Published Wednesday, July 2, 2008 at 10:01
by
rikkeindenmark 
in In the spotlight (841 views and 0 comments)
Not long ago I learned
about the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions. To be
honest I didn't know about the group's existence until a year ago
(ignorance is not always bliss), but it's a forum for local and
regional politicians to meet and discuss EU politics. It's an
interesting organization because many EU decisions impact greatly
on the local level - and the PES Group is a chance for local and
regional social democrats to meet and work together to influence EU
policies.
I admit that this was a digression from the topic that I actually wanted to address in this post! The reason why I brought up the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions is that the group has its own PES manifesto consultation - and in this consultation there's a fifth point of discussion, in addition to the four 'traditional' themes - namely the gender dimension.
I agree very much with the view-point of the PES Group - that there's a significant gender aspect to all four manifesto themes - and I hope the 'pervasiveness' of gender issues will be taken into consideration when the PES manifesto is drafted over the coming months....
read morePublished Friday, June 6, 2008 at 15:47
by
thanos
in In the spotlight (681 views and 0 comments)
Editor's note: as the
weekend is almost there, today we present you a suggestion sent
by one of the PES manifesto supporters to go to the cinema and
discover new approaches on how to do politics...
On y sort plein d'émotions. Tristesse, chagrin, goût d'amertume... mais c'est un film humain. Ces films devraient être vus par un plus grand nombre de personnes et par les hommes et femmes politiques aussi.
Faisons la politique différement, approchons nous de la personne, de l'être humain. C'est déjà un énorme pas en avant.
Ce film se rapproche des personnages et de leurs vies, il parle de leurs problèmes , leurs angoisses et leurs tristesses. Les émotions débordent de partout.Je vous donne un petit résumé du film en espérant que vous irez le voir et réagirez à cet article en donnant votre avis..................................................................................
Le Moyen-Orient est en constante mutation. Quand...
read morePublished Wednesday, April 9, 2008 at 14:36
by
Editor
in EU in the world (1277 views and 2 comments)
Here is an opinion
from Jusos –
the German social democratic youth organization:
Slowly but steadily the European Union has been finding its role
in the world by shaping a common EU foreign policy. More and more
tools have been developed and policies defined.
However, Brussels is running the risk of loosing sight of one of
its main origin: control of arms! The central objective of the
European Cool and Steel Community at the very beginning was to
make war unlikely by controlling and restricting the resources
needed for weapons. Arms control and disarmament were two
dominant goals on the European level to further foster peace and
stability.
Today, disarmament and arms control do not seem to play a major
role on the European level any more. The European Security
Strategy from 2003 does not even mention "disarmament" once. The
European discussion on US plans of establishing missile defence
systems on EU soil had only been half-hearted by most actors. And
instead of being committed to stop weapons flow into conflict
regions, the EU opened up an Armament Agency in order to
coordinate and improve its own weapons production being already
one of the biggest exporters in the world.
We hope that the
Published Tuesday, March 25, 2008 at 11:00
by
frederic.vareillas
in EU in the world (1152 views and 1 comments)
Hi,
Recently, the French President took a trip to Washington to say to the US congress how he "admired John Wayne". I won't elaborate.
Then John Mc Cain came to Paris and that same President promised to send more French troops to Afghanistan.
Next, the French President is preparing an alliance with Britain to develop Nuclear technology, build and export nuclear plants with the British and only the British.
He baptized a new submarine with sixteen nuclear missiles on board ("the Terrible", by the way).
I have just one thing to say : My God ! What does Germany think about that ?
Regards,
Frederic (Paris)
read morePublished Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 04:16
by
frederic.vareillas
in EU in the world (1313 views and 10 comments)
Hi,
Dmitri Medvedev has just been chosen by 70 % of the Russian voters to become next President of Russian federation (with Putin as Prime Minister).
1/ This election has been only PARTLY democratic but a vast majority of the people in Russia are supportive of Putin's policies and are behind Medvedev (more than 60% of th total Russian population. So, Medvedev IS representative of the russians as much as Bush is representative of the americans.
