Published Wednesday, May 14, 2008 at 10:36
by
Editor
in New Social Europe (103 views and 1 comments)
Last Wednesday
evening around 18h30. In the renovated Brigittines chapel in
Brussels Sp.a co-workers are getting nervous. This
evening we present our input for the PES manifesto. We have
worked hard to provide for an interesting program (attached), but
can it compete with the beautiful spring evening?
At 7 o’clock our fears prove to be unfounded. Sp.a International
Secretary Saïd
El Khadraoui can introduce the evening before approximately
80 people. We kick off with a debate about New Social
Europe. Europe has done pioneering work on certain domains,
but it turns out that a lot more can be gained at European level.
For example, the health services directive that we are still
waiting for. There is no discussion about the need for a more
social approach of the Lisbon objectives. But ambitious and
enforceable European objectives concerning social themes are a
logical next step. The conclusions run parallel: Europe has a lot
of instruments at his disposal, but lacks ambition and
decisiveness when it comes to social themes. Political action
pays off, that becomes clear in dossiers such as the adjusted
Bolkenstein directive. As...
Tags: democracy, energy, environment, health, political parties, transparency, treaty, welfare
File:
manifesto_spa_FR.pdf,
flyer_spa.pdf
Published Friday, May 9, 2008 at 19:05
by
asa.westlund 
in European democracy & diversity (216 views and 3 comments)
Published Wednesday, May 7, 2008 at 16:57
by
Editor
in European democracy & diversity (138 views and 0 comments)
Published Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 10:12
by
markus.austria
in EU in the world (199 views and 1 comments)
Tags: activists, Africa, defence, democracy, development, multilateralism, peace, poverty, UN
File:
PES manifesto consultation.pdf
Published Thursday, April 24, 2008 at 11:01
by
noelhatch
in In the spotlight (300 views and 3 comments)
Published Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at 11:49
by
Editor
in European democracy & diversity (300 views and 0 comments)
Published Friday, April 11, 2008 at 15:31
by
Editor
in New Social Europe (283 views and 0 comments)
Published Thursday, April 10, 2008 at 16:48
by
martina
in European democracy & diversity (410 views and 4 comments)
Many visions have
been given to her: international collaboration in times of
mistrust, the common hymn, the architecture. With the latter I’m
not only referring to the buildings in Strasburg and Brussels,
but also the intellectual architecture in Rome, Schengen, Den
Haag, Maastrict or Dublin. My compliments for the past. Visions
tied together with a strong symbol: stars on a sky-blue – the
colour of peace – background which sparkle so positive and yet
discreet.
In spite of this everyone still is primarily focusing on his own
affairs in the community building process. In the new EU member
states you can win elections with showing hostility towards the
EU! Why is that? Because the EU is not producing enough positive
action. To be a member of the Union is profitable in terms of the
granted subsidies, not in terms of visions. EU-friendly
politicians quickly run out of arguments. In Great Britain Maggie
Thatcher and John Major could win elections with EU-hostility.
Why? Because people over there were afraid that the EU could
bring too many developments! Does that make sense? Only when you
have no clue, which is because of a lack of professional
communication! So, can Europe then agree on a common head of
communications? Of course not.
Foreign policy, pensions, health, workers’ rights – all...
Tags: blogger of the week, democracy, diversity, EU
File:
Europa - die Frau hatte Weitsicht_DE.pdf
Published Thursday, April 3, 2008 at 16:15
by
Duncan Anderson
in New Social Europe (233 views and 0 comments)
I was never in favour of such change when the Blair government
introduced an option for local authorities to have Cabinets and
Scrutiny committees.
I recently sat through a presentation by a Chair of one of the
Scrutiny Committees on our local Unitary Authority. She gave a
very good report and explained how they had discovered some
serious problems in service delivery. The Scrutiny committee was
now working with Council Officers, partners and everybody
involved using sub-committees to both expose the full problem and
present some potential solutions. Knowing the members of the
committee, the potential solutions will make up a substantial
component of the overall solution - they do look at every detail
and are very conscientious.
