The European economy is facing its biggest crisis in a decade. Over the past few months, announcements of layoffs in France and Germany have come thick and fast. Hundreds of thousands of jobs are at risk as companies attempt to cut costs. At the same time, the European Central Bank (ECB) is cutting interest rates and its growth forecast. This reflects the historic crisis of European capitalism, which offers nothing but a future of austerity and misery.

If you thought that 2024 was disturbed, it will be seen as nothing compared to what we are about to experience in 2025.

Denmark is one of the only countries in the world that still has a colony, Greenland, which has suffered under the brutal oppression of Danish colonialism for over 300 years. Control of Greenland is the only thing that keeps Danish capitalism relevant on the international stage, and the Danish bourgeoisie is desperately trying to cling to it.

In November, a concrete canopy collapsed at the newly inaugurated train station in Novi Sad, killing 15. Since then, a huge protest movement has swept the country, condemning the criminal negligence of the authorities which led to this tragedy. This movement has continued to escalate, with a series of student occupations and calls for a general strike.

Defined by political crises all over the world, spiralling tensions between the imperialist powers, and revolutions in Bangladesh and Kenya, 2024 was an historic year in the crisis of the capitalist system. But now, with Trump days away from power, Ukraine headed unavoidably towards a humiliating and bloody defeat, and with no end in sight to the complete destabilisation of the Middle East, this new year looks to be even more explosive.

For three years, Germany’s ruling ‘traffic light’ coalition of Greens, Social Democrats (SPD) and Liberals (FDP) was under repair. Now it has finally been taken off the grid: the costs are too high, and the benefits are non-existent. The capitalist class threw it in the electoral recycling bin. Soon we will have to welcome a new selection of well-known crooks into office. The spectacle of so-called democracy continues uninterrupted, though it is hardly flawless and certainly not convincing.

On 6 December, Romania’s Constitutional Court decided to cancel the first round of the country’s presidential election in an attempt to prevent right-wing demagogue Călin Georgescu from winning the country’s top office. The decision was cheered by the European Union and liberals. Apparently, Romanians cannot be trusted to vote for the ‘right’ candidate.

A growing layer of people, especially among the youth, are looking for radical answers to the crises that plague our lives. The founding conference of the Revolutionary Communist Party (RKP) in Germany is living proof of this. From 30 November to 1 December, 260 comrades and visitors from across Germany met to launch the RKP and discuss its perspectives and tasks. 

On the weekend of 30 November, 122 communists from 23 Swedish cities – and a delegation from Finland – gathered for ‘Communism & Revolution’, a weekend of Marxist education designed to arm revolutionaries with the ideas they need to build a party that can smash capitalism.

The collapse of the concrete canopy at the train station in Novi Sad on 1 November, in which 15 people were killed, was the straw that broke the camel’s back for many in Serbia. Among the victims, a large number of them young people and children, two are still in critical condition.

This is a transcript of the introduction to a discussion on ‘Perspectives for France’ held at the Founding Congress of the Revolutionary Communist Party (PCR) on 30 November and 1 December 2024.

This week has been full of sharp and sudden turns. The Syrian civil war has suddenly reignited due to the shock advance of a Turkey-backed rebel group. The French president was forced to resign after trying to force through an austerity budget. Joe Biden has used his last few weeks in power to pardon his corrupt son. And, to top things off, the president of South Korea declared martial law, only to be quickly defeated by opposition from the whole of parliament and mass mobilisations. 

On 30 November and 1 December, over 160 activists took part in the founding congress of the Revolutionary Communist Party (PCR), held in Ivry-sur-Seine. Comrades came from the Paris region, Toulouse, Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, Montpellier, Grenoble, Reims, Gap, Lyon, Rennes, Morlaix, Brest, Nantes, Lille, Bourges, Dax, Cherbourg and Val d'Ajol.

The Irish general election has returned the two main capitalist parties to the Dáil with enough seats to form the core of a new coalition. The establishment is forcing a weak smile and trying to celebrate. “The choice of the Irish people is clear,” The Irish Times attempted to convince itself, “they want more of the same”.

Barring a dramatic turn of events, the Barnier government will fall tomorrow or Thursday. A new reprieve could only come from a last-minute retreat by the RN (National Rally) or the PS (Socialist Party). But these two parties would have nothing to gain – and a lot to lose.