Published Wednesday, June 18, 2008 at 09:49
by
Joel Cordier
in EU in the world (525 views and 0 comments)
Le mercredi 13
février 2008 a eu lieu la première rencontre des Artisans
de l’Europe.
Lors de cette soirée nous avons eu le plaisir d’accueillir Alain Hutchinson, parlementaire européen socialiste et Gérard Karlshausen, chargé des politiques européennes au Centre National de Coopération au Développement et membre du Board de CONCORD.
Voici quelques propositions issues de cette rencontre.
Les objectifs de santé et d’éducation doivent rester la priorité numéro un de l’aide européenne au développement.
Avec ses 22,68 milliards...
read morePublished Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 09:42
by
Duncan Anderson 
in EU in the world (823 views and 0 comments)
I don't want to suggest that PES/EU can solve this problem within one term of office. But I do think that the EU should start talking to other countries and organisations about dealing with the consequences of over population.
Over population or having more people on the planet that it can sustain was a topic of discussion during the 1970s and China responded. I'm not saying that we or other countries should follow China's route.
But over population is at the core of many global problems. We need to use artificial fertilisers and G.M. products to feed the world and even then a lot of people starve. There is insufficient water to both grow food for people and for them to drink. We can't provide enough energy for everybody without damaging the planet.
Question, how do we address the twin problems of having a sustainable level of population on this planet? Answer, I don't know, but I'm interested in listening to there people's views.
If it is decided to reduce the population we have to consider the demographics of having more older people who are above a working age - but still need food, water and energy - than younger people who would be generating income and therefore taxes to pay for the water, food and energy of the older people.
But until we start discussing these concepts, both amongst ourselves and with other countries we're not going to fully understand the problems and therefore we won't find the correct answers.
read morePublished Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 09:34
by
yoan.abiven
in EU in the world (764 views and 0 comments)
S’inspirer de soixante
années d’expérience de la construction européenne pour avancer un
nécessaire projet d’Union Méditerranéenne est, à première vue, une
idée excellente. Vigilance pourtant au moment de manipuler le
vocabulaire et les méthodes de la success story européenne.
L’Europe des pères fondateurs ne se résume ni à quelque technique
habile, ni à quelques mots magiques, pas plus qu'à des partenariats
économiques tous azimuts. Elle oblige génétiquement à un partage de
souveraineté sur ce qui fait mal. L’Europe politique n’est
pas née seulement et durablement des moyens financiers offerts par
le plan Marshall. Elle s’est imposée dans le sillage d’un geste
politique historique, celui de la déclaration Schuman. Or, cette
initiative allait bien au-delà du champ économique. Il ne
s’agissait pas d’annoncer la restauration du théâtre de Bayreuth
avec des prêts bonifiés ! A cette époque, on voyait plus loin, on
visait plus haut. On confiait à une autorité politique nouvelle ce
qui avait servi à tant faire couler le sang des...
read more
Published Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 16:37
by
Editor
in EU in the world (959 views and 3 comments)
Published Friday, March 28, 2008 at 15:30
by
ania_skrzypek
in EU in the world (1200 views and 4 comments)
Today is the first
sunny day in Brussels, after a week of snow, rain, cold and
grey-dom. One wakes up – and U2 song ‘It’s a beautiful
day’ seem to be sung inside oneself just naturally….
This is how me and you wake up. Probably you open the sink listening to the water falling down into wash basin steadily…Sip of coffee with no thoughts of where it came from… Warm cotton t-shirt surrounds your neck… fair trade? What is fair trade during such a joyful morning? On TV the news presenter says something about some protests or riots in far away country, but no time for that – same tv claims it is already 8. Aha, you think with little anger, you will be late for work – why do people have to go to the office on such a beautiful Friday and sit there till 5 anyway? You think closing the door. The day begun – and within those two hours of pure enjoyment of yours – somewhere in Asia a kid went to factory instead of school, somewhere in Africa a poor family begun its walk to unknown, somewhere in Latin America a trade unionist get bullied again, somewhere in EU a jobless single mother goes for another job hunt. “Beautiful day”? Indeed!
You might think – I am crazy that I want you to bother everyday? Yes, I do! We must...
read morePublished Friday, March 14, 2008 at 11:50
by
AnneSofie
in European democracy & diversity (911 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 Tuesday, February 26, 2008 at 13:05
by
negrescuvictor
in EU in the world (1076 views and 1 comments)
Published Saturday, February 16, 2008 at 21:00
by
Eric
in EU in the world (1137 views and 4 comments)
Hello for the last time in a while!
This is my last blog post as your guest blogger, and as promised
I will write about ”EU in the world”.
The big debate in Swedish politics this week was the yearly
foreign policy debate in the 'Riksdag' (our parliament). Across
the Atlantic, ”the Potomac Primaries” in dear
old Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia pretty much locked up
the presidential nomination on the Republican side for
John McCain. Between those two events, a
striking similarity must be underlined.
It is often said that foreign policy never determines the outcome
of elections, a ”truth” that had to be modified in the US after a
the 11th of September 2001. In Europe, foreign
policy is still rarely the dominating factor in our elections,
but it sure can help to reinforce the general message of a
campaign. An example is the general election in Sweden in 1985,
when Olof Palme was our Prime Minister. A vote
for Olof Palme, and thus the Social Democratic Party, was a vote
on equality and solidarity in Sweden (in that campaign, more
jobs, higher pensions, and increased funding for football clubs
etc who organized activities for kids). But it was also a vote
for something bigger; more equality in the world and an end to
apartheid in South Africa. A vote on more
equality, both in Sweden and abroad.
