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   <title>PES Manifesto</title>
   <link>http://manifesto2009.pes.org//</link>
   <description>Description</description>
   <language>fr</language>
   <generator>Webadmin 3.0 beta</generator>
   <item>
    <title>Roma Community</title>
    <pubDate>Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:12:00 +0200</pubDate>
    <link>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/595</link>
    <guid>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/595</guid>
    <description><![CDATA[<p><img class="rightIMG" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3026/2635306715_b9ab555032.jpg?v=1215159026" alt="" width="220" height="143" align="right" /><span>An important part of PES activists </span><span>Romania</span><span> proposal for the Manifesto2009 is given to the Roma community issues. This theme is considered an important social issue by the Romanian social democrats and this is why our MEPs are supporting several solutions included in our manifesto proposal like:</span></p><p><span><span>- <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal">         </span></span></span><span>the creation of the European Agency for Roma</span></p><p><span><span>-<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal">         </span></span></span><span>education projects for the Roma community</span></p><p><span><span>-<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal">         </span></span></span><span>promotion of the Roma culture as an European culture (the Roma community is not only a Eastern European issue but an European issue)</span></p><p><span><span>- </span></span><span>self-inclusion projects for the Roma community to give them access through jobs to social development</span></p><p><span><span>-<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal">         </span></span></span><span>information campaigns all over </span><span>Europe</span><span> about this culture and community</span></p><p><span>Our purpose is to increase awareness regarding the fact that this community is a European community that is facing a high degree of exclusion all over </span><span>Europe</span><span> (increasingly in countries where they tend to immigrate) and low social development. Let&rsquo;s stop with all the discrimination and build an </span><span>Europe</span><span> equal for everyone. </span></p>]]></description>
    <author>negrescuvictor</author>
    <category>blogueur de la semaine</category>
    <category>discrimination</category>
    <category>diversité</category>
    <category>droits fondamentaux</category>
    <category>égalité</category>
   </item>
   <item>
    <title>Taking online campaigning seriously</title>
    <pubDate>Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:57:00 +0200</pubDate>
    <link>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/594</link>
    <guid>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/594</guid>
    <description><![CDATA[<img class="leftIMG" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3084/2633617914_70ae54ff09.jpg?v=1215076110" alt="" width="220" height="165" align="left" />This weekend I will be doing a presentation on social networking tools at the <a href="http://www.manifesto2009.pes.org/en/events/#127" target="_blank">PES activist forum in Vienna</a>. I was glad to find out that there&rsquo;ll be a workshop dedicated to online campaigning - and now I'm looking very much forward to debating the topic with other PES activists. Therefore, I thought it would be appropriate with a few words on online campaigning and my particular &lsquo;campaigning speciality&rsquo;, namely social networking sites. <br /><br />The US elections usually say a thing or two about upcoming campaigning tools and methods. In the primaries social networks turned out to be really hot - as a voter you could connect to candidates pretty much everywhere: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://www.myspace.com/" target="_blank">MySpace</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/" target="_blank">YouTube</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a>... you name the network and <a href="http://www.hillaryclinton.com/" target="_blank">Clinton</a> and <a href="http://www.barackobama.com/" target="_blank">Obama</a> would be there! <br /><br />Given the experiences from the primaries social networking sites are likely to play a significant role in the upcoming campaign for the European elections. Not to the same extent as in the US, but candidates (especially the younger ones) will create profiles and pages and put some effort into connecting to voters online. We&rsquo;ll also see more social networking activities from grassroots, party members (including PES activists!) as well as NGOs. <br /><br />Social networking has a lot of potential for grassroot campaigning. It will never replace hanging up posters or handing out flyers in the street, but it can help us reach new audiences since social networking is often more fun and less aggressive than traditional campaigning. <br /><br />But if social networking campaigning is to become a success, grassroots need to take it seriously. It&rsquo;s not enough to create a Facebook cause, a MySpace profile or a Twitter account &ndash; you also need to promote your initiative and to update regularly. Like traditional political campaigning social networking is hard work &ndash; it might take only an hour to create a Facebook page, but it&rsquo;s your efforts in the long run that really count. <br /><br />If you&rsquo;re interested in social networking you&rsquo;re welcome to take a sneak peak at my presentation for the PES activist forum. Find hand-outs attached to this post. <br /><br />See you in Vienna!]]></description>
    <author>rikkeindenmark</author>
    <category>blogueur de la semaine</category>
    <category>campagne</category>
    <category>élections</category>
   </item>
   <item>
    <title>Spécificité ou combat universel ?</title>
    <pubDate>Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:50:00 +0200</pubDate>
    <link>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/593</link>
    <guid>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/593</guid>
    <description><![CDATA[<p>Tr&egrave;s rares sont les contributions qui pointent du doigt les discriminations dont souffre la communaut&eacute; Rom. Une seule exception &agrave; cet oubli : la contribution de nos camarades du PSD. Faut-il y voir une sp&eacute;cificit&eacute; locale ? Une chose est certaine : les Roms repr&eacute;sentent une population estim&eacute;e &agrave; 8 millions d'individus sur notre continent soit autant si ce n'est plus que bien des pays composant l'Union europ&eacute;enne. </p><p>A ce titre, on peut consid&eacute;rer que c'est la premi&egrave;re minorit&eacute; -si on peut encore parler de minorit&eacute; avec une telle population- en Europe. Or, en raison de leur inorganisation, de leur dispersion, les Roms ne sont bien souvent pas reconnus. Ni dans leur histoire qui pourtant est faite de pas mal de souffrances (cf. la Seconde guerre mondiale), ni dans leur nature m&ecirc;me. </p><p>Il y a l&agrave; pour notre famille politique une question majeure &agrave; traiter. Pour &ecirc;tre un peu provocateur, on peut d'ailleurs consid&eacute;rer que les premiers Europ&eacute;ens sont les Roms, en cela, qu'ils ne sont pas attach&eacute;s &agrave; un Etat-membre en particulier et qu'ils font preuve d'une mobilit&eacute; peu commune &agrave; l'exception des cadres sup&eacute;rieurs.</p><p>La mani&egrave;re dont certains gouvernements sont tent&eacute;s de faire des entorses aux Accords Schengen voire de remettre en cause la Libert&eacute; de circulation des personnes (une des quatre libert&eacute;s fondamentales de l'Union) est proprement honteuse. Lorsque des &quot;reconduites &agrave; la fronti&egrave;re&quot; sont organis&eacute;es &mdash;s'agissant d'Europ&eacute;ens&mdash;, le terme appropri&eacute; est celui de &quot;d&eacute;portation&quot; quand bien m&ecirc;me cela se fait en avion et que les personnes ne sont pas maltrait&eacute;es.</p><p>Il est imp&eacute;ratif, pour nous socialistes, de savoir regarder les Roms pour ce qu'ils sont : des Europ&eacute;ens. Des Europ&eacute;ens qui ont des droits, une culture, une langue et que tout cela doit &ecirc;tre reconnus par leurs concitoyens europ&eacute;ens que nous sommes et d&eacute;fendus par notre famille politique. </p>]]></description>
