Campaign calls for cancellation of European debt

Jubilee Debt Campaign, the successor organisation to Jubilee 2000, today called for a cancellation of many of the debts owed between European countries. They urged Europe's leaders to combine this with market regulation to prevent debt crises in the future.

Tim Jones, the Jubilee Debt Campaign's economist, said: "Binding governments to balanced budgets is shutting the wrong stable door after the horse has bolted. Unregulated financial markets caused this debt crisis, not government borrowing. It is trade surpluses and deficits which need to be balanced to prevent debt crises, not government budgets.

"The debts between European countries are simply too big and austerity is making them bigger. Debts have to be cancelled to allow countries to break free from cycles of debt and austerity. We also need to regulate financial markets to prevent the trade imbalances which cause a debt crisis.

"Deregulated global finance has been causing debt crises in developing countries for the last thirty years. Countries need to act together to regulate finance and prevent debt crises, which increase poverty across the world."

Jubilee Debt Campaign is the UK coalition campaigning for cancellation of unjust and unpayable debts. for more information see: www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk