Published Saturday, June 28, 2008 at 22:28
by
Sortir de l'Impasse 
(306 views and 0 comments)
From a French
perspective, we always believe that Ireland has one of the lowest
taxation systems in Europe, and that one the reasons for the
Irish “no” was the protection of these low taxes.
A couple of days ago (on 26th June), Eurostat published very interesting and useful analysis to draw some comparisons between the different taxations in Europe. Thanks to this survey, we discovered that Ireland had now the highest implicit tax rate on capital amongst the 27 European countries: 42.5% in 2006, compared to 27.1% in 1996. In France for instance, this implicit tax rate on capital is “only” 41.5%... This proved once again that we, French people, should sometimes be more open minded and work at revamping our “idées préconçues”.
The survey also shows large spreads between taxation rates in Europe: on capital, the range of implicit taxation is between 8.4% in Estonia, and 42.5% in Ireland. On labour, it is between 21.5% in Malta and 44.2% in Sweden.
We strongly believe that to be efficient in the world, Europe should be able to speak one voice, whether it is for diplomacy... » read more ...
Published Wednesday, June 25, 2008 at 12:47
by
negrescuvictor
(498 views and 2 comments)
While reading the
contributions submitted by several PES member parties or by
different NGOs I have noticed something that I thought has
disappeared. What is that exactly? The desire to
change the world, to ask ourselves what is wrong and, thus, to
think about improving the current situation.
We are far away from living in a perfect world and sometimes it can be difficult to imagine that thousands or millions of people are starving, getting incurable diseases, people who don’t have access to the basic survival needs, not to talk about the lack of education.
Europe is far from having resolved its own problems but the power of our political (social and economic) Union resides in the value of solidarity. Countries and regions have been reconstructed based on this solidarity, people have known prosperity and wealth, the living conditions have improved and no one can say otherwise. People from countries like Ireland, Greece, Spain, and Portugal know what I’m talking about… Solidarity is difficult when this means giving a bite of your wealth but you always have to remember that this is what EU is all about: mutual help when you are facing a bad economic situation.
... » read more ...Tags: blogger of the week, elections, EU, PES
Published Wednesday, June 25, 2008 at 12:29
by
Editor
(410 views and 0 comments)
The European
Network of Social Democratic Foundations (ENSoF) became very
involved in the PES Manifesto consultation, coordinating research
with their 16 member organizations. They started in January 2008
with a preparatory workshop in Vienna and since then successively
held four further workshops in Sofia, Athens, Paris and Rome – one on each of the
core themes. Debating the draft papers with MEPs and other experts
in Brussels on May 29, ENSoF finally delivered a very comprehensive
booklet as their contribution to the PES
Manifesto consultation.
The scientific yet political approach of the foundations to the most important issues on the European agenda undoubtedly represents a unique enrichment to the consultation process. Having done extensive analytical research, ENSoF also presented a number of concrete proposals on “Europe in the world”, “European Democracy and Diversity”, “Save our Planet” and “New Social Europe”. Here is just a small selection:
Published Monday, June 23, 2008 at 10:50
by
Editor
(294 views and 0 comments)
Meet Rikke, Victor, Aleksander and Francisco during the PES activists BLOGFEST! For the next two weeks and until the 6 July, they will publish articles and comments here on Yourspace on some of the contributions delivered and several other themes they are keen to write about, such as the new social problems in Eastern Europe or gender equality!
Rikke Skovgaard Andersen is a young journalist from Denmark and PES activist. Currently she is working with international higher education in Copenhagen. Rikke is a member of the Danish Social Democratic Party and the Danish Social Democratic Youth.
Victor Negrescu is the National Coordinator of PES activists in Romania and he works on several campaigning issues for PSD Romania. Victor worked as a journalist for important media in the country.
Aleksander Glogowski is in charge for communications at the Fédération du Parti Socialiste... » read more ...
Tags: blogger of the week
Published Monday, June 23, 2008 at 09:11
by
Joel Cordier
(437 views and 0 comments)
Je vous propose un texte rédigé par Antonio Carmelo Scifo et Renato Sallustio, militants PSE de Charleroi.
Par ailleurs, je vous invite à découvrir la contribution rédigée par leur groupe pour le manifeste.