    <author>chourka</author>
    <category>blogueur de la semaine</category>
    <category>discriminations</category>
    <category>diversité</category>
    <category>droits</category>
    <category>droits fondamentaux</category>
    <category>Roms</category>
    <category>UE</category>
   </item>
   <item>
    <title>Europe indépendante ? Égalité des citoyens ?</title>
    <pubDate>Sun, 29 Jun 2008 15:09:00 +0200</pubDate>
    <link>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/588</link>
    <guid>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/588</guid>
    <description><![CDATA[<img class="leftIMG" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3183/2624355425_c48001acee.jpg?v=0" alt="" width="244" height="162" align="left" /><span>&laquo; Unis dans la diversit&eacute; &raquo;, tel est le slogan qui a &eacute;t&eacute; adopt&eacute; pour l'Europe. Mais quelle diversit&eacute; souhaitons-nous vraiment ? Une diversit&eacute; absolue, o&ugrave; l'on ne pratique aucun &eacute;change entre les peuples, o&ugrave; chacun garde sa propre culture, sa propre langue et ne cherche pas &agrave; communiquer avec ses voisins ? Ou une diversit&eacute; limit&eacute;e, o&ugrave; l'on fait en sorte que toute l'Europe s'exprime dans une m&ecirc;me langue et se reconnaisse dans des valeurs similaires ?</span>   <p><span>Aujourd'hui, il semble que c'est ce second choix qui a &eacute;t&eacute; fait, avec l'anglais comme langue commune, et les valeurs des &Eacute;tats-Unis comme base de notre culture, au d&eacute;triment de nos propres coutumes.</span></p>   <p><span>La France, pays r&eacute;put&eacute; pour sa tol&eacute;rance se dote de lois de plus en plus strictes, alors que les adolescents se reconnaissent de plus en plus dans les cow-boys qui, au nom d'une certaine id&eacute;e de la justice, se permettent d'&ocirc;ter la vie aux hors-la-loi&hellip; La France, pays r&eacute;put&eacute; mondialement pour sa nourriture voit fleurir de plus en plus de &laquo; fast-food &raquo; au coin de ses rues. Le fran&ccedil;ais, la langue des lumi&egrave;res, langue de Moli&egrave;re, Victor Hugo, et nombres d'autres auteurs illustres, perd de plus en plus de son attrait. On ne dit plus les &laquo; affaires &raquo;, mais le &laquo; business &raquo;, la direction, mais le &laquo; management &raquo;, etc. Au sein m&ecirc;me de l'&eacute;lite (industrielle) fran&ccedil;aise, on nous conseille d'abandonner nos combats d&eacute;pass&eacute;s, d'accepter le modernisme, et de parler anglais. Cet &eacute;tat de fait, que l'on aurait jamais tol&eacute;r&eacute; si on nous l'avait impos&eacute; il y a quelques d&eacute;cennies, est devenu naturel en s'imposant petit &agrave; petit dans nos vies.</span></p>   <p><span>Je parle de la France et du fran&ccedil;ais parce que fran&ccedil;ais je suis, et que je pr&eacute;f&egrave;re parler de ce que je connais. Mais le probl&egrave;me est le m&ecirc;me dans tous les autres pays de l'Europe. La preuve la plus proche est ce site qui, s'il tol&egrave;re le fran&ccedil;ais, reste majoritairement en anglais, et exclu compl&egrave;tement tous les socialistes europ&eacute;ens qui ne parlent aucune de ces deux langues.</span></p>   <p><span>L'anglais est aujourd'hui la langue la plus comprise (&agrave; ne pas confondre avec la langue la mieux comprise) partout dans le monde. Mais il reste encore au moins 4 personnes sur 5 qui ne la comprennent pas. Chez moi, cela fait une majorit&eacute;.</span></p>   <p><span>Aujourd'hui, 5% de la population mondiale est anglophone de naissance et impose aux 95% restant d'apprendre leur langue. Pendant que l'on d&eacute;pense des millions d'euros et d'heures &agrave; enseigner cette langue (beaucoup plus difficile que ce que beaucoup pensent), les anglophones eux, ont tout loisir de d&eacute;penser leur argent dans les sciences, la culture ou m&ecirc;me le social.</span></p>   <p><span>Aujourd'hui, la Grande-Bretagne gagne 1% de son PIB gr&acirc;ce &agrave; l'h&eacute;g&eacute;monie de sa langue. Les autres pays europ&eacute;ens paient. Pour la France, par exemple, cela repr&eacute;sente 5 milliards d'euros par ans.</span></p>   <p><span>La langue anglaise, l'une des plus difficiles au monde, est g&eacute;n&eacute;ratrice de nombreux probl&egrave;mes graves. On peut citer par exemple la plus grosse catastrophe a&eacute;rienne de l'histoire de l'aviation (T&eacute;n&eacute;riffe, 583 morts) ou plus r&eacute;cemment, en France, les sur-irradi&eacute;s d'&Eacute;pinal (et oui, c'est une chose qui n'est jamais rappel&eacute;e lorsque les m&eacute;dias parlent de cette histoire, mais les probl&egrave;mes de r&eacute;glages sont dus en partie au fait que le logiciel de pilotage &eacute;tait en anglais). </span></p>   <p><span>Non, je ne souhaite pas mener un combat contre la langue anglaise, ni contre aucune langue. Que l'Europe poss&egrave;de une langue commune pour que l'on puisse se comprendre est une tr&egrave;s bonne chose. Mais si l'on veut en &eacute;viter les d&eacute;rives, nous ne devons pas choisir la langue d'un pays. Nous devons choisir une langue neutre, qui ne porte pas la culture d'un pays, qui est facile &agrave; apprendre, et qui n'avantagerait personne. En plus de 120 ans d'existence, l'esp&eacute;ranto, parl&eacute; quotidiennement par plusieurs millions de personnes &agrave; travers le monde, &agrave; fait ses preuve et me semble donc la langue la plus appropri&eacute;e pour cela.</span></p>   <p><span>Mais voil&agrave; que je suis parti dans un long article &agrave; ce sujet qui me passionne. J'ai du mal &agrave; m'arr&ecirc;ter tellement j'ai &agrave; dire sur la comparaison de l'anglais et de l'esp&eacute;ranto. Alors plut&ocirc;t que d'&eacute;crire encore des kilom&egrave;tres de texte, je vous laisse vous renseigner par vous-m&ecirc;me, et vous faire votre propre opinion. Voici quelques liens qui peuvent vous y aider :</span></p>   <p><a href="http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esp%C3%A9ranto" target="_blank"><span>http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esp%C3%A9ranto</span></a></p>   <p><a href="http://ps-esperanto.ouvaton.org/" target="_blank"><span>http://ps-esperanto.ouvaton.org/</span></a></p>   <p><a href="http://www.esperanto.qc.ca/html/faq-mensonges-fr.htm" target="_blank"><span>http://www.esperanto.qc.ca/html/faq-mensonges-fr.htm</span></a></p>   <p><a href="http://www.claude-piron.ch/francaisindex.htm" target="_blank"><span>http://www.claude-piron.ch/francaisindex.htm</span></a></p>]]></description>
    <author>stephane.veyret</author>
    <category>discrimination</category>
    <category>langues</category>
    <category>multiculturalisme</category>
   </item>
   <item>
    <title>Is business as usual always the right way?</title>
    <pubDate>Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:34:00 +0200</pubDate>
    <link>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/585</link>
    <guid>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/585</guid>
