Published Friday, December 21, 2007 at 10:39
by
Editor
in In the spotlight (632 views and 0 comments)
Here are more video statements from PES activists. They explain why Europe's socialists and social democrats need a common manifesto for the 2009 European elections.
Find more videos on the PES Youtube channel.
Published Tuesday, December 18, 2007 at 10:18
by
Editor
in In the spotlight (407 views and 0 comments)
Published Friday, December 14, 2007 at 16:42
by
Editor
in In the spotlight (414 views and 0 comments)
Published Wednesday, December 12, 2007 at 16:55
by
Editor
in In the spotlight (397 views and 0 comments)
At last month's PES Council the Yourspace team presented a series of
videos with statements from PES activists and other socialists who told
us their priorities for the PES manifesto. Here's one of
them:
Find more videos at the PES
YouTube channel.
Published Thursday, December 6, 2007 at 09:45
by
Editor
in New Social Europe (509 views and 0 comments)
At the recent
PES Council in
Sofia politicians and activists met and discussed what a
common manifesto for Europe’s socialists and social democrats
should look like. Another of the roundtables on the first day of the Council
addressed the manifesto theme ‘New Social
Europe’.
PES President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen gave his ideas for priorities
in this theme:
Published Wednesday, December 5, 2007 at 10:19
by
Editor
in European democracy & diversity (938 views and 0 comments)
Published Tuesday, December 4, 2007 at 16:49
by
Editor
in EU in the world (616 views and 2 comments)
Sergei Stanishev, leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, was one of the
party leaders who attended the recent PES Council in Sofia. We
spoke with him about the Council days and, in particular, the
outcome of the plenary debate on EU's role
on the international scene:
Published Tuesday, December 4, 2007 at 16:27
by
Editor
in Save our planet (714 views and 4 comments)
A roundtable debate
on the ‘Save
our planet’ manifesto theme concluded the first day of PES
Council. Here are a few opinions and impressions from the
debate:Published Tuesday, November 27, 2007 at 20:05
by
jose reis santos 
in European democracy & diversity (643 views and 0 comments)
I haven’t seen any
news coverage of last week's PES Council in Sofia, so I don’t know what
spin the media made of it. From my perspective it was a success.
Everybody already knows about the weather conditions that
prevented a full house plenary and the presence of more high rank
officials; but, even thought, the level of the discussions and
the quality time available more than compensated this unfortunate
event.
The funny thing is that I’ve been told that the airport was build in that location by German engineers in World War II, exactly because of the fog condition - it would make the place easy to defend and invisible to enemy attacks.
The political contribute of this PES Council was very intense, as the Manifesto 2009 took off with attention and strength. Most of the plenary interventions were in accordance to the four main issues – Save our planet, New Social Europe, European democracy and diversity and EU in the world – with some very good ideas and interventions....
read morePublished Tuesday, November 27, 2007 at 13:01
by
Editor
in In the spotlight (540 views and 1 comments)
One of the PES activists
from Portugal has been blogging from last week's PES Council!
Find videos and hour by hour reports at ‘Loja de
Ideias’.
‘Blogmog’ was also present in Sofia – read about her experiences here.
Thanks to the PES activists for all their efforts!
read morePublished Friday, November 23, 2007 at 17:02
by
Editor
in European democracy & diversity (596 views and 0 comments)
Like yesterday, this
afternoon offered a number of fringe meetings. One of them was
devoted to PES
activists and how they can take part in PES campaign for the
2009 European elections. The meeting clearly demonstrated the
growing need of grassroots party members to participate in the
European political debate, and expressed the necessity of a
well-organized and Europe-wide activist network. Participants
agreed that the PES manifesto campaign is an ideal tool to
participate in the political debate and to share local experiences
at the European level. Many also mentioned the initiative as an
opportunity to consolidate a strong network of socialist and social
democratic grassroots in Europe.Published Friday, November 23, 2007 at 16:54
by
Editor
in New Social Europe (610 views and 0 comments)
Published Friday, November 23, 2007 at 09:25
by
Editor
in Save our planet (490 views and 0 comments)
After yesterday's plenary on combating climate
change we asked a couple of delegates what they think should be
the most important priority for the PES manifesto:
Robert
Goebbels, Member of the Euopean Parliament, Luxembourg:
"Humanity will always need energy and there is no silver
bullet to resolve the problem. I think the PES manifesto should
suggest investments in research into all kinds of energy."
