PES Manifesto

German social democrats on Europe

Published Tuesday, October 30, 2007 at 14:08
by Editor (1224 views and 0 comments)

The new SPD program, adopted at the party’s congress in Hamburg this weekend, defines essential elements of European democracy in a sharp and clear way. For German social democrats European democracy means government based on responsible and accountable parliamentary procedures.

For the SPD this implies that the European Parliament must stand on equal footing with the European Council. The Parliament should at the same time control the other European institution: for the SPD it has to be the European Parliament which elects the President of the European Commission.

A strong parliamentary democracy needs parties: the SPD wants to develop the PES into a real member party based on a long term program and the capacity to act effectively. At the elections for the European Parliament the SPD proposes one top social democratic candidate.

The SPD proposes structured cooperation of those member states which want to go further down the road towards a more democratic Europe. Such cooperation, however, needs to be open for all other member states.

What do you think: is this the right vision for a more democratic, transparent and accountable European Union?

Find more photos from the SPD congress in Hamburg here

Tags: citizens, democracy, EU, political parties