    <description><![CDATA[<img class="rightIMG" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3159/2615625264_35b8087793.jpg?v=1214555876" alt="" width="252" height="167" align="right" /><em>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have anything against gays and lesbians, but I do think the only right thing for a child is to have a father and a mother&rdquo;</em><br /><br />As you might already have guessed this post will be about adoption rights for same-sex couples. My original intention was to write about parental leave for fathers, but this topic has already been covered extensively on Yourspace! So to say something new and to touch upon another controversial topic I&rsquo;ll blog about adoption rights. <br /><br />I know the Nordic countries are pretty far when it comes to LGBT rights, but still we&rsquo;re not far enough. The quote above is <em>not</em> from me (oh no! :-)), but from a Danish politician who is very much against same-sex couples adopting. The statement is not really an intelligent argument against LGBT couples adopting - it&rsquo;s more a claim that &lsquo;the way things usually are done&rsquo; is always the right way. In other words it&rsquo;s a (conservative) moral statement. Statements like this are typical for the debate on adoption rights in Denmark: there&rsquo;s an assumption that same-sex couples are not fit to be parents, simply because they are not &lsquo;business as usual&rsquo;. In my opinion this is very weak argument &ndash; why should same-sex couples be less &lsquo;parent-skilled&rsquo; than heterosexual couples? Being a loving and nurturing parent has, in my view, nothing to do with sexual orientation - or gender for that matter.<br /><br />I&rsquo;m definitely not an expert on adoption laws, but as far as I understand same-sex couples are not allowed to adopt in Denmark. However, <em>an individual </em>can adopt &ndash; and usually women stand a better chance than men (for no good reason in my opinion). So this is what same-sex couples do in Denmark (correct me if I&rsquo;m wrong!!): one of them adopts and the other one receives no rights in relation to the child. No right to parental leave when the child arrives and no right to see the child if the relationship does not last. <br /><br />I know these options are much more than what is available to same-sex couple in many other European countries. Therefore, I think the PES should express its support for LGBT rights more loudly. There&rsquo;s (still) a lot of moral conservatism in Europe and I see it as an important task for Europe&rsquo;s socialists and social democrats to challenge such perceptions and ensure more inclusive societies. ]]></description>
    <author>rikkeindenmark</author>
    <category>blogueur de la semaine</category>
    <category>discrimination</category>
    <category>diversité</category>
    <category>gay</category>
    <category>LGBT</category>
   </item>
   <item>
    <title>Western Balkans: which European perspective?</title>
    <pubDate>Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:30:00 +0200</pubDate>
    <link>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/578</link>
    <guid>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/578</guid>
    <description><![CDATA[<span>All non-EU states in the western Balkans have been said to have European perspectives. I can not avoid raising some questions:</span>  <ul><li class="MsoNormal"><span>Can EU absorb      new members and simultaneously keep alive some of its ideas?</span></li><li class="MsoNormal"><span>Are European      perspectives and EU membership the same?</span></li><li class="MsoNormal"><span>Is it better      to belong to EU or to be outside of it?</span></li><li class="MsoNormal"><span>Are there      any alternative strategic alliances to EU?</span></li></ul>  <p><span>Today EU has a Parliament. MEPs sit and travel between Strasbourg and Brussels, with no power and no authority. Commission, their army of bureaucrats and lobbyists keep EU as their playground.</span></p>  <p><span>One common custom is to equate European perspective and EU membership. Does Switzerland or Norway have less European perspective than member-states?</span></p>  <p><span>Some EU benefits can be applied without belonging to the Union. For instance it is possible to travel from Finland, Sweden and Norway much easier than between Hungary and Romania (both EU members).</span></p>  <p><span>Is there an alternative to the EU? I envisage the following options: </span></p>  <ul><li class="MsoNormal"><span>Strategic      linkages to BRIC countries - Brazil,      Russia, India, China. These countries represent      a rising economic, cultural and political power. </span></li><li class="MsoNormal"><span>Association      Agreement without goal to become member-state could be a good and      realistic alternative.</span></li><li class="MsoNormal"><span>European      &lsquo;Free Port Zone&rsquo;. This position can make non-member states popular for people      who want to live in Europe but do not      like high taxes and with international trade businesses.</span></li></ul>  <p><span>EU is not a miracle which brings economic development included in the membership-pack. More important is what people are doing in each Western Balkan state. If they develop good policies (apart from being a member of EU) they can make their country appealing for foreigners.</span></p><p><em><span>Note:<span>  </span>Full text available on BalkanBlog</span></em><span> &ndash; <a href="http://arirusila.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">http://arirusila.wordpress.com</a></span></p><p>&nbsp;</p>]]></description>
    <author>arktika</author>
    <category>Balkans</category>
    <category>UE</category>
   </item>
   <item>
    <title>If not we will keep having</title>
    <pubDate>Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:34:00 +0200</pubDate>
    <link>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/583</link>
    <guid>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/583</guid>
    <description><![CDATA[<p class="MsoNormal"><img class="rightIMG" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3256/2612496729_cfac0cb5ee.jpg?v=0" alt="" width="224" height="148" align="right" /><span>At the same time <a href="http://www.franciscopolo.com" target="_blank">I start writing this article</a> the ratification process for the Lisbon Treaty is starting at the Spanish Parliament. I can hear the Foreign Affairs Ministry starting his discourse...</span></p>    <p class="MsoNormal"><span>Probably (no to say &ldquo;for sure&rdquo;), tomorrow the Spanish newspapers will show on their front pages the results of the Spain vs. Russia soccer game at the Eurocup. The matter of the Treaty will also be shown in those newspapers but it will not be given so much importance.</span></p>    <p class="MsoNormal"><span>As you probably know, the Lisbon Treaty is important due to many things: The Fundamental Rights Chart becomes binding, the Treaty creates a common space of liberty, security and justice (it was formerly intergovernmental), the EU gains in its capability to create an international interlocution by creating both the positions of the permanent President of the European Counsel and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security, among other things. But there is something much more important.</span></p>    <p class="MsoNormal"><span>This Treaty is specially important because it makes the EU to be more democratic. It creates the civil initiative so a million of citizens will be able to suggest the creation of new rules; the European Parliament, our direct representative in the EU gains power and almost nothing can be decided without its participation; National Parliaments obtain more participation in the EU processes.</span></p>    <p class="MsoNormal"><span>And this is no &ldquo;Blablabla&rdquo;. It means that from now, we, the citizens, have more power in the EU. And a greater power means a greater responsibility.</span></p>    <p class="MsoNormal"><span>European affairs can sound far to many. It has to stop sound like something that is far from national issues because what is decided in the institutions affects us all as our national Parliaments do. What happens in there is now more than ever, our responsibility. We must pay attention, we must critizice, we must think, we must suggest and pronounce ourselves about everything that happens in the European dimension.</span></p>    <p class="MsoNormal"><span>If not we will keep having  &quot;surprises&quot; from our institutions...</span></p>]]></description>
    <author>franciscopolo</author>
    <category>blogueur de la semaine</category>
    <category>citoyens</category>
    <category>démocratie</category>
    <category>droits fondamentaux</category>
    <category>partis politiques</category>
    <category>traîté</category>
    <category>transparence</category>
   </item>
   <item>
    <title>Bringing youngsters to vote at the next European elections</title>
    <pubDate>Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:39:00 +0200</pubDate>
    <link>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/581</link>
    <guid>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/581</guid>