It strikes me that the EU could look at this model of working,
certainly looking at Scrutiny committees who could scrutinise
both the work of the EU, but also member states. One serious
complaint in the UK is that it appears that nobody else in the EU
seems to apply EU directives as rigorously as us. Part of the
problem is that our Civil Servants seem to like "gold plating" EU
Directives, part is due to opt-outs and part due when other
countries don't apply EU Directives. Scrutiny Committees would
thoroughly exposed this to public scrutiny and therefore
democratic accountability.
A very important part of accountable democracy is a FREE press. Free from the influence of; shareholders, chief executives,...
read morePublished Thursday, April 3, 2008 at 09:57
by
Editor
in EU in the world (461 views and 0 comments)
Published Tuesday, April 1, 2008 at 16:46
by
jonworth
in European democracy & diversity (469 views and 2 comments)
Published Tuesday, March 25, 2008 at 16:30
by
ania_skrzypek
in New Social Europe (308 views and 1 comments)
I write rarely about Poland – as a Secretary General of a
European Organization. But as I have also never written a blog
before I have decided to make an exception. Especially that the
issue below remains at the heart of the manifesto debate on
New
Social Europe and “how to reach a New Social Europe for
everyone and everywhere?"
There are few Easter traditions Polish cultivated up till today.
One of them is the tradition of hand-painted Eggs, and another of
“Wet Monday” when Polish are sprinkling water on one another. The
wetter you get, the more popular you are – says ancient
tradition. Both customs seem to have reached a new political
dimension; just before Easter Polish got their very own “Kinder
Surprise” hand-made by the Kaczynski Brothers colored in national
white and red, indicating the popularity to wash away in a
Niagara Falls of words like ‘never’, ‘scandal’,
‘forever’ the Lisbon Treaty.
Polish representatives, negotiating the Lisbon Treaty, made a lot of promises in the media. As a nation, educated in school by romantic literature, we like symbols underlined by a little drama. This is why it is in our political DNA to tear our clothes apart and claim that ‘we will die if…’ as in the negotiations; ‘…the Ioannina...
read morePublished Tuesday, March 25, 2008 at 09:40
by
Editor
in In the spotlight (318 views and 1 comments)
A group of German PES activists are the first to send in a paper
with ideas for the PES manifesto. Read the German contribution in the documents section of
Yourspace.
The EU working group from the SPD in Berlin proposes eight 'building
blocks' for the PES manifesto:
Published Thursday, March 20, 2008 at 16:19
by
Poul_Nyrup_Rasmussen
in European democracy & diversity (547 views and 10 comments)
Thanks to Jon Worth for his proposals to how Europe’s socialist
and social democratic parties can campaign together in the 2009
elections.Published Thursday, March 20, 2008 at 09:20
by
cafeneaua.politica
in EU in the world (312 views and 0 comments)
Published Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at 15:08
by
Poul_Nyrup_Rasmussen
in European democracy & diversity (478 views and 3 comments)
How can we spark a
greater interest in EU politics? Lolomodrego asked this question some time ago and it
is a good one.Published Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at 14:22
by
Editor
in In the spotlight (349 views and 0 comments)
The Swedish social
democrats discussed the future of EU when the Swedish Social
Democratic Party met in the Swedish Parliament on March 7th. The
keynote speakers were Mona Sahlin, party leader and chair of the
PES group Save our planet, Margot Wallström, Vice-president of
the EU Commission, Jan Eliasson, former Minister for foreign
affairs, and Wanja Lundby-Wedin, President of the Swedish LO and ETUC. Around 250 persons
attended the conference.Published Friday, March 14, 2008 at 11:50
by
AnneSofie
in European democracy & diversity (412 views and 1 comments)
Among the activities
of the gathering of Scandinavian PES activists in Jørlunde,
Denmark, was a discussion group on the PES manifesto theme 'European democracy and diversity':Published Wednesday, March 12, 2008 at 10:57
by
santibenitez
in European democracy & diversity (370 views and 3 comments)
Published Thursday, March 6, 2008 at 10:27
by
Editor
in European democracy & diversity (504 views and 0 comments)
The first months of debating European democracy and diversity
have really brought up a lot of priorities and proposals for the
PES to consider:
Fighting discrimination
First of all, fighting discrimination is a very important topic,
including the promotion of minority, women and LGBT rights and of
equal opportunities for all, and the fight against fascism,
racism, anti-Semitism and islamophobia. Regulations already exist at the EU
and national levels, but Rainbow Rose points out the need to enforce these
regulations. The example of the Spanish socialist party, PSOE, was
put forward as a best practice to be followed by PES member
parties on gender issues – the PES itself is already committed to
40 percent representation of each gender, and has over 42 percent
women MEPs.
