La nouvelle Europe sociale Archives: novembre 2007

  • Propositions de Sauvons l’Europe pour la présidence française de l'Union

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    • Evaluation: 4.0000
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    Evaluation: 4/5 avec 6 votes

    Publié mercredi 28 novembre 2007 à 12h10
    par yoan.abiven Devenir militant(e) du PSE dans La nouvelle Europe sociale (vu 1010 fois et 2 commentaires)

    Pour une politique européenne commune de l’immigration!
    - afin que la libre circulation dans les Etats de l’Union, garantie aux migrants légalement installés, se fasse dans le respect des droits fondamentaux et à égalité de droits avec tous les résidents de l’Union,
    - qui réponde aux intérêts économiques et démographiques de l’Union
    - qui accroisse son rayonnement à l’étranger.

    Diagnostic
    Les Etats européens, aux frontières intérieures désormais effacées, confrontés à la nécessité d’une coopération renforcée en matière d’immigration, doivent aller au-delà et construire une politique commune d’immigration. Il serait catastrophique que l’UE apparaisse comme une forteresse close entourée de hauts murs.

    Objectifs
    La politique commune d’immigration devrait se fonder sur les points suivants:

    Garantir les droits fondamentaux aux migrants légalement installés sur le territoire de... » Lire la suite ...

    Tags: droits fondamentaux, immigration, partis politiques


  • Who uses public services?

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    • Evaluation: 5.0000
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    Evaluation: 5/5 avec 3 votes

    Publié mardi 27 novembre 2007 à 10h26
    par carl0s Devenir militant(e) du PSE dans La nouvelle Europe sociale (vu 696 fois et 0 commentaires)

    I think we can identify four distinct "stages" where people make the most use of public services, particularly in regard to welfare and education services. They are not necessarily sequential. Firstly, from childhood to early adulthood, people need free-at-point-of-use education - its important that this is not only of academic quality, but also that the environment results in a decent formative experience. Secondly, families with a young child need a lot of support, from the birth through to free childcare. Thirdly, people with illness at any time in their lives should not be thrown back on the resources of the family, as the fear that this engenders will act to the detriment of general public health. And lastly, people who have finished work will need a future where they aren't worried about subsistence living. That way, younger people can look to the future with a degree of confidence.

    If I'm stating the obvious here, then apologies. But for all four of these stages, there is no indication that private schemes or private insurance can adequately and securely provide for individuals. Private involvement at these times always involves public provision at some stage - for example, someone with health insurance always goes to their local hospital in an emergency. My belief is that public hospitals should not be charging their patients for care.

    By combining health and social... » Lire la suite ...

    Tags: providence, retraites, santé, services à la petite enfance, services publics


  • PES Council: a common manifesto, yes please

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    • Evaluation: 3.6000
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    Evaluation: 3,6/5 avec 5 votes

    Publié vendredi 23 novembre 2007 à 16h54
    par Editeur dans La nouvelle Europe sociale (vu 823 fois et 0 commentaires)

    Towards the PES manifesto – was the dynamic title of the fourth and last plenary of this week’s PES Council. The session was a mix of live speakers and videos with PES activists giving their take on what should be in the PES manifesto.

    There were several topics which were mentioned again and again – by both politicians and PES activists: workers rights, employment, immigration, energy supply and climate change. Several speakers also mentioned the lack of citizen participation and the low turnout at European elections as issues that the PES should deal with.

    Marek Siwiec, Vice-President of the European Parliament and from Poland, was among the plenary’s live speakers. He brought up the gap between rich and poor parts of Europe as an important priority for the PES manifesto:

    “New Social Europe sounds very different in rich and poor Europe. In poor Europe access to quality education is the number one issue right now. There are great differences between the villages and the cities when it comes to the possibilities for education.”

    These were just a few of the opinions put forward during the debate today – you can watch the full session, including all speeches.

    Next to what is mentioned here – what do you think should be in the PES manifesto?