    <description><![CDATA[<img class="leftIMG" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3158/2612949294_1c5d7b3a7c.jpg?v=0" alt="" width="224" height="149" align="left" />Most of European countries confront themselves with the problem of bringing youngsters to vote at the different elections. Regarding European elections the stats are similar to the other elections even knowing Europe normally speaks more about the future of our societies.  <p>Involving youngsters in the European project and inside the socialist parties is becoming a more and more difficult task even know many of the PES member parties have chosen to promote younger leaders or building special information campaigns. The question is to find a way in interesting youngsters in politics and in the European project.</p>   <p>PES activists Romania has participated at a debate in Bucharest on this issue and came to a general conclusion: the need of appealing and the necessity of offering new solutions to the next generation of social problems. It become clear to us that European themes have to been translated in a language understandable for everyone and this is a task that the PES has to assume.</p>   <p>There are social groups excluded by European politics because of its high level of specialization or simply by the lack of time and this is a task socialists have to complete. On the other hand we have to create new topics for our societies and mainly youngsters and attract the public opinion&rsquo;s attention on them. We have to stop waiting for the other parties to create or introduce the themes while we try to find answers for them, &ldquo;<em>we have to create the need of a public debate on the social themes that we consider important for the future of our societies</em>&rdquo;.</p>   <p class="MsoNormal"><span>Hopefully we will be soon elect our new European President and it seems indispensable to us that the future of Europe will be socialist if we want Europe to evolve in a stronger social and political Union. Only by inspiring a brighter future we can bring people and youngsters to get involved in the European debate. They have to see in Europe a brighter future and a right to be protected.</span></p>      <p class="MsoNormal"><span>What do you think ? Do you have solutions for getting youngsters to vote and getting them involved ?</span></p>]]></description>
    <author>negrescuvictor</author>
    <category>blogueur de la semaine</category>
    <category>citoyens</category>
    <category>élections</category>
    <category>partis politiques</category>
    <category>PSE</category>
   </item>
   <item>
    <title>ENAR: for a fair Europe!</title>
    <pubDate>Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:42:00 +0200</pubDate>
    <link>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/580</link>
    <guid>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/580</guid>
    <description><![CDATA[<span><a href="http://www.enar-eu.org/" target="_blank">European Network Against Racism</a> (ENAR), representing over 600 anti-racism NGOs all over Europe, put forward its suggestions for the manifesto2009!</span>    <p class="MsoNormal"><span>Check them here with its director, Pascale Charhon.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7JVrxzOJ7Wg" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7JVrxzOJ7Wg" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"></embed></object> </p>Read ENAR' full contribution <a href="../../../uploads/files/ENAR.pdf" target="_blank">here</a> and leave us your comments to tackle minority problems across Europe!]]></description>
    <author>ricardo</author>
    <category>égalité</category>
    <category>immigration</category>
    <category>justice</category>
    <category>migration</category>
    <category>programme</category>
   </item>
   <item>
    <title>Donner un visage au PSE dans la campagne électorale</title>
    <pubDate>Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:26:00 +0200</pubDate>
    <link>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/574</link>
    <guid>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/574</guid>
    <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3078/2604771608_5b829e9f95.jpg?v=0" alt="" width="181" height="136" align="right" />Plusieurs contributions (Brussels PES working group, Contribution du PS 67, contribution de la F&eacute;d&eacute;ration de Paris) mettent en avant la n&eacute;cessit&eacute; pour les partis europ&eacute;ens &agrave; commencer par le PSE d'offrir aux &eacute;lecteurs un choix clairs entre la droite et la gauche.</p><p>Toutes soulignent &eacute;galement qu'un mode de scrutin uniforme pour l'&eacute;lection des d&eacute;put&eacute;s europ&eacute;ens est un objectif de plus en plus urgent de r&eacute;aliser.</p><p>Enfin, la proposition formul&eacute;e par Jacques Delors de faire du chef de file du parti arriv&eacute; en t&ecirc;te lors des Europ&eacute;ennes, le Pr&eacute;sident de la Commission, est litt&eacute;ralement pl&eacute;biscit&eacute;e. Se pose alors pour les partis politiques europ&eacute;ens la question de l'organisation concr&ecirc;te de cette d&eacute;signation.</p><p>Pour un courant de pens&eacute;e d&eacute;mocratique comme le socialisme, il n'est pas concevable que cela se fasse dans un conclave ferm&eacute; &agrave; huis clos entre leaders des formations composant le PSE. Cela ne peut n&eacute;cessairement se faire qu'&agrave; travers une consultation de l'ensemble des adh&eacute;rents par un vote de d&eacute;signation.  A dire vrai, en tant que socialistes, nous avons une longueur d'avance par rapport aux Conservateurs et autres formations de droite dans la mesure o&ugrave; les adh&eacute;rents sont d&eacute;j&agrave; largement habitu&eacute;s &agrave; voter pour investir les candidats.</p>]]></description>
    <author>chourka</author>
    <category>blogueur de la semaine</category>
    <category>citoyens</category>
    <category>démocratie</category>
    <category>élections européennes</category>
    <category>partis politiques</category>
    <category>PSE</category>
    <category>transparence</category>
    <category>UE</category>
   </item>
   <item>
    <title>More women in European politics</title>
    <pubDate>Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:05:00 +0200</pubDate>
    <link>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/567</link>
    <guid>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/567</guid>
    <description><![CDATA[<img class="leftIMG" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3272/2590663688_6a1f218f40.jpg?v=0" alt="" width="200" height="133" align="left" />I hope that this campaign will still be relevant - in spite the depressing outcome of the referendum in Ireland (of which I will speak no more for now!).<p> Danish Member of the European Parliament, <a href="http://www.christels.dk/" target="_blank">Christel Schaldemose</a>, has started a <a href="http://www.femalesinfront.eu/default.asp?view=front&amp;lang=gb" target="_blank">cross-party campaign</a> for having women represented among the 4 EU top leaders which will - hopefully all! - be appointed during the next year. <em>If</em>  the Lisbon treaty is ratified we will see the following very important EU posts:</p><ul><li>A Council President  (permanent President of the European Council) </li><li>A High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy </li><li>A President of the European Parliament </li><li>A Commission President  </li></ul><p>Have you ever seen a 'family photo' from meetings in the Council? Well, if you haven't allow me to enlighten you: it's black suits, suits and more suits. There are very few women top leaders in Europe. For me there is no doubt that we need a more equal representation of women and men. </p><p> Therefore, I encourage you to support Christel's initiative: Sign the <a href="http://www.femalesinfront.eu/default.asp?view=front&amp;lang=gb" target="_blank">online petition</a> or join the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=14892659100" target="_blank">Facebook group</a>. (If you're my friend on Facebook, I've invited you already :-))</p>]]></description>
    <author>rikkeindenmark</author>
    <category>blogueur de la semaine</category>
    <category>citizens</category>
    <category>democracy</category>
    <category>diversity</category>
    <category>treaty</category>
   </item>
   <item>
    <title>Pour un Président de l'UE élu en 2009 !</title>