Petroula Nteledimou, Vice-President, ECOSY:
"I think it is very important that the PES manifesto presents an integrated and whole strategy to environmental issues. These problems are not isolated from other issues such as social problems and foreign and security policy."
read morePublished Friday, November 23, 2007 at 08:31
by
joelld
in European democracy & diversity (700 views and 2 comments)
The first day of the PES Council in Sofia went well, despite the climate conditions, with rich debates and conferences. Rainbow Rose LGBT was well represented by Rodrigo Martín Galán during the debate on European democracy and diversity yesterday afternoon. As many speakers remarked, article 13 of the EC treaty, and other binding European laws such as anti-discrimination directives 2000/78 and 2000/43, are already implemented in all member States, improving the conditions of LGBT persons, women or disabled persons in all areas of social life. Still, it also appears clearly that EU treaties and regulations, being no magic solutions, had not eliminated racism, sexism, homophobia or transphobia in our societies. As socialist activists and NGOs report daily, discriminations in employment and work conditions, hate crimes, intolerant speeches in day-to-day life, are a reality we must face.
Rainbow Rose met at lunch time, outside the Council, with Bulgarian LGBT activists who could explain us what kind of exactions they live with in their country – and Bulgaria is not an exception. As European socialists are talking, these days in...
read morePublished Thursday, November 22, 2007 at 18:15
by
jose reis santos
in In the spotlight (507 views and 2 comments)
The 2007 PES Council began, despite weather conditions. Fog in Sofia led to the closing of the airport and to the impossibility of 2/3 of participants arriving. There are stories of delegates, activists and guests spread all over Eastern Europe, from Romania to other Bulgarian small aeroports.
Find more reports from the PES Council here and here.
Here is my video of the first hours:
read more
Published Thursday, November 22, 2007 at 18:00
by
Editor
in Save our planet (543 views and 0 comments)
Who should lead the fight against climate change, if not Europe’s socialists and social democrats?
This question, posed by Stephan Singer, of WWF European Climate and Energy Policy Unit, was answered by speakers and delegates at the PES Council today. They want to turn the planetary emergency into a global opportunity. The PES adopted a resolution which offers a roadmap for combating global warming.
Speakers in the debate underlined that we know enough about the threat, and we already have many of the solutions. “It’s time to act”, said Linda McAvan, Vice-President of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament. To keep the rise in average global temperatures below 2°C, the PES calls for binding targets for the reduction of green house gas emissions in all industrialised countries and for the limitation of CO2 emission increases in emerging economies. The aim for 2050 is a reduction of global CO2 emissions by at least 50%. This is only possible with effective global, regional and national policies and an effective system international emissions trading system.
New, sustainable energy resources are the key for a low carbon economy. This requires massive investment in research, development and innovation, not least in Europe, as well as a global partnership to help developing economies get eh latest green technology to fight climate change and to cope with climate changes. Without our solidarity poorer countries cannot...
read morePublished Thursday, November 22, 2007 at 17:32
by
Editor
in New Social Europe (561 views and 0 comments)
There are plenty of examples of the negative impact on society of certain kinds of hedge and private equity funds. These funds, many financed with investments from pension funds, are on a hunt for short-term profit – something which too often is at the expense of worker’s rights and the long-term development of the company invested in. Many hedge and private equity funds also pay very little tax and, because they finance company buy outs with huge accumulated debts, they pose a threat to financial stability.
This type of ‘unhealthy investment’ was the topic of today’s second plenary at the PES Council. There was broad agreement among the speakers at the podium that the unregulated behaviour of hedge and private equity funds are a serious problem which urgently needs to be dealt with – for the sake of both workers and companies.
One of the speakers, Democratic Congressman Barney Frank (Chairman of the US House Committee on Financial Services), had taken the trip during the American thanksgiving holiday, across the Atlantic to urge collaboration between the US and Europe.
"If the US and Europe do not coordinate our efforts we will never be able to tackle the problem of hedge and private equity funds. The funds will then move and the problem is the same."
The...
read morePublished Thursday, November 22, 2007 at 17:09
by
Editor
in EU in the world (509 views and 0 comments)
The first plenary
debate, right after the opening of the PES Council, was dedicated to
international politics. The debate entitled "The EU on the
international scene; Promoting sustainable peace’" was chaired by
the Katrin Saks, Member of the European Parliament from Estonia,
and was filled with lively interventions and contributions.
"It’s an important challenge for us as socialists and social
democrats to apply our values in the 21st century," said Espen
Barth Eide, Secretary of State for Defense in Norway, when he
presented a recent report by the PES on the international scene
and sustainable peace.
According to him effective multilateralism is a fundamental tool
and has to be focused on the creation of other instruments for
changes. The main objective of socialists and social democrats
should be to bring the advantages of an interdependent world to
citizens in many different parts of the world. For example
through the European Security Defense Policy, or via humanitarian
aid and health policies, trade policy or external relations with
countries such as China and India.
