Published Wednesday, May 14, 2008 at 16:39
by
alias77 
in New Social Europe (69 views and 0 comments)
On the occasion of Europe Day (9 May 2008), over 100 Romanian PES activists,
academics, Romanian MEPs and the President of PSD, Mircea Geoana
took part in a debate in Brasov, Romania. The Secretary General
of PES, Philip Cordery engaged in discussion on the PES manifesto
consultation.
The main conclusion was that the European left should come with
an alternative solution to the right’s proposals that only split
up the society. The left should counter it or adopt a mediating
strategy. The activists showed great interest in getting involved
in concrete actions to reshape the left and bring it in the
forefront of the political stage. The left should better
communicate its goals, thus by leaving out the too politically
correct speeches and the 'wooden language'. The commitments and
actions need to be expressed better, in order to reach the common
people. The common language must be recaptured and allow the left
to better connect to its electorate.
The full article is available only in Romanian here!
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 Thursday, May 8, 2008 at 17:27
by
Editor
in In the spotlight (167 views and 0 comments)
Yesterday Flemish
social democrats concluded their debate on the PES manifesto. Over
the last month Sp.a, the Flemish social democratic party, has hosted
four debates on the themes of the PES manifesto consultation –
yesterday evening was the closing event, a final discussion of
common priorities for the 2009 elections.Published Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 13:52
by
eromerof
in European democracy & diversity (205 views and 1 comments)
But all this would be just another subjective comment if women were not constantly forced to prove themselves and if they were not there merely out of a simple strategy of political marketing. In addition, women must also prove their worth and show that they are not just puppets. In our society, in most cases, women must adjust...
read morePublished Tuesday, April 22, 2008 at 10:07
by
Editor
in European democracy & diversity (742 views and 12 comments)
Published Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at 12:36
by
brianfrombrussels
in European democracy & diversity (330 views and 1 comments)
Hello comrades and
friends,Published Friday, April 4, 2008 at 11:58
by
Editor
in In the spotlight (481 views and 1 comments)
This week
communication experts from Europe’s socialist and social democratic
parties met in Brussels to debate the campaign for the 2009
European elections. 50 dedicated campaigners met to share ideas on
how to campaign together as one political family.Published Monday, March 31, 2008 at 09:36
by
cafeneaua.politica
in European democracy & diversity (448 views and 4 comments)
In the last time I have participated in some interesting left
civil society and social democrat debates, under the PES
Activists auspices at Oradea and Cluj-Napoca in Romania. The
quality of the subjects and on the other hand of the speakers and
listeners prove again that “the left” has a very good future in
Romania and probably in Europe.
1. The Oradea debate subject:
”Parliamentary bureau - The feed-back connection with
citizens”
2. The Cluj-Napoca debate subjects:
”Is the Romania a success example for different cultures
joining?”
Published Friday, March 14, 2008 at 11:50
by
AnneSofie
in European democracy & diversity (411 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 08:58
by
Editor
in In the spotlight (343 views and 1 comments)
Labour UK is the
first party to submit its suggestions for the PES manifesto. Find
the contribution in the documents section of
Yourspace. Here you’ll also find contributions from an array of
NGOs and labour unions.
read more
Published Monday, March 3, 2008 at 10:06
by
Editor
in EU in the world (306 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."Published 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 Wednesday, February 27, 2008 at 15:34
by
Editor
in In the spotlight (434 views and 1 comments)
Good news from
Hungary! MSZP,
the Hungarian Socialist Party, has launched their own consultation website
and invite their members to discuss the PES manifesto in Hungarian.
The site looks great and there's already debates going on. If
you're a Hungarian speaker don't hesitate to visit the new website!
read more
Published Wednesday, February 27, 2008 at 10:05
by
negrescuvictor
in European democracy & diversity (409 views and 3 comments)
Published Monday, February 18, 2008 at 15:58
by
jonworth
in European democracy & diversity (537 views and 6 comments)
Rather than political ideology as such, I would like to
start my posts as 'blogger of the week' here at Yourspace with
some reflections about campaign tactics ahead of the 2009
European elections, for it strikes me that this election offers
more prospect for interesting uses of the internet than any other
election fought anywhere in Europe to date.