    <pubDate>Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:26:00 +0200</pubDate>
    <link>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/555</link>
    <guid>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/555</guid>
    <description><![CDATA[<img class="rightIMG" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2040/2587060088_83f1173643.jpg?v=1213698440" alt="" width="143" height="179" align="right" /><em><span>Note de la r&eacute;daction : un sympathisant du PSE nous a envoy&eacute;e une &laquo; lettre ouverte &raquo; qui serait int&eacute;gr&eacute;e &agrave; une nouvelle section de cafebabel.com, une magasine europ&eacute;en en ligne. Cette nouvelle section du site traiterait le th&egrave;me des &eacute;lections europ&eacute;ennes de 2009.</span></em><strong></strong> <p><strong>  Lettre ouverte aux partis politiques d'Europe:</strong></p> <p><span>Pour un coup d&rsquo;&eacute;tat d&eacute;mocratique europ&eacute;en en 2009 !</span></p>   <p><span>En juin 2009, pour la septi&egrave;me fois dans l&rsquo;histoire de l&rsquo;Europe, plus de 350 millions de citoyens voteront pour nommer leurs repr&eacute;sentants au Parlement europ&eacute;en.</span>  </p> <p><span>Trente ans se sont &eacute;coul&eacute;s depuis les premi&egrave;res &eacute;lections de 1979. Trente ans durant lesquels l&rsquo;Europe et le monde ont beaucoup chang&eacute;. Le Parlement europ&eacute;en lui aussi, de simple organe consultatif, a acquis d&rsquo;ann&eacute;e en ann&eacute;e un pouvoir croissant au sein d&rsquo;une Europe toujours plus unie.</span></p>   <p><span>Institution d&eacute;mocratique par excellence, exprimant la volont&eacute; des citoyens europ&eacute;ens, le Parlement demeure pourtant dans l&rsquo;ombre du Conseil des ministres, assembl&eacute;e qui d&eacute;tient le dernier mot, privant l&rsquo;Europe d&rsquo;un pouvoir ex&eacute;cutif pleinement d&eacute;mocratique et de son pendant l&eacute;gislatif, au profit de repr&eacute;sentants nomm&eacute;s ou de d&eacute;l&eacute;gu&eacute;s des &Eacute;tats.</span></p>   <p><span>Il est temps que le Parlement europ&eacute;en et ses membres rem&eacute;dient &agrave; cette situation en affirmant d&eacute;finitivement la l&eacute;gitimit&eacute; de leur primaut&eacute; au sein des institutions europ&eacute;ennes.</span></p>   <p><span>Il existe pour cela une d&eacute;marche simple, formul&eacute;e par Jacques Delors, s&rsquo;appuyant sur le mode de nomination du pr&eacute;sident de la Commission europ&eacute;enne, qui revient au Conseil des ministres de l&rsquo;UE &laquo; En tenant compte des &eacute;lections au Parlement europ&eacute;en(&hellip;) &raquo;.</span></p>   <p><span>Nous appelons donc tous les partis politiques des &Eacute;tats membres de l&rsquo;UE, et leurs expressions europ&eacute;ennes &agrave; se renforcer, &agrave; prendre le pouvoir lors des &eacute;lections europ&eacute;ennes de juin 2009, en proposant chacun leur candidat &agrave; la Pr&eacute;sidence (de la Commission) europ&eacute;enne.</span></p>   <p><span>Ces &eacute;lections deviendront ainsi simultan&eacute;ment une pr&eacute;sidentielle europ&eacute;enne, dont le Conseil des ministres de l&rsquo;UE sera contraint de respecter l&rsquo;issue d&eacute;mocratique.</span></p>   <p><span>Vous permettrez ainsi aux citoyens europ&eacute;ens, en portant aux plus hautes fonctions &ndash; la Pr&eacute;sidence (de la Commission) europ&eacute;enne &ndash; un repr&eacute;sentant &eacute;lu au suffrage universel, de rendre de facto L&rsquo;UE d&eacute;mocratique et lui donner un visage l&eacute;gitime.</span></p>   <p><span>Par ce <strong>coup d&rsquo;&eacute;tat d&eacute;mocratique,</strong> vos Eurod&eacute;put&eacute;s peuvent affirmer leur r&ocirc;le central au sein des institutions de l&rsquo;UE et ouvrir une nouvelle &egrave;re dans laquelle des combats politiques pourront &ecirc;tre men&eacute;s au niveau europ&eacute;en, r&eacute;solvant &agrave; la fois (les critiques concernant) le d&eacute;ficit d&eacute;mocratique de l&rsquo;UE et la paralysie r&eacute;currente entrain&eacute;e par les n&eacute;gociations inter&eacute;tatiques dans la progression de l&rsquo;int&eacute;gration. </span></p>   <p><span>Douze mois &agrave; peine nous s&eacute;parent de cette &eacute;ch&eacute;ance.</span></p>   <p><span>Douze mois durant lesquels l&rsquo;UE peut connaitre encore des crises majeures et rendent votre initiative plus n&eacute;cessaire que jamais.</span></p>   <p><span>Vous pouvez compter pour cela sur l&rsquo;int&eacute;r&ecirc;t renouvel&eacute; et le support d&rsquo;une &eacute;crasante majorit&eacute; d&rsquo;Europ&eacute;ens, qui attendent de votre part que vous affirmiez pleinement leur voix.</span></p>]]></description>
    <author>Maitresinh</author>
    <category>commission</category>
    <category>democracy</category>
    <category>democratie</category>
    <category>europe</category>
    <category>president</category>
   </item>
   <item>
    <title>The Lisbon Treaty is now dead</title>
    <pubDate>Tue, 17 Jun 2008 09:28:00 +0200</pubDate>
    <link>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/560</link>
    <guid>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/560</guid>
    <description><![CDATA[<img class="rightIMG" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3123/2585992797_91e8c2b4b0.jpg?v=1213687905" alt="" width="159" height="188" align="right" />  <p class="MsoNormal"><span>&laquo; The Lisbon Treaty is now dead &raquo;, voil&agrave; ce que d&eacute;clarait vendredi Eamon Gilmore, leader du Parti Travailliste irlandais. En effet, apr&egrave;s les &laquo; NON &raquo; n&eacute;erlandais et fran&ccedil;ais de 2005 sur le trait&eacute; constitutionnel, les citoyens irlandais ont d&eacute;cid&eacute; de rejeter, par 53,4%, le Trait&eacute; de Lisbonne.</span></p>    <p class="MsoNormal"><span>Alors que &laquo; le cadavre est encore chaud &raquo;, certains &eacute;chafaudent d&eacute;j&agrave; des strat&eacute;gies pour contourner le choix d&eacute;mocratiquement exprim&eacute; par le peuple irlandais. Personnellement, je consid&egrave;re que ce choix doit &ecirc;tre respect&eacute;. En effet, je veux croire que le &laquo; NON &raquo; exprim&eacute; jeudi dernier n&rsquo;est pas un &laquo; NON &raquo; &agrave; l&rsquo;Europe mais avant tout la manifestation du d&eacute;sir d&rsquo;une autre Europe. </span></p>    <p class="MsoNormal"><span>Comment peut-on esp&eacute;rer convaincre les citoyens europ&eacute;ens du bien fond&eacute; d&rsquo;avanc&eacute;es contenues dans des trait&eacute;s alors qu&rsquo;ils sont confront&eacute;s chaque jour &agrave; plus de &laquo; flexipr&eacute;carit&eacute; &raquo; au travail, &agrave; la difficult&eacute; de couvrir leurs besoins &eacute;l&eacute;mentaires (alimentation, logement, chauffage,&hellip;) et &agrave; des services qui sont de moins en moins publics ?</span></p>  <p class="MsoNormal"><span>Les mouvements sociaux des derni&egrave;res semaines sont des r&eacute;v&eacute;lateurs &eacute;vidents de cette ins&eacute;curit&eacute; sociale.</span></p>    <p class="MsoNormal"><span>Si nous voulons que les citoyens adh&egrave;rent au projet europ&eacute;en, nous devons leur offrir plus que le r&eacute;sultat de marchandages sur les institutions.</span></p>    <p class="MsoNormal"><span>Participer &agrave; la construction d&rsquo;une autre Europe, v&eacute;ritablement sociale, &agrave; l&rsquo;&eacute;coute de ses citoyens, contribuant &agrave; pr&eacute;server notre plan&egrave;te et dialoguant d&rsquo;&eacute;gal &agrave; &eacute;gal avec les pays du Sud, voil&agrave; ce qui doit &ecirc;tre l&rsquo;&oelig;uvre quotidienne de tous les socialistes europ&eacute;ens.</span></p>]]></description>
    <author>Joel Cordier</author>
    <category>blogueur de la semaine</category>
    <category>citoyens</category>
    <category>transparence</category>
    <category>UE</category>
   </item>
   <item>
    <title>Démocratie participative en Europe</title>
    <pubDate>Mon, 16 Jun 2008 08:47:00 +0200</pubDate>
    <link>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/552</link>
    <guid>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/552</guid>
