EU in the world Archives: March 2008

  • Ania Skrzypek: Decent work, decent life - decent policies to deliver!

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    Rating: 4.5/5 with 8 votes

    Published Friday, March 28, 2008 at 15:30
    by ania_skrzypek Join PES activists in EU in the world (611 views and 4 comments)

    Today is the first sunny day in Brussels, after a week of snow, rain, cold and grey-dom. One wakes up – and U2 song ‘It’s a beautiful day’ seem to be sung inside oneself just naturally….

    This is how me and you wake up. Probably you open the sink listening to the water falling down into wash basin steadily…Sip of coffee with no thoughts of where it came from… Warm cotton t-shirt surrounds your neck… fair trade? What is fair trade during such a joyful morning? On TV the news presenter says something about some protests or riots in far away country, but no time for that – same tv claims it is already 8. Aha, you think with little anger, you will be late for work – why do people have to go to the office on such a beautiful Friday and sit there till 5 anyway? You think closing the door. The day begun – and within those two hours of pure enjoyment of yours – somewhere in Asia a kid went to factory instead of school, somewhere in Africa a poor family begun its walk to unknown, somewhere in Latin America a trade unionist get bullied again, somewhere in EU a jobless single mother goes for another job hunt. “Beautiful day”? Indeed!

    You might think – I am crazy... » read more ...

    Tags: aid, blogger of the week, decent work, fair trade, globalization, poverty, solidarity

  • France and Germany : What are they thinking of ?

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    Rating: 2.8/5 with 4 votes

    Published Tuesday, March 25, 2008 at 11:00
    by frederic.vareillas Join PES activists in EU in the world (328 views and 1 comments)

    Hi,

    Recently, the French President took a trip to Washington to say to the US congress how he "admired John Wayne". I won't elaborate.

    Then John Mc Cain came to Paris and that same President promised to send more French troops to Afghanistan.

    Next, the French President is preparing an alliance with Britain to develop Nuclear technology, build and export nuclear plants with the British and only the British.

    He baptized a new submarine with sixteen nuclear missiles on board ("the Terrible", by the way).

    I have just one thing to say : My God ! What does Germany think about that ?

    Regards,

    Frederic (Paris)

    Tags: conflict, defense, energy, Multilareralism, neighbours, peace, security, USA

  • Euro-méditerranée : pourquoi, comment ?

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    Rating: 1.8/5 with 4 votes

    Published Tuesday, March 25, 2008 at 10:50
    by corinnebord Join PES activists in EU in the world (288 views and 0 comments)

    61bc9fa0bb402e9265c1c0c1a8f267c8.jpgL'enjeu est de taille, comment travailler avec l'ensemble des pays de la méditerranée. La réflexion est longue.

    Le forum de Paris cette année a comme thématique : Une Union pour la Méditerranée, Pourquoi faire et comment ?

    Le week-end prochain, les 28, 29 et 30 mars seront consacrés au débat, à la réflexion et aux pistes de construction.

    Débats à suivre et cliquer pour s'inscrire.

    • 29 mars

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    La première journée sera consacrée à un état des lieux des relations entre les riverains de « notre mer». Le matin seront abordés les... » read more ...

    Tags: euroméditerranée

  • PES President: Progressive proposal from Spanish socialists

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    Rating: 4/5 with 4 votes

    Published Thursday, March 20, 2008 at 10:55
    by Poul_Nyrup_Rasmussen Join PES activists in EU in the world (305 views and 0 comments)

    First of all: congratulations to the Spanish socialist party, PSOE, for winning the national elections in Spain!

    There are many reasons to why I have great respect for PSOE. The party’s recent proposal on how to fight brain drain is very progressive. This idea is an inspiration for all Europe’s socialist parties, and I hope it will also be considered by the European Commissioner for Development.

    When I see how many doctors and engineers migrate from developing countries to the European Union it seems right to repay by financing the education and training of new professionals in their home countries. PSOE’s idea is a very pragmatic proposal and definitely something which we should consider for our common PES manifesto.