La chute du mur de Berlin qui symbolisait la division de la planète en deux camps adverses a fait naitre un espoir de communication et de compréhension réciproque. Cet évènement pouvait même être perçu comme l'occasion de réaliser sur le plan économie et sociale ce que certains intellectuels nommaient une "troisième" voie qui serait en quelque sorte une synthèse, selon l'acception hégélienne du terme, dans laquelle se résoudrait la relation dialectique entretenue par les deux anciens systèmes. Cette synthèse aurait pu réunir les préoccupations relatives aux droits sociaux de l'un des systèmes et l'attention aux... » read more ...
Tags: blogger of the week, EU, globalization
Published Friday, June 20, 2008 at 11:22
by
Joel Cordier
(411 views and 0 comments)
La fraude fiscale,
pour les seules recettes TVA, est estimée à près de 60 milliards
d’euros pour l’ensemble de l’Union européenne. Cette fraude est
particulièrement préjudiciable pour le budget de l’UE puisque la
TVA constitue une part ses recettes.
Une grande partie de ces 60 milliards, ainsi que d’autres revenus qui échappent à l’impôt, se retrouvent dans des institutions financières situées dans des paradis fiscaux.
Selon l’OCDE, un paradis fiscal (bancaire ou judiciaire) est caractérisé par :
- une taxation quasi inexistante ;
- un manque de transparence ;
- l’absence d’échanges d’informations entre le territoire concerné et le fisc du pays de résidence du contribuable ;
- la possibilité d’élire une résidence fiscale dans ces pays sans avoir de véritable activité économique.
En résumé, les paradis fiscaux permettent d’échapper à l’impôt mais également de réaliser des opérations financières douteuses. Ils sont un vecteur majeur pour le... » read more ...
Tags: blogger of the week, finance, fraud
Published Thursday, June 19, 2008 at 17:29
by
Joel Cordier
(550 views and 1 comments)
Les Etats Membres au
sein de l’UE ont des systèmes fiscaux relativement hétérogènes,
fruit de l’histoire et des traditions nationales.
Aujourd’hui, les principales règles européennes sur la fiscalité visent à :
- harmoniser les taux de TVA ;
- éviter la double imposition des sociétés, notamment pour des entreprises mères et filiales basées dans plusieurs Etats membres;
- harmoniser la fiscalité de l'épargne, les citoyens européens étant désormais libres de placer leur argent dans tout pays de l'UE ;
- établir une coopération européenne dans la lutte contre les fraudes fiscales.
Globalement, notamment du fait de la règle de l'unanimité, l'harmonisation en matière de fiscalité reste limitée.
L’absence d’une véritable politique fiscale commune en Europe favorise la concurrence entre les états membres, chacun voulant attirer chez lui capitaux et/ou entreprises. De plus la rigidité des règles en matière de TVA ne permet pas aux états de répondre... » read more ...
Tags: blogger of the week, finance
Published Monday, June 16, 2008 at 19:01
by
Editor
(351 views and 0 comments)
Supporters of the
PES manifesto2009 of the French Parti Socialiste gathered for the
presentation of the contribution of the Strasbourg Federation.
During the meeting, held at the capital of the Alsace region,
Patrick Dollat, Europe Secretary-General of the Federation,
emphasized the transnational framework of next European elections
to be hold in June 2009.
“We should do a European campaign rather than a national or a campaign based in Brussels. Citizens should be our priority and we should be right next to them”, he said.
Philip Cordery, PES Secretary-General, and Mathieu Cahn, First Secretary of the Strasbourg Federation, also participated on the meeting.
According to Philip Cordery, the PES manifesto can be an
important step to fill the gap between Europe and its citizens as
it is offering grassroots the possibility to actively define a
common campaigning agenda.
In its contribution, the Strasbourg Federation outlines that the social Europe should be structured through the exercise of political rights by EU citizens... » read more ...
Published Monday, June 16, 2008 at 09:42
by
Editor
(403 views and 1 comments)
Desmond O’Toole, member of the Irish Labour Party, was blogging
last week on the Irish referendum! Thank you Desmond for your
insight views!
Joël
Cordier’s our new blogger of the week. Joel was International
Secretary of the Mouvement des Jeunes Socialistes and member of
ECOSY in the
90s.
He was candidate on the list of the Parti Socialiste during the European election campaign 2004.
As from 2007, he is member of the executive committee of the Parti Socialiste (PS) in Namur and of the Federal Committee of the same region.
In 2008, Joel started working at Artisans de l’Europe, an initiative undertaken by the Belgium Parti Socialiste and developed under the framework of Artisans du Progrès, a project aimed at debating the manifesto2009.