    <description><![CDATA[<span>Au lendemain de la seconde guerre mondiale l'Europe a &eacute;rig&eacute; &agrave; travers la CECA (Communaut&eacute; Europ&eacute;enne du Charbon et de l'Acier) d'abord, la CEE (Communaut&eacute; &eacute;conomique europ&eacute;enne) et l'EURATOM (Communaut&eacute; europ&eacute;enne de l'&eacute;nergie atomique) ensuite, une construction sans pr&eacute;c&eacute;dent qui n'est assimilable &agrave; aucune entit&eacute; juridique d&eacute;j&agrave; existante. Les communaut&eacute;s europ&eacute;ennes constituent un ph&eacute;nom&egrave;ne unique dont les structures et le r&eacute;gime pr&eacute;sentent &agrave; la fois les aspects d'une organisation internationale classique et des caract&egrave;res prononc&eacute;s de type f&eacute;d&eacute;raliste.</span>     <p class="MsoNormal"><span>Depuis l'origine de la construction europ&eacute;enne, les europ&eacute;ens s'interrogent sur les moyens d'honorer le pacte politique liant les Etats membres. La politique d'unification de l'Europe a donn&eacute; lieu &agrave; de nombreuses controverses sur la nature des institutions &agrave; cr&eacute;er pour rassembler les peuples europ&eacute;ens. Lorsque le march&eacute; commun fut fond&eacute; en 1957 ses initiateurs ne pensaient qu'&agrave; une coop&eacute;ration purement &eacute;conomique. Si l'on tient compte des circonstances, on peut affirmer qu'ils ont atteint leur but.</span></p>     <p class="MsoNormal"><span>Mais on en n'est pas rester l&agrave;, l'Europe est devenu &agrave; la fois &eacute;conomique et politique. L'effondrement de l'empire sovi&eacute;tique, la r&eacute;unification allemande de 1990, l'&eacute;brouement de l'Europe de l'est vont remettre en cause ce postulat, sur lequel s'&eacute;tait construite la &quot;communaut&eacute; europ&eacute;enne politique&quot;. Malgr&eacute; toutes les difficult&eacute;s int&eacute;rieures, autant sur le plan politique et &eacute;conomique, devant lesquelles elle se trouve, l&rsquo;int&eacute;r&ecirc;t majeur de l&rsquo;Europe s'explique dans une communaut&eacute; europ&eacute;enne sociale, une communaut&eacute; qui d&eacute;fend les droits de l&rsquo;homme, une communaut&eacute; qui a une politique claire en mati&egrave;re de protection de l&rsquo;environnement.</span></p>     <p class="MsoNormal"><span>Pour renforcer la d&eacute;mocratie participative, <strong>les pays europ&eacute;ens doivent adopter une politique qui donne le droit de vote aux immigr&eacute;s au niveau local</strong>. Alors que de plus en plus de d&eacute;cisions concernant la vie quotidienne des citoyens sont prises au niveau local, n&rsquo;est-il pas paradoxal d&rsquo;exclure du d&eacute;bat politique une partie importante de ceux qui sont directement concern&eacute;s par les d&eacute;cisions locales. Une communaut&eacute; europ&eacute;enne, qui d&eacute;fend la d&eacute;mocratie en Europe, doit intervenir activement aupr&egrave;s d'autres pays pour le respect des droits de l&rsquo;homme notamment en Turquie, le pays qui veut rejoindre l&rsquo;Union. Une communaut&eacute; europ&eacute;enne plus sociale car le taux de ch&ocirc;mage ne cesse d&rsquo;augmenter. Particuli&egrave;rement les jeunes sont touch&eacute;s par cette situation. Il est primordial de prendre des mesures &agrave; l&rsquo;&eacute;gard des jeunes en priorit&eacute;. Pour lutter contre la d&eacute;linquance commise par les jeunes, il faut faciliter l&rsquo;insertion notamment en cr&eacute;ant des actions culturelles, sportives ou de loisirs. Une orientation vers une formation pour am&eacute;liorer le niveau professionnel dans la cadre des mesures pour l&rsquo;emploi est indispensable. Face &agrave; des nombreuses questions le PES doivent appara&icirc;tre comme le parti des solutions.</span></p>]]></description>
    <author>mehmetsel</author>
    <category>démocratie</category>
    <category>immigration</category>
    <category>UE</category>
   </item>
   <item>
    <title>Ireland Decides</title>
    <pubDate>Fri, 13 Jun 2008 08:52:00 +0200</pubDate>
    <link>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/553</link>
    <guid>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/553</guid>
    <description><![CDATA[<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3133/2574282837_2d9d3eef49.jpg?v=0" alt="" width="240" height="160" align="right" />  <p>Well the polls have closed and the ballot boxes are now safely stored away until they are opened at 09h00 (10h00 CET) on Friday morning. As I predicted, a lot of the discussion in the media this evening has been on how many people turned out to vote. If you remember I said that the general view is that a turnout below 40% would suggest a NO vote, while a turnout above 45% would indicate a YES vote. Well, the national broadcaster, RT&Eacute;, is reporting turnout in the region 40-45%, so I'm afraid I cannot offer even an educated guess as to how the Irish people have voted in this referendum! I will be attending the count in Dublin and we are expecting initial results to be available by lunchtime and a formal announcement of the result by about 17h00 (18h00 CET).</p>    <p>One possible indicator of the result is the view of Irish bookmakers. They are offering better odds on the YES side winning and as everyone knows, bookmakers don't like to lose money. It would not be the first time that Irish bookmakers knew more than Irish politicians and journalists about how the people have voted. However, all of this is just idle speculation. We will know on Friday afternoon whether Lisbon will proceed smoothly to ratification across the EU or whether there will be a crisis for the French Presidency of the EU in Brussels.</p>    <p>Whichever way the result turns out there will be important lessons for us all to learn from the Irish referendum. The most important of these lessons is that the people can never be ignored. Attacks by Kouchner, Cohn-Bendit and others on Irish democracy were very badly received in Ireland. Citizens do not like to feel that they are being threatened and whatever decision the Irish people have made on Lisbon the result of that vote must be responded to with understanding and respect. Unless we can convince the citizens of Europe in their homes, in their neighbourhoods and in their workplaces that we listen to them and that we speak for them then the further integration of our beautiful continent and its peoples will never have their support.</p>    <p>But I think that we understand this in the PES/PSE. There was one moment very early in the campaign when this realisation struck me. Our President, Poul Nyrup Rasmussen MEP, came to Ireland in April to help launch the PES/PSE policy on new safeguards for public services in Europe. The photograph accompanying this blog was taken at that meeting. During the press conference an elderly party member asked what the EU was going to do to solve the housing crisis in Dublin. Instead of telling this man that the EU has nothing to do with housing policy, which is of course the case, Poul told the story of his own childhood growing up in Esbjerg when life was tough for his family and for many others. He spoke sincerely about how important having a home is and how socialists and social democrats understand this and have a proud record in housing our people. He said that even though the EU did not have formal competence in housing policy it did not mean that this issue could be ignored or that it was not important. By his words Poul showed that he listened to the real concerns of people and that he was an effective advocate for their needs and aspirations. </p>    <p>This is the sort of leadership that Europe needs. A leadership which listens to the people and which can articulate the people's concerns and aspirations. If this type of leadership is shown in the production of our manifesto for the European Elections in 2009 then we will have demonstrated the most effective response to whatever the Irish people have decided on Lisbon. </p>    <p>I have really enjoyed writing this blog during this important week and I hope that I have presented a useful insight into the politics of the referendum in Ireland. Sl&aacute;n tamail!</p>  ]]></description>
    <author>Desmond O'Toole</author>
    <category>blogueur de la semaine</category>
    <category>citoyens</category>
    <category>démocratie</category>
    <category>traîté</category>
    <category>UE</category>
   </item>
   <item>
    <title>So how will you vote?</title>
    <pubDate>Thu, 12 Jun 2008 09:49:00 +0200</pubDate>