    Post cards from the PES President
    This week Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, president of the Party of European Socialists, comments on some of the most popular posts on Yourspace. This is the fourth of six post cards from the PES President.

    Tags: aid, education, president

  • EU - soft or hard power?

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    Rating: 3/5 with 5 votes

    Published Thursday, March 20, 2008 at 09:20
    by cafeneaua.politica Join PES activists in EU in the world (317 views and 0 comments)

    Two questions from Sorin Platon:
    • Why is the EU seen as a promoter of “soft power” and the US as one who uses too much “hard power”?
    • Knowing that the image of United States has deteriorated in the last years, wouldn’t be a good idea to adopt a more diplomatic approach on international crisis and use violence only as a last resort?

    Tags: democracy, EU, USA

  • The EU needs to address resource security

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    Rating: 4/5 with 4 votes

    Published Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at 14:20
    by Duncan Anderson Join PES activists in EU in the world (263 views and 1 comments)

    A future European Parliament and EU MUST address Resource Security ASAP. We already talk about Energy Security, but "feedstock" security must also be addressed.

    China is currently buying up all scrap steel and iron worldwide and India is dismantling ships for the scrap. The price of steel is now going out through the roof. It is more than doubling its price every six months.

    Without scrap steel and iron you drastically reduce the "feedstock" for blast furnaces, so the price of steel increase dramatically and then out manufacturing industry can't compete.

    The price of other materials is also increasing due to scarcity, in particular non-ferrous metals.

    If this basic problem isn't address soon there won't be a European manufacturing industry.

     

    Tags: security, terrorism

  • SPAM is more than an inconvenience

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    Rating: 3.8/5 with 4 votes

    Published Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at 12:07
    by Duncan Anderson Join PES activists in EU in the world (282 views and 2 comments)

    Almost everybody with an e-mail address gets SPAM and most of us treat it as one of modern day life's inconveniences.

    But it must be remembered that there is a lot of pain, anguish and suffering caused through SPAM.
    • How many people have lost life savings through "boiler houses"?
    • How many people have been made ill by counterfeit medicines?
    • How many children and adults have suffered because of the POpcoRN that gets SPAMMED nowadays?
    • How much money is being laundered behind SPAMMING?
    • How much of this activity goes to sponsoring criminal and terrorist activities?
    • How many businesses have lost trade because anti-spam software has whacked their legitimate E-mails ?
    • How many business have suffered from hacking and other cyber-terrorists activities?
    SPAM is a pan-global problem and no one country can resolve it. It needs and pan-global approach, starting with an international body raising it on the global stage.

    If the PES manifesto is going to be relevant to average Europeans is must address the problems of average Europeans and there is nothing that affects average Europeans more than SPAM.

    Considering the affect SPAM has on trade and the amount of Internet bandwidth it is abusing it would be more than possible for the EU to argue that trade sanctions are a legitimate tool against countries that do little or nothing to prevent SPAM.

    Tags: consumer, globalization

  • Scandinavian PES activists on EU in the world

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    Rating: 4/5 with 3 votes

    Published Friday, March 14, 2008 at 11:52
    by AnneSofie Join PES activists in EU in the world (482 views and 0 comments)

    The manifesto theme 'EU in the world' was also on the agenda when PES activists from Denmark, Sweden and Norway met in Jørlunde, Denmark on March 1st and 2nd. Here are a few conclusions from this dedicated discussion group:

    • Prioritisation of human rights and democracy in the world. This area of prioritisation must affect political support and trade conditions in countries and areas globally. Workers rights and women’s rights must be included as well. EU must show clearly, that there is a difference in the treatment of countries and areas, where democracy and human rights are respected.
    • Economic, climate and social sustainability We need to give technological support, build states, and give right to energy to the citizens. All people should further have a right to education. All of this is to be implemented with a view to sustainability.
    • Human ressources Knowledge sharing, education, and sensitivity to brain drain must be thought into EU global policy.
    View more photos from the event here

    Tags: activists, education, environment, human rights, manifesto, women, workers

  • manifesto2009 barometer: EU in the world

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    Rating: 5/5 with 4 votes

    Published Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 11:33
    by Editor in EU in the world (559 views and 2 comments)

    Participants in the EU in the world debate seem to agree that the EU should play a greater role in international politics and some offered specific proposals on how this could be done.