First of all, the very existence of Yourspace is the most radical departure from what has happened prior to previous European elections - Web 2.0 technologies (blogs, forums, YouTube etc.) allow centre-left activists from across Europe to participate in policy discussions prior to the elections. We're of course profiting from the achievements of Ségolène Royal's Désirs d'Avenir in the 2007 Presidential Elections - her site demonstrated what's possible - but for EU-wide policy discussion there's simply no way to organise it other than online.
Secondly the Treaty of Lisbon, and its ongoing ratification, give 2009 added significance. Not only will the European Parliament elections take place, but a new Commission team will be chosen, and for the first time there will be a High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (aka EU...
read morePublished Friday, February 1, 2008 at 12:50
by
Editor
in New Social Europe (905 views and 4 comments)
The Spanish Socialist
Party, PSOE, has launched its manifesto for the
Spanish general elections on 9th March. It happened at a conference
this Saturday at which PES President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen declared
“We cannot have a Social Europe without a Social Spain”!Published Tuesday, January 29, 2008 at 11:01
by
raphi sternfeld
in European democracy & diversity (514 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
Published Friday, January 25, 2008 at 10:30
by
Editor
in In the spotlight (573 views and 1 comments)
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 Thursday, December 20, 2007 at 10:13
by
Soren Winther Lundby
in European democracy & diversity (618 views and 1 comments)
We need a ‘democratic infrastructure’ in Europe. This
should be a top priority for PES. To be short:
The Union and the member states will have to invest in a
‘democratic infrastructure’ that will make it easier for citizens
to meet face-to-face in cross border political meetings.
Top politicians and business people have the structures and the
funding that makes it possible for them to conduct cross border
political networks. This is good and fine, we should be in favour
of that.
The problem is that most citizens do not have this kind of
opportunities. 9 out of 10 Europeans never discuss politics with
citizens from other countries! This is what we have to
change.
PES should suggest that the EU and the member states invest €2
per citizen per year in a democratic infrastructure. We need true
European political parties and a thriving European civil society.
Unfortunately, these things will not drop from the sky. This is
why PES should suggest a European democratic infrastructure.
By the way, we also have to elect our PES candidate for the post
as president of the European Commission. This we have to do
before the end of 2008 (in January 2009 the European Council will
elect "their" president)
Published Friday, November 30, 2007 at 11:38
by
together
in European democracy & diversity (767 views and 3 comments)
European political parties can play an important role in shaping European democracy and therefore they should play an important part in our manifesto theme on European Democracy and Diversity. In order to start a discussion, I would like to present two short texts. One is a translated paragraph from the new SPD (German social democrats) manifesto "Hamburg Programme". It is taken from the chapter "Democratic Europe". The second text is composed of a few paragraphs drawn up by me.
1.) This is a quote from the German social democrats on "Democratic Europe":
European democracy requires a European public scope. European media, organizations of civil society, social partners, but even strong European political parties are indispensable for this. Our aim is to develop the Social Democratic Party of Europe to become a functioning members’ and program party. We are favouring the elaboration of a program of social democratic principles for Europe. In the elections to the European Parliament we want to present a pan-European candidate.
If you are interested in reading the whole chapter, you can download the SPD "Hamburg Programme" here
2.) This would be my...
read morePublished Wednesday, November 28, 2007 at 12:10
by
yoan.abiven
in New Social Europe (742 views and 1 comments)
Pour une
politique européenne commune de l’immigration!
- afin que la libre circulation dans les Etats de l’Union,
garantie aux migrants légalement installés, se fasse dans le
respect des droits fondamentaux et à égalité de droits avec tous
les résidents de l’Union,
- qui réponde aux intérêts économiques et démographiques de
l’Union
- qui accroisse son rayonnement à l’étranger.
Diagnostic
Les Etats européens, aux frontières intérieures désormais
effacées, confrontés à la nécessité d’une coopération renforcée
en matière d’immigration, doivent aller au-delà et construire une
politique commune d’immigration. Il serait catastrophique que
l’UE apparaisse comme une forteresse close entourée de hauts
murs.
Objectifs
La politique commune d’immigration devrait se fonder sur les
points suivants:
Garantir les droits fondamentaux aux migrants légalement
installés sur le territoire de l’Union, en particulier le droit à
une vie familiale stable, ce qui...