    Tags: conseil, éducation, égalité, emploi, immigration


  • PES Council: unhealthy investment – no thanks!

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    Evaluation: 5/5 avec 1 votes

    Publié jeudi 22 novembre 2007 à 17h32
    par Editeur dans La nouvelle Europe sociale (vu 794 fois et 0 commentaires)

    There are plenty of examples of the negative impact on society of certain kinds of hedge and private equity funds. These funds, many financed with investments from pension funds, are on a hunt for short-term profit – something which too often is at the expense of worker’s rights and the long-term development of the company invested in. Many hedge and private equity funds also pay very little tax and, because they finance company buy outs with huge accumulated debts, they pose a threat to financial stability.

    This type of ‘unhealthy investment’ was the topic of today’s second plenary at the PES Council. There was broad agreement among the speakers at the podium that the unregulated behaviour of hedge and private equity funds are a serious problem which urgently needs to be dealt with – for the sake of both workers and companies.

    One of the speakers, Democratic Congressman Barney Frank (Chairman of the US House Committee on Financial Services), had taken the trip during the American thanksgiving holiday, across the Atlantic to urge collaboration between the US and Europe.

    "If the US and Europe do not coordinate our efforts we will never be able to tackle the problem of hedge and private equity funds. The funds... » Lire la suite ...

    Tags: conseil, égalité, investissement, salaires


  • Rainbow Rose looks forward to the PES Council!

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    Evaluation: 5/5 avec 3 votes

    Publié vendredi 16 novembre 2007 à 10h07
    par joelld dans La nouvelle Europe sociale (vu 873 fois et 0 commentaires)

    As an observer organisation, Rainbow Rose will be present at the PES Council. This year, Rodrigo Martin Galan, from the "Grupo LGTB del PSOE" (Spain), will be our delegate. Other Rainbow Rose activists coming from the Netherlands, Estonia and France will be present in Sofia. PES activists, MEPs, and party leaders will be welcome at our stand.

    Rainbow Rose will use this opportunity to communicate on our contribution to the consultation on the PES 2009 Manifesto. To this day, the contribution has already received the support of several MEPs. We will also explain our networking activities and our political positions at a fringe meeting on Friday, November 23. We believe it's important to convince all socialists that equality, diversity and secularism, as they have always been at the heart of the social-democratic movements, justify total commitment from our national and European parties.

    Last, but not least, Rainbow Rose aims at maintaining a contact with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender activists in Europe. That's the reason why intend to... » Lire la suite ...

    Tags: conseil, diversité, égalité, gay, LGBT, PSE

    Dossier: R.ROSE_CONTRIBUTION_2009_MANIFESTO.pdf


  • Fighting discrimination against gays, lesbians and transgender people

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    • Evaluation: 5.0000
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    Evaluation: 5/5 avec 5 votes

    Publié jeudi 15 novembre 2007 à 16h10
    par joelld dans La nouvelle Europe sociale (vu 976 fois et 5 commentaires)

    The PES discussion paper on "New Social Europe" presents a comprehensive approach to social policy in Europe. We social democrats are convinced that all the answers to all the problems of European citizens in their work life and their social life are part of the same social policy concept. For this reason, Rainbow Rose, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender network of the PES, is glad to see that inequalities among workers are mentioned in the discussion papers, as well as "the social security rights of employees, the self-employed and their families." We believe that addressing these problems is necessary to build the inclusive society we want, with equal rights and duties for all.

    That's why, at the side of gender inequality, which is explicitly and rightly mentioned, we would like to make sure that all other grounds for discriminations are also addressed by the PES manifesto. We would like to see homophobia and transphobia mentioned explicitly. We think it is important that the manifesto stresses that gays, lesbians and transgender should have the same rights as all other citizens to be... » Lire la suite ...