    <link>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/551</link>
    <guid>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/551</guid>
    <description><![CDATA[<img class="leftIMG" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3015/2571874689_3bb02765a7.jpg?v=1213257089" alt="" width="197" height="275" align="left" /><span>From 7h00 to 22h00 on Thursday (8h00 to 23h00 CET) polling stations across Ireland will be open and the great game of democracy will be played out with pencil and ballot paper. Three million citizens across 43 constituencies will vote T&aacute; (YES) or N&iacute;l (NO) to amend our constitution and allow our government to ratify the Lisbon Treaty. There are over three million citizens registered to vote in this referendum, the largest number ever in the history of the State. And the smart money says that voter turnout will be the key to the final result.</span>  <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>  <p class="MsoNormal"><span>The Irish people had to vote twice to ratify the Nice Treaty. In the first referendum in 2001 the Irish people voted NO by 529,000 votes to 453,000 on a turnout of 35%. At the second referendum a year later we voted YES to Nice by 906,000 votes to 535,000 on a much larger turnout of 49%. Almost all of the extra turnout was YES voters who had abstained in the previous referendum. The big question is whether the same pattern will repeat itself this time? If the NO side has so confused and alienated people from the EU that many decide not to vote and we have a low turnout, then we will lose the referendum and Ireland will fail to ratify the Lisbon Treaty. If, however, the Irish people refuse to be misled by the NO side and instead recognise that Lisbon is important for Ireland and for Europe and vote in larger numbers then the Treaty will pass. Turnout will be the key according to this argument, but reality may of course be different. So, my advice is to pay close attention to the turnout figures. If turnout is below 40% we will all need to worry, but if turnout is above 45% then hopefully we will be able to move on with the support of the Irish people.</span></p>  <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>  <p class="MsoNormal"><span>I'm writing this blog late on Wednesday night after a long session of SMS texting to friends, family and other people I know. I thought it would be worthwhile just to give you a flavour of some of the responses I have received to my texts. One friend tells me that she, her husband and her eldest daughter are all voting YES. Another calls her YES vote a &quot;no-brainer&quot;, that is, she doesn't even have to think about voting YES, she will do it automatically. However, a former student friend says, &quot;I think you're wrong. People should vote NO and I'm sure we'll triumph.&quot; And another claims to have actually read the Treaty but will not tell me how she is voting. I guess this short selection of responses shows just how close the result of the referendum might be.</span></p>  <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>  <p class="MsoNormal"><span>However, I got a text message from our party leader, Eamon Gilmore TD, this evening as well. It's worth repeating what Eamon wrote: &quot;Today I ask you to vote YES to Lisbon. A YES vote will deliver significant gains for Ireland while a NO vote will bring doubt and uncertainty.&quot; Tomorrow we will learn whether the Irish people will celebrate the gains or whether we will slip back into doubt and uncertainty.</span></p>  ]]></description>
    <author>Desmond O'Toole</author>
    <category>blogger of the week</category>
    <category>traîté</category>
    <category>UE</category>
   </item>
   <item>
    <title>Three men in a vote</title>
    <pubDate>Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:11:00 +0200</pubDate>
    <link>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/549</link>
    <guid>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/549</guid>
    <description><![CDATA[<img class="rightIMG" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3123/2569481515_1a15ea5ba9.jpg?v=1213179387" alt="" width="245" height="172" align="right" /><span>Three wise men (yes, men, I'm afraid!), step forward, button up their jackets and prepare to argue the case for Lisbon. In this photo are the leaders of the three largest parties in Ireland. From left to right are Eamon Gilmore of the Labour Party (PES/PSE), Taoiseach Brian Cowen of Fianna F&aacute;il (UEN) and Enda Kenny of Fine Gael (EPP-ED). They appeared at a joint press conference yesterday to make a united call for a YES vote and today, the last day before the referendum,&nbsp;I'd like to inform everyone of the YES campaign.</span>    <p><span>When I described the NO campaign yesterday I talked about the lessons that we need to learn about how disconnected a large minority of citizens are to the EU and the need to put the real benefits of EU membership to our citizens rather than spend so much time discussing institutions and processes. However, I noticed in the <em>Irish Times</em> this morning that Daniel Cohn-Bendit (G-EFA) has joined Bernard Kouchner in attacking Irish democracy. He is reported as calling the Irish ungrateful to Europe, our referendum a &quot;folly&quot; and that, &quot;... if one says NO, one leaves Europe.&quot; It is precisely this sort of language and these sorts of threats that socialists and social democrats across Europe must avoid when addressing European citizens. It is precisely this sort of language and threats that Labour in Ireland has avoided. Here, instead, are the arguments that we have been making to the Irish people:</span></p>     <p><span>(a) Lisbon enables the EU to act more effectively on the world stage in the face of the challenges and opportunities presented by globalisation, security and peace, climate change, energy supply and international solidarity. The tangible benefits for the Irish people are larger markets for our exports protecting jobs and wages, action to preserve our environment and quality of life and a way out from oil dependency.</span></p>     <p><span>(b) Lisbon democratises the European Union and brings it closer to the citizens. The tangible benefits for the Irish people are a greater say for our MEP's in the EU's&nbsp;legislative process, a formal right for our parliament to react to Commission proposals and a real opportunity for Irish people to engage in direct democracy through the Citizen's Initiative.</span></p>     <p><span>(c) Lisbon creates a stronger framework for a Social Europe. The tangible benefits for the Irish people are further improvements to equality and social protection for every worker and citizen in Ireland through European directives.</span></p>     <p><span>These are the positive messages that the Labour Party is providing to the Irish people. This is Labour's challenge to the fear and suspicion of Europe that the NO campaign is trying to build up. These are our answers to their errors and lies. Tomorrow - Referendum Day - will see whether we have been successful.</span></p>]]></description>
    <author>Desmond O'Toole</author>
    <category>blogueur de la semaine</category>
    <category>partis politiques</category>
    <category>traîté</category>
    <category>UE</category>
   </item>
   <item>
    <title>Pauvre Italie, pauvre Union Européenne!</title>
    <pubDate>Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:15:00 +0200</pubDate>
    <link>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/544</link>
    <guid>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/544</guid>