Published Thursday, February 7, 2008 at 11:00
by
frederic.vareillas
in EU in the world (1002 views and 2 comments)
Je viens de voir hier
"le monde de Gazprom" sur ARTE. Au vu de ce reportage, il me semble
très urgent que l'UE renforce ses liens avec la Russie de Poutine
et de Medvedev.Published Friday, January 18, 2008 at 12:30
by
joelld
in EU in the world (1183 views and 0 comments)
Tags: equality, fundamental rights, gay, human rights, LGBT, peace, solidarity, women
File:
Yogyakarta_principles.pdf
Published Tuesday, January 15, 2008 at 14:55
by
Editor
in EU in the world (1279 views and 2 comments)
Turn the tap on and
you’ll have fresh water, right? According to the World Health
Organization 14.000 – 20.000 people die every day because of
contaminated water. No one can live without access to clean water –
it is essential to survival and development.Published Friday, January 11, 2008 at 12:55
by
fairness
in EU in the world (1259 views and 2 comments)
Published Tuesday, December 4, 2007 at 16:49
by
Editor
in EU in the world (1200 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 Monday, November 12, 2007 at 16:58
by
anqa
in EU in the world (1102 views and 0 comments)
Here's a visit to the office of Marek Siwiec, Vice-President of the European Parliament. He talks about the role of Europe in an increasingly globalized world and our responsibility towards other continents.
read more
Published Thursday, November 8, 2007 at 23:28
by
Sortir de l'Impasse
in New Social Europe (1296 views and 1 comments)
The French PES activists propose a discussion on the policies that we will have to come up with to protect our European industry and services in an increasingly globalized world. This subject is interesting, not because socialists are sometimes perceived as advocates of “economic patriotism” (which may be true), but because of the recent examples of large sovereign funds that have the wealth to purchase industrial assets in Europe.
A few years ago, European and American companies were the sole ones “buying the world”, for example investing in emerging countries, buying shares of privatized companies (mainly in Africa) or entering a joint-venture scheme (for instance in China).
A couple of days ago, we discovered through a survey run by Standard Chartered and cited by the Financial Times, that sovereign funds hold huge amounts of money. These amounts are estimated at around $2,200bn (i.e. around the French annual GDP) and have been accumulated by states like China, Norwegian, Abu Dhabi, … coming either from oil exports or from current-account surpluses.
Concretely, these funds can invest in any share available in...
read morePublished Wednesday, October 31, 2007 at 23:57
by
Editor
in New Social Europe (2016 views and 0 comments)
The “Putting the puzzle together: policy coherence for decent work” Conference organized by the Global Progressive Forum (GPF), International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Solidar and Social Alert International took place today in Lisbon, Portugal, preceding the International Labour Confederation (ILO) forum on Decent Work for a fair globalization.
Among the participants, a strong presence of trade unionists, members of civil society organizations but also members of the Portuguese Presidency of the EU. All together they called for achieving Decent Work at global level – an essential condition to attain a fairer globalization.
Juan Somavia, Director-General of ILO, underlined the importance of creating alliances among progressive associations – and having them working together coherently according to a toolkit providing common guide-lines. Portuguese Minister of Labour and Social Solidarity, José Vieira da Silva, has also mentioned the Decent Work as a new global vision of development. The Portuguese Minister connected “Decent Work Decent Life” to the Lisbon Strategy, as the success of the external dimension of the Lisbon Strategy would permit to strongly support Decent Work at a global scale. Moreover, a new concept of sustainable development for the 21st century would comprehend three subjects: preserving the environment, assuring human rights but also making sure the agenda of Decent Work is put into...
read morePublished Monday, October 29, 2007 at 14:06
by
Editor
in EU in the world (1198 views and 0 comments)
”Today Arena Europe has turned into a meeting place for world leaders. This makes it even more important for us as social democrats to have a policy that addresses the big questions,” said Inger Segelström during this weekend's ‘Palme Days’ in Karlstad, Sweden.
Inger Segelström is a member of the European Parliament and represents the Social Democratic Party of Sweden. In her speech at the Palme Days she invited all socialists and social democrats in Europe to take part in the debate about a common manifesto for the European elections in 2009.
Margot Wallström, vice president of the European Commission, also spoke at Palme Days. In the same spirit as other speakers she explained:
”Alone is not strong - social democrats have always built their peace efforts and their international commitment on collaboration. Now social democrats need to formulate political visions for Europe and the world - together with both members and voters”
According to Margot Wallström studies show that a great part of Europe’s citizens would like the EU to speak with one voice in the world, that the 27 member countries, the reunited Europe should be active in solving the world’s big problems.
But Margot also noted that...
read morePublished Friday, October 5, 2007 at 16:05
by
Editor
in EU in the world (1716 views and 2 comments)
We
Socialists are traditionally very interested in development –
supporting poorer and relatively newly independent countries to
become more prosperous, more sustainable, more democratic. But
genuinely good development polices are very hard to forge and
even harder to implement.
One problem is that it is very broad as a concept – and so many different policies come into play. Different EU countries have also had different approaches and interests so creating an EU framework for development has not been straightforward.
Today EU trade policy, agricultural policy, energy policies, the EU’s willingness to engage in peace missions, the EU’s decisions on debt cancellation, the extent it is willing to take action in support of democracy and human rights, its funding and support for AIDS, environmental sustainability, humanitarian relief, immigration policies all have an impact on development. All of these issues, and no doubt many more, should be covered in one EU development policy.
Everyone agrees that these policies should be ‘coherent’ – that one policy does not to contradict undermine the other, but instead should be ‘integrated’. In short we want the sum of different EU policies to add up to one clear and effective policy that supports...
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