink <geert@xs4all.nl>]

A HOT SUMMER IN AMSTERDAM

On the 16th and 17th of June the Eurotop will take place in Amsterdam.
During this gathering of European heads of state in the Nederlandsche Bank
in Amsterdam work will be done on the creation of a single economic power.
With the market as the key word social services will either be privatised
or scrapped. Governing policies will be made behind closed doors by
impenetrable power structures. This tiny group of national leaders will
give all power to capitalism and at the same time all possibilities for
democratic alternatives will be dismantled. This process will be helped
along by increasing levels of control, both internal and at the external
borders of Europe.
The heads of state have big ideas for this European conference. They want
to formulate the Treaty of Amsterdam, or Maastricht 2, a rewriting of the
European Union treaty that was signed in 1992. In this treaty they want to
abolish the right of veto for national cabinets and bring in new laws for
foreign policy, judiciary and the police.

The Eurotop is a blessing for Amsterdam's council. They will get the 
chance to rid the city of its image as a Sodom and Gomorrah full of
slums, drugs and the sex industry and will instead be able to present the
city as a respectable economically sound international city. In order to
present this image to the government leaders and to ensure that the
conference runs smoothly there will be thousands of extra police officers
bought into Amsterdam and a large part of the city will be made into
security zones. In these security zones people will be required to prove
their identity and the streets will be 'cleared' of the homeless, illegal
immigrants and other 'undisirable elements'. A view of the future perhaps?

Fortunately there are a lot of people and organisations who are 
discontented with these plans and intend to show their disgust and carry
out acts of resistance during the conference. People from other countries
and cities are of course welcome. We have already planned a number of
actions and events that will take place between the 12th and 17th of June.
Here we have an incomplete list of events. These actions will be organised
by a broad spectrum of progressive groups and individuals. Therefore each
group is responsible for its own plans. The actions have been planned
taking other groups and events into consideration, but it has been decided
that there will be no 'central comitee' to organise everything.

There will remain plenty of room for other spontaneous occurences. During
the conference there will be a number of 'info points' in Amsterdam where
people will be able to obtain information about what is happening. The
addresses of these points is not available at this moment but can be
obtained from our address after 1st May. We are unable to arrange sleeping
places for everybody, you will have to do that yourself (or arrange thast
people can come and stay with you!)

Individual actions and initiatives are welcome, so that we will be able to
show in all manner of ways that we are not happy with the current policies
of the EU but want a different and more just world. It promises to be a
long hot summer.

AN INCOMPLETE LIST OF ACTIVITIES THAT WILL TAKE PLACE DURING THE EUROTOP
IN AMSTERDAM.

14-6 Demonstration against unemployment, poverty and exploitation. From
mid- April thousands of people will be marching to Amsterdam from various
different countries. These marches will meet in Amsterrdam on the 14th as
a demonstration against EU policy.


11-6/17-6 Top from the bottom.
"Platform for another Europe', a collaboration of various progressive
groups will be organising discussions, actions and theme days. This will
be in the form of an alternative top with speakers from different
countries. There will be workshops about unemployment, poverty, social
injustice, feminist Europe, Europe and the south, Ecological Europe and so
on.

15-6  Demonstration/Action at the Border Hostel.
The Autonomous Centre will probably organise a cycle demonstration through
the city which will end up at the prison for refugees in south east
Amsterdam. Exact details of this action will be publicised later.

13-6/15-6 Chaos Days.
Punks will be gathering in Amsterdam to turn the city upside down.


15-6  Demonstration at the Homomonument.
A demonstration against the verdict of the European court that England is
alloewd to make voluntary SM sexual practises illegal. This will take
place under the slogan "Sexual diversity in Europe". Organised by
Stichting Gala.

12-6/13-6 United Conference.
The biggest NGO gathering of the European Year Against Racism. The themes
of this will be "Fortress Europe", "Everyday racism" and "Institutional
Racism", there will be speakers from various countries. This will be held
in English.

16-6 Eurorave.
LegalizE street party against the European drugs policy "and the other
shit that they have got planned for us."

17-6 Euroblow
A massive smoke-in at the Nederlandsche Bank as a protest against the
European drugs policy.

17-6 Autonomous demonstration at the Nederlandsche Bank.
Angry people wearing balaclavas in a tearing hurry to get to the
Nederlandsche bank. Meeting point 14-00hours at the Dam.

see also: www.snore.org and www.contrast.org (eurostop) for more
information.
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