    Development - a lot more than economic growth
    Development has been a central issue of the debates. Pattheact noted the need to deal with the emergence of new donors, such as China in Africa. This new aid and loans come without conditions of good governance, and therefore can have a negative impact in developing countries, perpetuating the corrupt systems. Eurodad proposed that the EU adheres to a set of responsible financing standards, to avoid the resurgence of the spiral of unpayable debt in developing countries. Our previous blogger of the week Victor Negrescu also insists on the need for more coherent development cooperation strategies to improve the efficiency of development aid and ensure its focus on the needs of local populations. On a related topic, Kim noted that the... » read more ...

    Tags: barometer, climate change, development, human rights, peace, UN, USA

  • Yohann Abiven: I had a dream...

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    Rating: 3.3/5 with 4 votes

    Published Wednesday, March 5, 2008 at 19:26
    by yoan.abiven Join PES activists in EU in the world (314 views and 0 comments)

    I had a dream… That those populist ideas on which migration policies are based in some EU Member States, starting by my own (France), be soon penalized in the name of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Is this a dream or a matter of reason?

     

    Tags: blogger of the week, Europe, fundamental rights chart, immigration, politics

  • EU and RUSSIA

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    Rating: 2.8/5 with 5 votes

    Published Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 04:16
    by frederic.vareillas Join PES activists in EU in the world (479 views and 10 comments)

    Hi,

    Dmitri Medvedev has just been chosen by 70 % of the Russian voters to become next President of Russian federation (with Putin as Prime Minister).

    1/ This election has been only PARTLY democratic but a vast majority of the people in Russia are supportive of Putin's policies and are behind Medvedev (more than 60% of th total Russian population. So, Medvedev IS representative of the russians as much as Bush is representative of the americans.

    2/ Russia has 10000 nuclear warheads targeting western Europe because of the American project of an anti missile "shield" (!) in Poland and Chzec Republic.

    3/ America is a debtor nation , diving into a great depression, with no cash or oil left,

    whereas Russia is on the rise : A new middle class, Oil, Gas, Coal, Gold, Diamonds, A new banking, trading, commercial and economic booming system.

    4/ (and most important) : Look at your geographical maps : Kaliningrad, Saint Petersburg, Moscow and most of the big Russian cities ARE in EUROPE.

    5/ A bit of history : The forefathers of the white Russians where the "Varegs", Vikings coming to the region of Moscow around the tenth century A.D.

    Russians Are europeans, and live mostly on the European continent.

    That is to say : Most of the modern european Russians have SWEDISH ancestors : Sweden happens to be a member of the U.E. and is getting ready to join... » read more ...

    Tags: conflict, development, energy, fair trade, Multilareralism, neighbours, peace, Russia

  • British Foreign Secretary promotes

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    Rating: 4.5/5 with 6 votes

    Published Monday, March 3, 2008 at 10:06
    by Editor in EU in the world (314 views and 0 comments)

    Speaking at a PES fringe meeting at Labour Party Spring Conference in Birmingham on Saturday British Foreign Secretary David Milliband said “the PES manifesto is an opportunity to mark a new stage in the way we think of European politics."

    He argued that while there were still internal problems to resolve “the big threats today – jobs, climate change, security – are all global” and that the EU needed to work to tackle these challenges together.

    PES President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen took up Milliband’s theme saying that “Europe as a global player should be shaping globalisation as well as adapting to it."

    MEP Richard Howitt, argued in favour of enlargement to Turkey and the Balkans, and for defence spending for peace keeping, conflict prevention and humanitarian missions.

    Tags: globalization, manifesto, political parties