More democracy, please
The EU democratic deficit is also a recurrent theme. There is an
agreement on the need to ensure more participatory democracy and
reinforce the European Parliament, in order to reconnect the EU and its citizens. For instance, the
PES could insist on the creation of a
Published Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 17:37
by
sukhjit
in European democracy & diversity (351 views and 1 comments)
Although everyone talks about increasing the ethnic involvement but no one has done a consultation within the ethnic community. Being from the ethnic background I know people feel that it is no point coming forward because sometimes they are not made to feel that it is easy to get involved. I think you need an employed ambassador at grass root level who would promote Europe and the benefits in ethnic minority. What you don't need is another high directorate position to write the policy on how to involve the ethnic people. They are the best people to tell you. If someone needs any help I can help. I am involved in politics but I know the reasons why people keep out of politics and I know how to motivate my kind. One has to be able to speak and say the things they want to hear for their benefit. Not lie to them but to really make them see the benefits in their environment.
read morePublished Saturday, March 1, 2008 at 13:44
by
rikkeindenmark
in European democracy & diversity (581 views and 0 comments)
This weekend stands a
good chance at becoming a turning point for the PES activists movement!Published Friday, February 29, 2008 at 09:38
by
davidshoare
in European democracy & diversity (419 views and 2 comments)
I went to the debate "Unity or Diversity? What Europe do we want?" in London earlier this week. The topic was the PES manifesto and democracy and diversity and there was a lot of discussion about democracy in Europe and how we can make it much closer to the people, and more relevant to them. I would like to suggest one of the ways we can do this is by giving the people concerned more of a say in how EU initiatives, particularly regional and social ones, are conducted and where the money goes.
We have had particular success in doing this at the South Bristol
Urban 2 Programme, of which I am proud to have been involved in
and also chaired for two years, where the ultimate decision
making committee that decided what projects to support was made
up of local residents, representatives of community organisations
and particularly young people, of which the programme's main aim
was to support. We also structured it's meetings so that young
people could better access it - the meetings certainly are not
boring and if there was any jargon that anyone did not understand
then you could show a red card and shame the person into
explaining it better! In doing this, we not only made one of the
EU's most innovative programmes,...
Published Monday, February 25, 2008 at 11:33
by
Thomas Lefebvre
in European democracy & diversity (362 views and 1 comments)
The current scandal over alleged misuses of MEP expenses raises key questions for the next PES. The dealing of the scandal has been, so far, a PR disaster for the EP, especially when Pöttering reportedly said: “we want reform but we cannot make this report available to the public if we want people to vote in the European elections next year.” Pöttering is making a big mistake here: it is, on the contrary, the absence of transparency that is fuelling populist and anti-EP commentaries. For instance, the lack of access to the report already lead to cheap eurosceptic articles, on the ‘gravy trains theme’, as highlighted by Jon Worth.
However, there is an opportunity to be taken: the PES could capitalize on the crisis by introducing transparency for MEPs expenses, as it is the case within the House of Commons, in its manifesto. The PES should also pledge to introduce a common status for MEPs assistants who deserve better working rights. Finally, the PES needs to pledge that PES MEPs who misuse their expenses are going to be excluded from the group.
These proposals would put the PES at the forefront of democracy and accountability. It would portray the PES as a modern party which can only help for wining next year elections.
read morePublished Friday, February 22, 2008 at 17:55
by
jonworth
in European democracy & diversity (441 views and 2 comments)
What is the price of
symbolism, the historic reconciliation of France and Germany in
the post-World War II Europe? Strasbourg, one of the seats of the
European Parliament, is the very embodiment of the values of
peace and reconciliation.