The discussion tackled how socialists and social democrats can
reach their objectives - to this
Published Thursday, November 22, 2007 at 11:07
by
Editor
in In the spotlight (566 views and 0 comments)
Red roses and the PES
logo everywhere – there is not doubt that the plenary room at the
National Palace of Culture is a meeting place for socialists! The
stage is decorated with banners printed with the four manifesto
themes: save our planet, New Social Europe, European democracy and
diversity and EU in the world.Published Wednesday, November 21, 2007 at 15:21
by
Editor
in In the spotlight (514 views and 1 comments)
When European party leaders, delegates and PES activists gather
tomorrow morning you will be able to watch their debates online.
The plenary debates and the two press conferences will be brought
to you as near-live streaming via the PES main homepage.
Here’s what to view – please keep in mind that the sessions will
be broadcasted with a delay of approximately one hour. All
indications of time are GMT+2.
Thursday 22 November
09.00 Press conference
09.30 Opening of Council
10.15 Debate 1: The EU on the international scene: Promoting
sustainable peace
11:30 Debate 2: Social market economy comes first: A new strategy
for hedge funds and private equity
15.30: Debate 3: Combating climate change: From a planetary
emergency to a global opportunity
Friday 23 November
09.00 General debate:Towards the PES manifesto
11.30 Closing of the Council
15.15 Press conference
The programme is in Sofia time – which means that you will be
able to watch the opening of the Council online approximately
09.00 Brussels time (GMT+1 hour) and 08.00 London time (GMT).
Published Wednesday, November 21, 2007 at 14:35
by
Editor
in European democracy & diversity (464 views and 0 comments)
When the PES Council starts tomorrow in Sofia, Bulgaria, you will be able to follow the year’s biggest PES event on Yourspace. There will be hourly blog posts updating you on what goes on in the National Palace of Culture in Sofia. The Yourspace crew and a team of PES activist bloggers will work hard to report on all the major event and debates – right from the beginning tomorrow morning!
From hedge funds to climate change – find the programme for the PES Council here.
read morePublished Tuesday, November 20, 2007 at 12:22
by
Editor
in European democracy & diversity (409 views and 0 comments)
This Saturday the PES manifesto buzz reached Wielkopolska in Poland! At a meeting of the Local Government Academy – that gathers councillors of the region’s cities and counties – Elwira Bowers, co-worker of Marek Siwiec, presented Yourspace and the PES manifesto campaign.
The Wielkopolska councillors and Elwira Bowers have prepared a video statement for this week’s PES Council. View it right below!
read more
Published Monday, November 19, 2007 at 14:39
by
Editor
in European democracy & diversity (373 views and 0 comments)
Last week we invited PES activists to send in video statements for the PES Council on the 22nd and 23rd of November. Below you'll find one, but we suggest to check out all the videos at the PES manifesto YouTube group:
read more
Published Friday, November 16, 2007 at 10:07
by
joelld
in New Social Europe (625 views and 0 comments)
As an observer
organisation, Rainbow Rose will be present at the PES Council. This year, Rodrigo Martin Galan, from
the "Grupo LGTB del PSOE" (Spain), will be our delegate. Other
Rainbow Rose activists coming from the Netherlands, Estonia and
France will be present in Sofia. PES activists, MEPs, and party
leaders will be welcome at our stand.
Rainbow Rose will use this opportunity to communicate on our contribution to the consultation on the PES 2009 Manifesto. To this day, the contribution has already received the support of several MEPs. We will also explain our networking activities and our political positions at a fringe meeting on Friday, November 23. We believe it's important to convince all socialists that equality, diversity and secularism, as they have always been at the heart of the social-democratic movements, justify total commitment from our national and European parties.
Last, but not least, Rainbow Rose aims at maintaining a contact with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender activists in Europe. That's the reason why intend to meet, on the one hand, with members of the ruling Bulgarian socialist...
read moreTags: council, diversity, equality, gay, LGBT, PES
File:
R.ROSE_CONTRIBUTION_2009_MANIFESTO.pdf
Published Thursday, November 15, 2007 at 17:25
by
Editor
in European democracy & diversity (793 views and 1 comments)
What would you say if you got the chance to speak in front of PES Council? PES activists are invited to send us statements for the PES Council in Sofia which will then be shown during debates.
Make a video of yourself, stating what you think should be in the
PES manifesto for the 2009 European elections and put it out on
YouTube –
and have the chance to be shown in Sofia! For inspiration, have a
look at the questions on the manifesto theme papers. For constraints of time –
many activists would like a say – we cannot accept videos that
are longer than 30 seconds. Please record your video in a quiet
place, since it is impossible for us to show it if the sound
quality is poor.
Once you're done add your videos to our YouTube...
Published Wednesday, November 14, 2007 at 09:40
by
Editor
in In the spotlight (1020 views and 0 comments)
Next week will be
exciting. It will be time for the PES
Council - a major gathering of European socialist and social
democrats. The Council will take place in Sofia, Bulgaria on the
22nd and 23rd of November and bring together more than 350 people
from all over Europe. The participants will be delegates from the
PES member parties but also numerous guests and PES activists.
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