    Tags: discrimination, diversité, égalité, gay, LGBT, providence, services publics

    Dossier: PES Group statement on the outcome of the conference on the year of equal opportunities.pdf


  • New Social Europe - for both rich and poor countries

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    • Evaluation: 3.0000
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    Evaluation: 3/5 avec 6 votes

    Publié mercredi 14 novembre 2007 à 14h27
    par anqa dans La nouvelle Europe sociale (vu 795 fois et 0 commentaires)

    Another visit to the office of Marek Siwiec, Vice-President of the European Parliament and member of SLD in Poland. Among other things he raises the question of how we can make the vision of New Social Europe a reality in all EU countries.

    How do you think we can assure high social standards in both new and old member states?

    Tags: éducation, égalité, emploi, modèle social, providence, salaires


  • New Social Europe - how do we do it?

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    • Evaluation: 4.6667
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    Evaluation: 4,7/5 avec 3 votes

    Publié lundi 12 novembre 2007 à 15h27
    par Editeur dans La nouvelle Europe sociale (vu 674 fois et 0 commentaires)

    Jesús Caldera, Spanish Labour Minister has made a major speech on the Spanish Socialist Government’s social policies and strengthening the European Social Model, against a backdrop of intensifying political debate in the run-up to next year’s Spanish general elections.

    Speaking at a meeting of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament last week, Caldera argued that pro-active social policies should be regarded as an investment, not a cost, and that it was fundamental that we defend the European social model.

    Caldera outlined six key points:

    1. Reaching full employment through pro-active economic and social policies agreed with the full involvement of businesses, trade unions and civil society. 24 agreements have been signed in Spain since 2004.

    2. Fighting discrimination against women and enabling women to work. Spanish socialists brought in legislation on equality with massive public support but against stiff right-wing opposition from the Popular Party.

    3. Raising the minimum wage in order to make work more attractive. Spanish socialists have raised it by €200 since taking office, and will raise it by another €200 if re-elected next year.

    4. Establishing a universal right to care services for dependents. a new law will... » Lire la suite ...

    Tags: égalité, immigration, providence, salaires, seniors


  • In the worldwide market, Europe is not to be sold

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    Evaluation: 5/5 avec 2 votes

    Publié jeudi 8 novembre 2007 à 23h28
    par Sortir de l'Impasse Devenir militant(e) du PSE dans La nouvelle Europe sociale (vu 937 fois et 1 commentaires)

    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 privatised 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.... » Lire la suite ...

    Tags: mondialisation, solidarité


  • Time for the right for workers to buy out?

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    Evaluation: 5/5 avec 3 votes

    Publié jeudi 8 novembre 2007 à 20h49
    par jonathanbishop dans La nouvelle Europe sociale (vu 827 fois et 1 commentaires)

    Increasingly large companies are saying that manufacturing plants are not making enough profit and are inefficient. They give these as reasons to close plants and relocate the jobs. This is affecting large numbers of workers who are working their hardest for these profit greedy enterprises who have disregard for social responsibility.

    This is not sustainable, as the drive for greater integration means that workers will have a decent standard of living across the EU and these moves by large companies are causing instability in the common market.

    The Acquired Rights Directive has given workers rights to have their contracts transferred when the company they are working for has been bought by another. The same legal base could be used to give workers who are going to lose their jobs because of a company closing the plant they work in the right to take over the plant by acquiring all the machinery and other equipment in a worker buyout to form for example a workers' co-operative.

    Tags: emploi, modèle social, providence, travailleurs


  • Les services publics: pas n’importe quel service!

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    • Evaluation: 4.0000
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    Evaluation: 4/5 avec 2 votes

    Publié jeudi 8 novembre 2007 à 10h39
    par Editeur dans La nouvelle Europe sociale (vu 654 fois et 0 commentaires)

    Le marché intérieur est l’une des plus grandes réussites de l’Union européenne et son parachèvement est très souhaitable car il crée plus d’emplois et de prospérité pour les citoyens européens. Mais est-ce vrai aussi pour les services publics?