Published Tuesday, November 27, 2007 at 20:05
by
jose reis santos
in European democracy & diversity (689 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 Wednesday, November 21, 2007 at 15:21
by
Editor
in In the spotlight (536 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 (487 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 Wednesday, November 21, 2007 at 10:37
by
marek_siwiec
in European democracy & diversity (373 views and 0 comments)
The result of the new
elections in Poland brought hope that our country will no longer
be perceived on the international arena as a not particularly
sociable companion at the EU table. As member of the left-wing
party I may not be overexcited about the victory of the
right-oriented party, such as the Citizens’ Platform.
Nevertheless, I hope that the new government will use the
experience of Polish social democrats, who – even when they are
not in power – make every effort possible to keep and develop
good relations with our neighbours and especially with Germany,
our biggest partner.
The Party of European Socialists has on many occasions underlined the importance of good cooperation between Member States – both for the sake of internal EU relations, but also externally, to build the power of the European Union in the world. One of the PES consultation papers makes it clear that it is “necessary to join forces to tackle problems that go beyond national borders” and the Polish coalition of the Left and the Democrats has been implementing this idea by co-organizing cyclical meetings with our friends from the SPD, the German social democratic party, to strengthen the relations of parties from two neighboring EU states. The last...
read morePublished Thursday, November 15, 2007 at 17:25
by
Editor
in European democracy & diversity (837 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 Thursday, November 15, 2007 at 10:42
by
Editor
in European democracy & diversity (423 views and 0 comments)
PES activists has a very active city group in Lisbon, Portugal. The group is taking part in the PES manifesto consultation and here is a Portuguese PES activist explaining why he thinks it is important to have a common manifesto for Europe's socialists and social democrats:
Find more videos with Portuguese activists in the PES manifesto2009 group at YouTube. Feel free to add your own interviews and videos to the group. We would love to bring them on Yourspace!
read morePublished Wednesday, November 14, 2007 at 09:40
by
Editor
in In the spotlight (1092 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.Published Tuesday, November 13, 2007 at 09:47
by
carl0s
in European democracy & diversity (544 views and 0 comments)
Obviously we can't bracket together every new member of the EU from the former Eastern Bloc. But the problems with democratic stability and forming a new equitable economic balance are consistent from state to state. Every country has issues with the far-right either growing in influence or forming new organisations. Whilst these remain marginal, in many cases these influence the debate, even to the point where a member party of the PES, in Slovakia, feels obliged to join a coalition with extreme right elements.
The problems seem to often stem from the political economy which has replaced the monolithic state system. Politicians have generally failed to explain the challenge of converting to a market economy, and the huge changes to the social geography that this has entailed. Worse still, there is a risk that the new economies are becoming distorted into mirror images of developing countries, with huge inequalities between rich and poor, and failing public services. That the new industries will be simply dirty, primary industries, exploiting natural resources and a cowed workforce. This is not good enough for the EU. We still need to monitor how the new EU countries are performing across a variety of criteria - not just the Maastricht budgetary restrictions!
Whilst the countries which previously comprised the Austro-Hungarian empire have a cosmopolitan and varied history, the virtual isolation of previous fifty years have reduced the public's toleranceof...
read morePublished Monday, November 5, 2007 at 10:32
by
Editor
in European democracy & diversity (503 views and 0 comments)
At the recent congress of SPD, the German social democratic party, we talked to Martin Schulz, president of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament, about the PES manifesto:
read more
Published Tuesday, October 30, 2007 at 14:08
by
Editor
in European democracy & diversity (574 views and 0 comments)
The new SPD program,
adopted at the party’s congress in Hamburg this weekend, defines
essential elements of European democracy in a sharp and clear
way. For German social democrats European democracy means
government based on responsible and accountable parliamentary
procedures.
For the SPD this implies that the European Parliament must stand on equal footing with the European Council. The Parliament should at the same time control the other European institution: for the SPD it has to be the European Parliament which elects the President of the European Commission.
A strong parliamentary democracy needs parties: the SPD wants to develop the PES into a real member party based on a long term program and the capacity to act effectively. At the elections for the European Parliament the SPD proposes one top social democratic candidate.
The SPD proposes structured cooperation of those member states which want to go further down the road towards a more democratic Europe. Such cooperation, however, needs to be open for all other member states.
What do you think: is this the right vision for a more democratic,...
read morePublished Friday, October 26, 2007 at 11:08
by
Editor
in European democracy & diversity (592 views and 2 comments)
One of the PES activists, Chourka, has been interviewing socialists from Paris about the
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