2/ Russia has 10000 nuclear warheads targeting western Europe because of the American project of an anti missile "shield" (!) in Poland and Chzec Republic.
3/ America is a debtor nation , diving into a great depression, with no cash or oil left,
whereas Russia is on the rise : A new middle class, Oil, Gas, Coal, Gold, Diamonds, A new banking, trading, commercial and economic booming system.
4/ (and most important) : Look at your geographical maps : Kaliningrad, Saint Petersburg, Moscow and most of the big Russian cities ARE in EUROPE.
5/ A bit of history : The forefathers of the white Russians where the "Varegs", Vikings coming to the region of Moscow around the tenth century A.D.
Russians Are europeans, and live mostly on the European continent.
That is to say : Most of the modern european Russians have SWEDISH ancestors : Sweden happens to be a member of the U.E. and is getting ready to join the € zone and the Schengen agreement.
6/ USA are...
read morePublished Thursday, January 24, 2008 at 10:49
by
thanos
in EU in the world (1377 views and 1 comments)
I believe the EU
and European socialists should criticize what is actually
happening in Palestine. The situation in Gaza is terrible and
everyone has seen the pictures in the media. An urgent solution
is needed and if we are to achieve it, we will have to speak up
and react.
If the Palestinian issue is not resolved, things will always be dangerous and difficult not only for that region but for the whole world . The PES and the socialist group in the European Parliament should agree on a common position and express it publicly.
The PES manifesto should include general positions on majour conflicts in the world and condemn the abuse of international law and human rights.
read morePublished Wednesday, October 10, 2007 at 10:32
by
Editor
in EU in the world (1614 views and 0 comments)
Almost 90 percent of Europeans want the European Union to play a bigger role globally, according to a recent poll by the US German Marshall Fund. euobserver.com repeat that citizens call for more money to developmental aid (84 %), the use of trade to influence other countries (74 %) and sending troops for peace-keeping missions (68 %).
Committing troops to combat missions is near the bottom of the list. Only 20 percent of Europeans thinks combat operations should be EU’s responsibility.
In contrast to the clear-cut conclusions on global responsibility
the question about collaboration with the US splits Europe in
two: a little more than half, 53 percent, feels that the EU
should cooperate closer with Washington in dealing with global
threats, whereas 43 percent prefers Europe to address threats
independently.
The survey included about 13.000 people of 12 nationalities:
France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal,
Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey and the UK.
Published Tuesday, October 2, 2007 at 10:43
by
Editor
in EU in the world (1488 views and 2 comments)
It is hardly controversial to point out that the UN Security Council is a post WWII construction that does not reflect today’s realities. But are we really ready for change? Can we accept one EU seat? That would be consistent with a Common Foreign and Security Policy, but it would also mean UK and France losing their own seats in the long run.
And it is not just a question of who sits on the Council. There is the veto which allows any one permanent member to stop any UN security or peace initiative. More importantly, could the UN play a bigger and more decisive military role in peace keeping – and resolving conflicts before they escalate into violence? The EU recognizes the UN’s primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security – so why not give it some teeth, some real powers?
Perhaps we should first push the EU to develop a real Foreign and Security policy before being overly ambitious about the UN? On the other hand why not recognize that UK and France, and all other European countries, are no longer world powers, and that the best hope for real European influence would be to press ahead simultaneously with the EU Foreign and Security Policy and a joint role in the UN Security Council?
read morePublished Tuesday, March 25, 2008 at 11:23
by Julian from Schaerbeek in EU in the world ( comments)
This is a great video about a really important issue - THE racism now being peddled by the far right is anti-Muslim - trying to create fear about and hatred towards Muslim communities. We must expose and oppose any 'clash of civilisations'. Of course there are genuine issues about integration which we should address in a spirit of respect and tolerance - but we must say a very clear no to anti-muslim rhetoric.
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