Welcome to Yourspace, Joël!
Tags: blogger of the week
Published Friday, June 13, 2008 at 17:26
by
Editor
(405 views and 2 comments)
Commenting on reports that there will be a ‘no’ vote in the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, PES President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen said
“A no to the Treaty is not a no to Europe. There is still so much we need to do together. Europe cannot afford to waste any more time in institutional crisis or pausing for reflection. If we want citizens to support Europe we need to create a Europe for citizens. We need to tackle the insecurities of ordinary people and families – we need to create more and better jobs, we need to tackle climate change and ensure a secure supply of affordable and sustainable energy, we need to manage globalization in a fairer way for all, we need to deal better with migration.”
“The Irish rejection of the Treaty means we will also have to find a solution to the most urgent institutional issues. This may take some thought and some time, but it must not deflect our attention from the real issues facing us.”
On Friday, the No won in the Irish referendum by 53.4 per cent.
Published Thursday, June 12, 2008 at 10:35
by
karinedaniel
(376 views and 0 comments)
En tant que socialistes, nous nous félicitons de l'initiative du PSE en vue de créer un socle de programme entre tous les socialistes européens, à travers nos différences, et en mettant en commun les valeurs de solidarité sociale qui nous rassemblent.
Nous souhaitons que le manifeste exprime l’attachement profond des socialistes européens au développement harmonieux et équilibré de l’espace européen et leur volonté de voir amplifiée la politique de cohésion économique et sociale au bénéfice de l’ensemble des villes et régions européennes dans le respect de la diversité des territoires. Cette volonté, cet équilibre ne pourra se dégager que par une vision dynamique des évolutions des territoires, d'une volonté de projets et ce, avec un investissement majeur en formation et recherche. Pour ce faire, les différentes politiques publiques européennes doivent être réellement évaluées, coordonnées et s'appuyer sur un budget à la hauteur des ambitions de l’Union européenne. C'est en ce sens que l'Europe trouvera sa véritable... » read more ...
Published Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at 15:17
by
Editor
(270 views and 0 comments)
The PES has released its Report on
"The EU on the
international scene: Promoting sustainable peace". Presented to
the PES Council in Sofia on 22-23 November 2007, this report has
been written by Jean Asselborn, André Flahaut, Heidemarie
Wieczorek-Zeul, Carin Jämtin, Espen Barth Eide, Alain Richard and
Luciano Vecchi.
Tags: PES
Published Monday, June 9, 2008 at 15:35
by
Editor
(282 views and 0 comments)
The PES Group in the Committee of the Regions (CoR) has delivered its contribution for the manifesto2009 adding to it an extra document on gender equality to complement the four defined themes.
Mercedes Bresso, President of the Group, stresses the dimension of local authorities when it comes to create policies aimed at tackling issues falling under the four themes on discussion.
“Given that the local and regional dimension is key for the design and elaboration of policies falling under the four themes identified by the PES as the most relevant for the PES Manifesto, the PES Group in the CoR, as the institutional representative of locally and regionally elected... » read more ...
Published Monday, June 9, 2008 at 10:14
by
Desmond O'Toole
(424 views and 2 comments)
Dia dhaoibh a
chairde agus fáilte ó Éireann! Hello to everyone and greetings
from Dublin! I'm delighted to have been asked to blog this week
from Ireland because this is the week that the Irish people vote
in the referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. During this week I will
be reporting from the Labour Party campaign in Ireland and
discussing the key themes and issues that we are addressing.
To begin, however, it might be useful if I sketch the background
to this referendum. When we Irish people gave ourselves a
Constitution (Bunreacht na hÉireann) in 1937 we determined that
any changes to that Constitution could only be made with the
explicit consent of the people in a referendum. As the Lisbon
Treaty involves the transfer of a... » read more ...
Tags: blogger of the week, EU, treaty
Published Monday, June 9, 2008 at 09:25
by
Editor
(303 views and 0 comments)
Thanks to Richard
Falbr, Czech MEP, for blogging on Yourspace last week!
This week Desmond O'Toole, Irish Labour Party, will be sharing
his thoughts on the PES manifesto. He is currently the Chair of
the Dublin Mid West Constituency Council and was a Director of
Elections at the General Election in Ireland last year. Desmond
is heavily involved on the YES side in the referendum campaign to
ratify the Lisbon Treaty. The referendum will take place
Thursday, 12 of June.
Welcome to Yourspace, Desmond!
Tags: blogger of the week
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