European democracy & diversity Archives: January 2008

  • Citizens should be able to become members of the PES

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    Rating: 4.5/5 with 8 votes

    Published Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at 09:25
    by thanos (688 views and 5 comments)

    I'm not sure if my proposition can be fully integrated into the manifesto but here is what I propose:

    Citizens all around Europe should have the possibility to become members of the Party of European Socialists, without necessarily beeing members of their own national socialist party (labour, social-democrats,...etc).

    I believe that would be a very good thing for the Socialists in Europe and would increase the number of citizens wishing to reiforce the PES at a European level.

    Tags: None

  • Lessons from the elections in Hessen, Germany

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    Rating: 4.7/5 with 7 votes

    Published Tuesday, January 29, 2008 at 11:01
    by raphi sternfeld Join PES activists (744 views and 0 comments)

    The turnout of the elections in the German region Hessen has shown that targeted left policies pay out.

    Nevertheless it is clear that progressive policies have to be combined with a certain amount of pragmatism. What counts in the eyes of the voters is the factor of trust. In the framework of this European election campaign, we social democrats should only be promising what can be realized. We must not fool the voters. Let’s concentrate on our core issues like social equality, education and secure pensions.

    Furthermore we clearly need to take distances from every form of right wing populism. If we manage to lead a good and convincing election campaign, we will have a realistic chance to make a good result. Our capacity to mobilize the members of our movement will be decisive. The participation in the elections will be quite low. We might succeed. Now our task is to come up with reliable content - this will enable us to fight for a New Social Europe!

    A German version of this post is attached.

    Tags: EU, political parties

    File: Raphi_Sternfeld.pdf

  • Year of intercultural dialogue – yeah right?

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    Rating: 4.5/5 with 4 votes

    Published Monday, January 28, 2008 at 11:08
    by Editor (798 views and 2 comments)

    As a part of the newly started ‘Year of Intercultural Dialogue’ the European Parliament has invited a number of state and religious leaders to speak in its midst. Some weeks ago the grand mufti of Syria, Sheik Ahmad Bader Hassoun, spoke in Strasbourg – which triggered a heated debate among parliamentary members. Some have aired concern that the list of guest speakers is more an attempt to encourage ‘inter-religious’ rather than ‘intercultural’ dialogue. Others are worried that there are no women among the invited guests - all speakers are men.

    For sure culture is not limited to religion, but how should Europe’s socialists and social democrats view culture? And what should the PES manifesto say about intercultural dialogue?

    Tags: diversity, EU, globalization, multiculturalism

  • Justice and home affairs in the PES manifesto

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    Rating: 4.5/5 with 4 votes

    Published Tuesday, January 22, 2008 at 09:30
    by mochinho Join PES activists (788 views and 0 comments)

    For our manifesto we have to keep in mind the subject of justice and home affairs. If the Reform Treaty entries into force the European Parliament will be co-legislator in justice and home affairs. This means that the European Parliament will be more responsible for the public order. Furthermore Europol is to become a European agency and will be funded from the EU budget from January 2010 on. It is also possible that the Treaty of Prüm will be introduced into the legal framework of the EU; not to forget the enlargement of the Schengen space in December last year.

    Concerning these subjects there are a lot of concerns related to civil liberties and security. The manifesto should therefore pick these up and give social-democratic/socialist solutions. We cannot leave the topic of justice and home affairs to law and order hardliners. Justice and home affairs is a genuine social-democratic/socialist subject.

    Tags: democracy, fundamental rights, immigration, political parties

  • Should the PES manifesto mention Muslims?

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    Rating: 3.8/5 with 6 votes

    Published Monday, January 21, 2008 at 12:34
    by tolerance (848 views and 5 comments)

    Not long ago 400 Muslim groups met in Brussels to sign a charter for the Muslims of Europe. The charter is aimed to be a code of conduct, describing the rights and responsibilities of European Muslims. According to Euronews ‘The European Islamic Charter’ stresses moderation, equality between men and women and rejects violence and terrorism.

    Now Muslim organizations have given their suggestion to what it means to be a modern European Muslim. It makes me wonder: is it also up to European parties - like the PES - to have a stance on Muslims in Europe? Or is this something which is for religious organizations to discuss?

    Islamophobia – fear or dislike of Muslims and their religion – is on the rise in Europe. In this respect the European blogosphere is a good example: new so-called ‘Islam-critic’ blogs (many of them I would rather label xenophobic!) pop up every day. I’ve come across many bloggers whose mission seems to be the search for juicy fundamentalist quotes – the more ferocious the better. One thing is to gabble online. Another is when Islamophobes start to gather in the street, like it was... » read more ...

    Tags: diversity, multiculturalism, tolerance

  • PES Women: European politics is still a man’s world

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    Rating: 5/5 with 6 votes

    Published Tuesday, January 8, 2008 at 13:19
    by Editor (1321 views and 2 comments)

    Why are there so few women in power at European level?

    Half of Europe’s citizens are women, but only 30 percent of the members of the European Parliament are female. The other European institutions are not much better: only 8 out of 27 European Commissioners are female and the vast majority are men when Europe’s leaders gather in the European Council.

    If we look at national parliaments the numbers are just as discouraging – in average no more than 21 percent of the seats are taken by women.

    One way to improve the representation of women is by introducing quotas. In Spain, for example, party electoral lists are required to have a minimum of 40 percent and a maximum of 60 percent of either sex. The law was introduced last year and will be put to its first test during the Spanish national elections in March. Is quota the way forward?

    What do you think the PES manifesto suggest to get more women in European politics?

    The illustration is a montage of a photo from the latest European Council meeting in December 2007.

    Tags: diversity, EU, women

  • How can we reconnect the EU and the citizens?

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    Rating: 5/5 with 3 votes

    Published Monday, January 7, 2008 at 10:49
    by lolomodrego Join PES activists (935 views and 3 comments)

    There is a clear disconnection between the EU and its citizens. Although this is easily explainable it is not sustainable in the long term. Democratic regimes cannot afford to cut citizens loose, citizens’ participation being itself the principle of democracy. How can we develop citizens’ interest in EU activities?

    First, citizens need to be given the means to have an influence on the decisions taken at EU level. They need to be given a real opportunity to shape the EU’s future. Election turn-out increases when the issue at stake is clear. The complexity of the EU decision-making system is the reason for low participation in European elections. Although in the context of the current institutional balance it seems unrealistic it is of high importance that we give ourselves the long-term objective of politicising the EU political system.

    Time has come to think about a radical change in the EU’s institutional balance. The Parliament should be the most powerful institution of the three. The Commission should be a product of the Parliament. This would imply that the Commission would no longer stay in its allegedly neutral position. It would become a European government. Some would say the EU citizens... » read more ...

    Tags: citizens, democracy, education, EU