Blogposts by Tag: UN

  • manifesto2009 barometer: EU in the world III

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    Rating: 5/5 with 1 votes

    Published Monday, June 9, 2008 at 16:30
    by Editor in EU in the world (311 views and 0 comments)

    The last months of the debates on EU in the world have again brought many proposals to include in the Manifesto to the 2009 European elections.

    Global Disarmament

    Several participants recommend that the Manifesto mentions Europe’s responsibility to ensure global disarmament and arms controls. Measures could include working towards a nuclear weapons-free Europe, reducing military expenses, focusing on conflict prevention, revitalising international processes and agreements (such as the non-proliferation and the CFE treaties), and banning small arms and light weapons (SALW) exports to unstable regions. But participants also agreed that the EU should develop its own military structures outside NATO to be able to independently carry out missions covered by the Petersberg tasks. Also, EU member states should press the US to restrain from engaging private contractors in conflict regions.

    Towards democratic international...

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    Tags: activists, barometer, EU, neighbours, poverty, social dialogue, UN, USA

  • An EU representing our people and not our States

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    Rating: 4.5/5 with 2 votes

    Published Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 09:23
    by carlosmoret Join PES activists in European democracy & diversity (222 views and 0 comments)

    Europe, this beautiful experience of a better place to live in.

    We inherit the word 'democracy' for our political system, and heritage is what Europe is all about. The word comes to us from the Republic of Athens, but modern day democracies took a different form.

    There was the DDR and there is the Democratic Republic of Congo. Is that what we want? A chorous will answer 'no!'

    It is the "democracy" of member states that we inherit.

    Is the Mao-Mao war or the indepencence wars of Madagascar or Algeria what we want? The Warsaw ghetto? No, although that is our heritage. Is it sending our troops to foreign lands to impose 'democracy' with missels? Is Abou-Graïb or Guantanamo the way we want to reach domestic peace?

    The principles of Modern Democracy are probably good, but in practice, 'La Raison d’Etat' those reasons that the ruler invoques when it abuses of it’s power, puts aside our fundamental rights for a superior interest, that of the State. And it trickles down to petty abuses of individual rights in the hands of a street policeman.

    Fortunately, the EU has rather clean hands, not so the individual Member States that arrive with blood stained hands. And I don’t just mean those who joined recently, I also have in mind the Founding States.

    In the aftermath of WWII, that last battle of the European Civil War, the European experience starts whith the will to finish with... read more

    Tags: citizens, democracy, UN

  • The future is always beginning now...

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    Rating: 3.8/5 with 5 votes

    Published Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 10:12
    by markus.austria Join PES activists in EU in the world (417 views and 1 comments)

    In my post I would like to adress the following questions as proposed in the discussion paper (available at the top of this page or here):

    2. What sort of UN reform should the EU propose?
    I think that - in the longterm - the UN Security Council should be replaced by the UN General Assembly as the central decision making body within the UN umbrella. To this end, I think it will be necessary to elect UN representatives in direct elections to arrive at a sort of 'world elections' in a manifestation of the supremacy of democracy over other, more exclusive forms of government.
     
    4. How should the EU work efficiently with NATO?
    I think we should think about developing military structures on a European level outside NATO in order to indenpendently carry out missions covered by the Petersberg tasks and the UN. Also, I think the EU member states actively engaged in the NATO should press the US to restrain from engaging private contractors in conflic regions (keyword: Blackwater).
     
    8. What actions should be undertaken by the EU to achieve the UN Millennium Goals?
    I think that the sole establishment of a headline number, such as 0.7 percent of GDP spent on Development Aid, will not be sufficient to face the challenge of economic (and social!) prosperity in... read more

    Tags: activists, Africa, defence, democracy, development, multilateralism, peace, poverty, UN

    File: PES manifesto consultation.pdf

  • manifesto2009 barometer: EU in the world II

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    Rating: 4/5 with 2 votes

    Published Thursday, April 3, 2008 at 09:57
    by Editor in EU in the world (669 views and 0 comments)

    The debates on the theme 'EU in the world' continue on a speedy track. During the last month a lot of progressive view-points and ideas have been aired - also on the international responsibilities of the EU and of each and every European citizen. Here’s an account of the debate since the last 'EU in the world' barometer:

    A more transparent and accountable EU foreign policy
    A new debate has been started by social democratic European foundations on the need to have a more transparent and more accountable EU foreign policy. The aim is to ensure that European citizens are aware that, besides the gaps that are always highlighted in the news headlines, the EU is quite successful in its external policies. More democratic control is also required, including through the European Parliament.