    <description><![CDATA[<img class="leftIMG" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2150/2527298633_e32a923ce3.jpg?v=0" alt="" width="114" height="167" align="left" />  <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt"><span>On parle de l'Europe comme un grand pays, une conf&eacute;d&eacute;ration d'&Eacute;tats modernes qui pensent premi&egrave;rement aux droits des personnes. Ce n'est pas vrai. Il y a des &Eacute;tats qui n&rsquo;appliquent pas en &eacute;chec certains principes, ce qui risque de nous faire revenir en arri&eacute;re. </span></p>  <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt"><span>&Eacute;videmment, je parle de mon pays, l'Italie. C'est dommage que dans le Partito Democratico il existe des querelles par rapport aux positions politiques au niveau europ&eacute;en: il y a les EX-DS (Democratici di Sinistra &ndash; ex parti communiste) qui veulent appartenir au PSE et puis il y a les EX-MARGHERITA (d&eacute;mocratie chr&eacute;tienne) qui veulent appartenir au PPE. On ne sait pas si les deux veulent prendre (ou pas) des d&eacute;cisions, mais &ndash; dans ce cas &ndash; la d&eacute;cision sur le choix d&rsquo;un Parti europ&eacute;en n'est pas une question de mon int&eacute;r&ecirc;t.</span></p>  <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt"><span>Le probl&egrave;me italien est le totale manque de respect pour les droits de l&rsquo;Homme: les droits des homosexuels, les droits des &eacute;trangers et les droits des non catholiques.</span></p>  <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt"><span>Il me semble que le Partito Democratico et le Popolo delle Libert&agrave; sont capables de passer des accords en ce qui concerne les droits civils. Il semble que les deux sont capables de d&eacute;truire les autres partis, il semble qu'ils veulent faire de l'Italie un pays bipolaire quand ce n'est pas possible, parce que les Italiens sont un peuple tr&egrave;s divers, aue ce soit en g&eacute;n&eacute;rale ou en politique. Cependant, <span> </span>nos gouvernants sont capables de manipuler la loi &eacute;lectorale pour mener au &laquo; vote utile &raquo;. Vote utile qui n'existe pas et sert seulement aux politiques pour le proc&egrave;s de bipolarisation de ce pauvre pays qui est en train de subir les d&eacute;cisions <a href="../../../en/in-the-spotlight/post/499" target="_blank">de l'&eacute;glise ou des catholiques</a>.</span></p>  <p style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt"><span>Pauvre Italie, pauvre Union Europ&eacute;enne!</span></p>  ]]></description>
    <author>pamela.derosa</author>
    <category>citoyens</category>
    <category>démocratie</category>
    <category>UE</category>
   </item>
   <item>
    <title>Kouchner: "gigantic incomprehension"</title>
    <pubDate>Tue, 10 Jun 2008 09:45:00 +0200</pubDate>
    <link>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/543</link>
    <guid>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/543</guid>
    <description><![CDATA[<img class="rightIMG" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3107/2566520017_4568c7a1ff.jpg?v=1213084080" alt="" width="187" height="250" align="right" />With three days to go to the referendum on Thursday Bernard Kouchner (French Foreign Minister) made an unwelcome intervention in the debate in Ireland claiming that if the Irish rejected the Lisbon Treaty we would face &quot;... gigantic incomprehension&quot; from our European partners and &quot;... would pay a high price.&quot; Given M. Kouchner's incomprehension it is perhaps worth examining why the Irish might vote NO on Thursday and whether this might throw some light on why citizens across Europe are often lukewarm in their support for the EU and for our party.<br /> <br />The NO campaign in Ireland has run a thoroughly disreputable campaign of scare-stories and untruths about the EU and the Lisbon Treaty. Elements of the NO campaign have argued, for example, that the EU will force an end to Ireland's exclusive competence in taxation thus undermining our economy. Also that Irish farmers will lose heavily, that health, education and other public services will be privatised as a consequence of Lisbon, and even that prostitution, hard-drugs and euthanasia will be forced upon Ireland by Brussels. Perhaps the most bizzare claim has been the one made on the attached poster that Lisbon will give the European Commission the right to micro-chip all Irish babies at birth!<br /> <br />These are clearly baseless accusations designed to create fear and anxiety amongst Irish people about Europe. The really interesting question for us in the PES/PSE however is why are these stories given any attention at all? Does this say something about how unconnected a large minority of people feel to the European Union and its institutions? Is it because the discourse about Europe for most of the last decade has been about structures and processes instead of being about the concrete benefits that the EU can bring to all of its citizens? This, I feel, is the lesson that we need to learn from the Irish campaign when we are talking about citizens' perceptions of the EU and also the PES/PSE campaign for the next Euro-elections. <br /> <br />In a recent opinion poll &quot;The Irish Times&quot; newspaper reported growing support for the NO side in Ireland and described the three main reasons why people were considering voting NO. These were (a) a lack of knowledge about what the Lisbon Treaty was all about, (b) concerns about militarisation in the EU and the impact this could have on Irish neutrality, and (c) a worry that Irish sovereignty and identity could be diluted by this Treaty. It is not satisfactory that these concerns are simply described as a &quot;gigantic incomprehension&quot; as M. Kouchner did yesterday. It is vitally important that we are able to show to all of our citizens that Lisbon and the EU can deliver real economic, social, environmental and cultural benefits for all of our people. We must stop talking about institutions and processes and instead we must articulate the concerns and aspirations of our fellow Europeans for jobs and economic security, for a clean environment, for social justice, equality and solidarity and for cultured lives.<br /> <br />Against such tangible benefits that European citizens can touch, smell, taste and feel the No camp in Ireland and across Europe will have no convincing arguments.<br /> <br />See you tomorrow!]]></description>
    <author>Desmond O'Toole</author>
    <category>blogueur de la semaine</category>
    <category>citoyens</category>
    <category>traîté</category>
    <category>UE</category>
   </item>
   <item>
    <title>Un attentat légal contre la démocratie européenne</title>
    <pubDate>Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:30:00 +0200</pubDate>
    <link>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/528</link>
    <guid>http://manifesto2009.pes.org/fr/european-democracy-and-diversity/post/528</guid>
    <description><![CDATA[<p>La France r&eacute;fl&eacute;chit &agrave; une r&eacute;forme de grande ampleur de sa constitution. Au final, ce serait pr&egrave;s d&rsquo;un tiers du texte de la Cinqui&egrave;me R&eacute;publique qui serait boulevers&eacute;e. Parmi les nombreux articles r&eacute;form&eacute;s, se trouve l'article 88-5 qui concerne la &quot;ratification de l'adh&eacute;sion d'un Etat &agrave; l'Union europ&eacute;enne&quot;. Un pr&eacute;c&eacute;dent gouvernement avait &eacute;chafaud&eacute; ce fameux article 88-5 qui n'avait pour finalit&eacute; que d'emp&ecirc;cher l'arriv&eacute;e de la Turquie dans l'Union, et au passage de sauver la Constitution europ&eacute;enne, alors en d&eacute;bat r&eacute;f&eacute;rendaire. Nous n'e&ucirc;mes h&eacute;las pas de constitution europ&eacute;enne, en revanche l'article 88-5, lui, a &eacute;t&eacute; comme grav&eacute; dans le marbre national. </p><p>A la place, la commission des lois propose qu'en France le r&eacute;f&eacute;rendum reste obligatoire lorsque la population de cet Etat repr&eacute;sente plus de 5 % de la population de l&rsquo;Union. Et ainsi tout le monde est content, pas besoin de r&eacute;f&eacute;rendum pour les honn&ecirc;tes gens des petites nations d'Europe, mais les urnes attendent les masses barbares. </p><p>Cette disposition constitue une atteinte &agrave; cette d&eacute;mocratie europ&eacute;enne que nous, socialistes europ&eacute;ens, entendons b&acirc;tir. Qu'&agrave; peine 50 millions d'&eacute;lecteurs &agrave; b&eacute;r&ecirc;t d&eacute;cident du sort de plus de 500 millions est sans conteste anti-d&eacute;mocratique et il faut d&egrave;s &agrave; pr&eacute;sent prendre date pour effacer cette disposition du texte constitutionnel fran&ccedil;ais, une fois la gauche revenue aux affaires.</p>]]></description>
    <author>yoan.abiven</author>
    <category>démocratie</category>
    <category>UE</category>
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