On the other hand the European Parliament's monthly trips to Strasbourg show how wasteful the European Union can be - getting all the MEPs, Assistants, Secretariat staff and documents there each month costs €200 million a year and 20000 tonnes of CO2 emissions (source: OneSeat, T&E). If we're cynical about it, perhaps the Member States want the EP to look like some kind of travelling circus? But as citizens and activists we should demand better than that.
So what are the options? One would be for the European Parliament to be located only in Strasbourg. This would for sure keep the city of Strasbourg content, and would maintain the historical significance of French-German reconciliation. But plenty of MEPs and staff would still have to make the trip on the motorway or train to Brussels to meet Commission and Council officials - hence the environmental impact of this might...
read morePublished Tuesday, February 19, 2008 at 14:30
by
jonworth
in European democracy & diversity (466 views and 5 comments)
In every
European election to date candidates from the PES Member Parties have campaigned under their
national party banners. Apart for the initiated in Brussels, and
the growing band of PES activists and members of ECOSY, few of
the electorate have ever heard of the PES. Yet when the MEPs,
freshly elected, find themselves in Brussels and Strasbourg
freshly elected in 2009, working in a pan-European party
political manner in the Socialist Group in the European Parliament
will become second nature.
So how do we bridge this gap, and is it indeed worth doing so?
Let's start with the socialist MEPs in the Parliament at the moment. The Socialist Group has 215 MEPs from 25 countries - so that's on average 8.6 MEPs per country. With 20 full committees in the EP, and MEPs normally...
read morePublished Tuesday, February 19, 2008 at 10:35
by
mariope
in European democracy & diversity (493 views and 3 comments)
Today, economic
globalization is an obviously true. Social globalization is not so
obvious. The reason is that economic liberalism is based in
“laissez fair-laissez passer” so, they don’t need any institution
to make it happen, the
invisible hand of Adam Smith does their work very efficiently.
The capitals move freely everywhere and they go where they get more
profits, normally they go to the countries where social rights are
not so strong because the welfare state requires a lot of money in
taxes. From my point of view, the only way to avoid this situation
is to build a strong European Socialist Party. European Union must
to take enough power to became one of the main international
subjects (USA, IMF, MB, Japan…) with real capacity of influence in
the international scene. Today, decisions must to be taken in a
global way, socialists must to put together all their resources to
push for a change in the institutions, and ways of acting of the
European Union. Socialism must to became global, as global as
liberalism, other way our main institution will disappear.
read more
Published Monday, February 11, 2008 at 11:54
by
Eric
in European democracy & diversity (575 views and 4 comments)
Y’all,
As your specially invited blogger this week, I must first say
that I am very honored. And since I try to keep two blogs as it
is (in English here and in Swedish here), I have learnt that
the best blog posts are not too long. But since I have your
attention now, we must be serious to start with.
In the autumn of 1993, I attended my first seminar at university
level. I had registered for a course in economic history at
Stockholm University, a decision I had started to regret right
before the course started. The summer of 1993 had been great. I
was in love with music (rock’n’roll, that is),
literature (Jack Kerouac, that summer) and
politics (social democracy, of course. But with
a more radical socialist twist, in those days).
When autumn arrived, I didn’t want to study economic history. It
sounded too... serious. I tried to swap for literature, but
thanks to the rigid rules at Stockholm University, I had to stick
to the original plan.
At the first seminar in economic history, our very old and
brilliant professor (who taught his last semester that year),
rose from his chair and wrote on word on the chalkboard:
Interdependence.
I had never heard of ”globalization”...
Published Tuesday, January 22, 2008 at 09:30
by
mochinho
in European democracy & diversity (547 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.
Published Monday, January 7, 2008 at 10:49
by
lolomodrego
in European democracy & diversity (690 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?Published Friday, December 21, 2007 at 10:39
by
Editor
in In the spotlight (667 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.
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