    Les libéraux affirment que la privatisation des secteurs de services comme l’eau et l’énergie, le traitement de l’eau et des déchets, les soins de santé, les services sociaux, les services postaux ou encore l’éducation garantiraient une plus grande efficacité et de meilleurs résultats.

    Les sociaux-démocrates pour leur part estiment que ces services ne sont pas n’importe quel type de services. Nous croyons qu’ils sont essentiels à la qualité de vie des gens – partout. Une libéralisation ne mènerait-elle pas les prestataires de service à se centrer sur les régions où les profits sont les plus élevés? Les régions rurales faiblement peuplées n’y perdraient-elles pas au change? Si l’Union européenne prend au sérieux son objectif de cohésion sociale et territoriale, nous croyons qu’il faut garantir l’accès universel à des services... » Lire la suite ...

    Tags: éducation, égalité, modèle social, providence, santé


  • Siwiec-Gurmai show: PES manifesto

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    Evaluation: 3/5 avec 6 votes

    Publié mercredi 7 novembre 2007 à 15h50
    par anqa dans La nouvelle Europe sociale (vu 635 fois et 0 commentaires)

    Vice-President of the European Parliament Marek Siwiec and President of PES Women Zita Gurmai are in Madrid and speak about the preparation of the PES Manifesto, the different issues to be discussed in it and the upcoming European elections in 2009.

    Tags: diversité, environnement, programme, PSE


  • We will globalize the welfare state

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    Evaluation: 5/5 avec 3 votes

    Publié mardi 6 novembre 2007 à 12h20
    par Editeur dans La nouvelle Europe sociale (vu 627 fois et 0 commentaires)

    Here is another interview from last week's conference about Decent Work. This time we have talked to Josep Borrell, former president of the European Parliament and president of the Global Progressive Forum.

    What do you think socialists and social democrats should do to ensure decent working conditions - both for people in Europe and in the rest of the world?

    Find more interviews from the conference at our YouTube channel, among others we have talked to Guy Ryder from the International Trade Union Confederation and Maria João Rodrigues, adviser for the Portuguese EU Presidency.

    Tags: égalité, emploi, salaires


  • Only socialists and social democrats can renew the European social model

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    Evaluation: 5/5 avec 3 votes

    Publié lundi 5 novembre 2007 à 14h23
    par Editeur dans La nouvelle Europe sociale (vu 641 fois et 0 commentaires)

    We talked to José Vieira da Silva, Minister of Labour in Portugal, at last week's conference about Decent Work in Lisbon.

    Tags: égalité, providence, salaires


  • Sheffield, UK: plenty of ideas for PES manifesto

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    • Evaluation: 4.5000
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    Evaluation: 4,5/5 avec 2 votes

    Publié lundi 5 novembre 2007 à 11h29
    par Editeur dans La nouvelle Europe sociale (vu 906 fois et 1 commentaires)

    Merci aux députés européens travaillistes britanniques Richard Corbett et Linda McAvan pour avoir consacré une heure, lors du Yorkshire Regional Policy Forum, à une discussion sur le programme électoral du PSE.

    Les droits des travailleurs, un plus grand engagement en faveur de salaires décents, et l'égalité au travail ont été quelques-uns des thèmes abordés avec le public, outre les nombreuses questions sur le déroulement de la consultation sur le programme du PSE pour 2009.

    La consultation a été applaudie par l'ancien eurodéputé David Bowe, qui a proposé d'y ajouter un nouveau thème: 'comment faire fonctionner l'Europe', c'est-à-dire comment mettre en oeuvre les règles de l'UE de façon adéquate dans tous les Etats membres. Le député et ancien ministre à l'Europe Dennis McShane a conclu la réunion en soulignant que l'Europe était sans doute le thème qui marquait la différence entre le Labour et les conservateurs britanniques de plus en plus isolationnistes.

    La réunion, qui s'est tenue le 3 novembre à Sheffield,... » Lire la suite ...

    Tags: égalité, emploi, providence, salaires