PES Manifesto

Scandinavian PES activists on European democracy and diversity

Published Friday, March 14, 2008 at 11:50
by AnneSofie (1339 views and 1 comments)

Among the activities of the gathering of Scandinavian PES activists in Jørlunde, Denmark, was a discussion group on the PES manifesto theme 'European democracy and diversity':

The workshop was introduced by Yildiz Akdogan, member of the Danish Parliament. She presented her thoughts on the dilemmas posed by our belief in democratic institutions governing by majority decisions while seeking to protect the civil and human rights of individuals as well as groups to live their life respecting their cultural heritage and personal life-choices.

Our perception of modern society should include a compromise between individual and collective needs, strengthening democratic influence on European institutions while securing minority rights. The workshop participants believed that our family of political parties are the right actors to build this alliance, since our concept of human life and potential indeed always has been a much broader one than those of the right wing.

Therefore, embracing and encouraging European diversity might actually be the key to enabling the common European identity we want the European citizens to feel part of. Instead of alienating citizens by demanding that they change their historically based identity for a common European one, we want to promote the possibility of a dual identity, allowing for the European citizenship to become the bridge that unites diverse cultures within Europe.

The participants also stated the need for the EU to create credible results for its citizens. We believe that the scepticism towards the EU must be altered by making the many benefits created by Union membership visible to the public. Formal speeches or meetings held by national leaders will not change the way people feel about the Union; only results improving their everyday living conditions will do that.

One such result might be the creation of decent jobs and working conditions. Through our work we are all united as part of the European labour force, and the workshop expressed optimism about current thoughts to implement a common European flexicurity model, though stating that the social dialogue must be secured as the corner stone and that flexicurity without social security is nothing but worsened employment conditions without acceptable compensation for an increased flexibility.

The workshop participants expressed concern that most initiatives to harmonize European educational systems have been too focused on universities and institutions of higher education, neglecting unskilled workers and people in vocational training centres. In order to make free movement an accessible option for all citizens, we called for the Union to strengthen its initiatives for these people.

The participants also mentioned the importance of us choosing a strictly political approach when discussing European matters. For too long discussions about EU politics has been reduced to the simple question of ‘pro or con’ instead of true political visions and ambitions for European development. We think a ‘politicisation’ of the EU-debate will change the public opinion about the Union as well as strengthen our parties’ position with the European electorate. Hopefully, this approach might also result in a higher participation in EP elections.

To create a common European identity, the activists in the workshop expressed the need for common European news medias as well as exchange programmes. Initiatives to overcome language barriers should be broadened from the European institutions to include facilitation of cross-European civil dialogue. Such a common identity is not only important for the participation and support for the European project, but also has consequences to the rest of the world.

Finally, the expressed expressed their hope to see the Union taking on a greater responsibility in international relations and security affairs, calling for a greater influence of soft rather than hard power. The workshop concluded that the central role of democracy, the respect for and promotion of civil, social and human rights and the values of solidarity, equality, freedom and social justice could all be considered common European values – and for that reason, these values might be a more solid foundation to build a common European identity on.

View more photos from the event here

Tags: activists, citizens, democracy, human rights, manifesto, media, political parties, solidarity