    Development - a focus on brain drain and decent work
    Participants are concerned about development as a crucial aspect of the EU’s external activities. Brain drain is a key issue, with Scandinavian PES activists considering that knowledge sharing, education, and brain drain must be given a lot of thought in EU development and foreign policies. The PSOE proposal... read more

    Tags: barometer, decent work, defence, democracy, fair trade, Russia, UN, USA

  • manifesto2009 barometer: EU in the world

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    Rating: 5/5 with 4 votes

    Published Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 11:33
    by Editor in EU in the world (779 views and 2 comments)

    Participants in the EU in the world debate seem to agree that the EU should play a greater role in international politics and some offered specific proposals on how this could be done.

    Development - a lot more than economic growth
    Development has been a central issue of the debates. Pattheact noted the need to deal with the emergence of new donors, such as China in Africa. This new aid and loans come without conditions of good governance, and therefore can have a negative impact in developing countries, perpetuating the corrupt systems. Eurodad proposed that the EU adheres to a set of responsible financing standards, to avoid the resurgence of the spiral of unpayable debt in developing countries. Our previous blogger of the week Victor Negrescu also insists on the need for more coherent development cooperation strategies to improve the efficiency of development aid and ensure its focus on the needs of local populations. On a related topic, Kim noted that the PES should take part in the discussions on globalisation,... read more

    Tags: barometer, climate change, development, human rights, peace, UN, USA

  • Les frontières de l'Union Européenne

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    Published Tuesday, January 8, 2008 at 09:53
    by Christian Casenave in EU in the world (897 views and 1 comments)

    Nous avons besoin d'élargir nos réflexions sur les frontières pertinentes de l'Union Européenne, qui a vocation à coopérer avec tous les continents de notre monde multipolaire. Après la chute du mur de Berlin, l'élargissement à l'est a été un grand succès et comme il n'est pas réaliste d'ouvrir les frontières vers le nord, ni vers le sud, pourquoi ne pas envisager un élargissement à l'ouest, vers les Antilles, le Canada, les Etats-Unis d'Amérique ? Une Union Européenne à l'échelle de l'Occident pourrait développer des relations plus ambitieuses et efficaces avec l'Inde, la Chine, sur le plan culturel, politique, économique et social, en relation étroite avec l'ONU; elle serait mieux préparée, aussi, à l'encadrement politique de l'OTAN. read more

    Tags: UN, USA

  • Cash money for saving trees?

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    Rating: 5/5 with 4 votes

    Published Friday, December 14, 2007 at 11:03
    by Editor in Save our planet (757 views and 2 comments)

    Today is the last day of the UN climate conference in Bali. The big question that has driven the talks in Bali is whether world leaders can agree on a ‘new Kyoto’ – find common grounds for a new international agreement on how to deal with climate change.

    One of the major topics was how to deal with the reduction of forests. Forests are a major ally in combating global warming, since trees and other green plants take CO2 out of the air. When forests are cut down and trees are burnt it has a doubly damaging effect – not only are there less trees to remove CO2, but the carbon contained in the trees is released into the atmosphere.

    In Bali environmental ministers agreed that financial rewards for not cutting down trees should be a part of a new global climate deal. Money should be ‘bait’ for developing countries to preserve their rainforests.

    At first hand this may sound like a good solution. However, NGOs have aired concern that financial compensation is just a convenient excuse for rich countries not to take actions against emissions within their own boundaries. Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth have, for example, suggested that instead of rich countries buying their way out of emissions’ reductions... read more

    Tags: climate change, CO2, UN

  • A good position on modernizing the UN Security Council?

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    Rating: 4/5 with 2 votes

    Published Tuesday, October 2, 2007 at 10:43
    by Editor in EU in the world (838 views and 2 comments)

    It is hardly controversial to point out that the UN Security Council is a post WWII construction that does not reflect today’s realities. But are we really ready for change? Can we accept one EU seat? That would be consistent with a Common Foreign and Security Policy, but it would also mean UK and France losing their own seats in the long run.

    And it is not just a question of who sits on the Council. There is the veto which allows any one permanent member to stop any UN security or peace initiative. More importantly, could the UN play a bigger and more decisive military role in peace keeping – and resolving conflicts before they escalate into violence? The EU recognizes the UN’s primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security – so why not give it some teeth, some real powers?

    Perhaps we should first push the EU to develop a real Foreign and Security policy before being overly ambitious about the UN? On the other hand why not recognize that UK and France, and all other European countries, are no longer world powers, and that the best hope for real European influence would be to press ahead simultaneously with the EU Foreign and Security Policy and a joint role in the UN Security Council?

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    Tags: conflict, crisis, globalization, multilateralism, UN