Published Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 09:57
by
julian_schaerbeek 
in Debate (1121 views and 1 comments)
"The biggest problem
in Poland now is lack of tolerance" was the startling statement of
Polish social democratic party leader Grzegorz Napieralski at ECOSY
summer camp. The young, recently-elected party leader said that
there was a lack of tolerance towards sexual minorities, and a lack
of tolerance for other religions apart from Catholicism. He added
that Poland didn't have a problem with migration - which implied to
me that there would be a lack of tolerance to migrants if there
were any!!!Published Tuesday, July 22, 2008 at 12:40
by
thanos
in Debate (969 views and 0 comments)
The following
article by Thanos Kafkalides, political science student at
Université Libre de Bruxelles, hails the Zapatero government’s
policies for their positive contribution in the fight against
discrimination. In particular, discrimination based on sexual
orientation and the role played by education in this fight.
He notes that, in Greece, the debate on such discrimination has just been opened by the left and he invites PASOK to follow PSOE’s lead by proposing innovative and progressive policies to promote equality and combat discrimination.
Δυστυχώς, στην χώρα μας δεν μιλάμε συχνά για θέματα σεξουαλικής ταυτότητας και αυτά, μόλις τον τελευταίο καιρό άρχισαν να...
read moreTags: discrimination, equality, equality, PASOK, PSOE, Zapatero
File:
We are Europe.pdf
Published Friday, July 4, 2008 at 10:12
by
negrescuvictor
in European democracy & diversity (764 views and 2 comments)
An important
part of PES activists Romania 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:
- the creation of the European Agency for Roma
- education projects for the Roma community
- promotion of the Roma culture as an European culture (the Roma community is not only a Eastern European issue but an European issue)
-...
read morePublished Thursday, July 3, 2008 at 10:50
by
chourka
in European democracy & diversity (669 views and 0 comments)
Très rares sont les contributions qui pointent du doigt les discriminations dont souffre la communauté Rom. Une seule exception à cet oubli : la contribution de nos camarades du PSD. Faut-il y voir une spécificité locale ? Une chose est certaine : les Roms représentent une population estimée à 8 millions d'individus sur notre continent soit autant si ce n'est plus que bien des pays composant l'Union européenne.
A ce titre, on peut considérer que c'est la première minorité -si on peut encore parler de minorité 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 même.
Il y a là pour notre famille politique une question majeure à traiter. Pour être un peu provocateur, on peut d'ailleurs considérer que les premiers Européens sont les Roms, en cela, qu'ils ne sont pas attachés à un Etat-membre en particulier et qu'ils font preuve d'une mobilité peu commune à l'exception des cadres supérieurs.
La manière dont certains gouvernements sont tentés de faire des entorses aux Accords Schengen voire de remettre en cause la Liberté de circulation des personnes (une des...
read morePublished Sunday, June 29, 2008 at 15:09
by
stephane.veyret
in European democracy & diversity (952 views and 1 comments)
« Unis dans la
diversité », tel est le slogan qui a été adopté pour l'Europe. Mais
quelle diversité souhaitons-nous vraiment ? Une diversité absolue,
où l'on ne pratique aucun échange entre les peuples, où chacun
garde sa propre culture, sa propre langue et ne cherche pas à
communiquer avec ses voisins ? Ou une diversité limitée, où l'on
fait en sorte que toute l'Europe s'exprime dans une même langue et
se reconnaisse dans des valeurs similaires ?
Aujourd'hui, il semble que c'est ce second choix qui a été fait, avec l'anglais comme langue commune, et les valeurs des États-Unis comme base de notre culture, au détriment de nos propres coutumes.
La France, pays réputé pour sa tolérance 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 idée de la justice, se permettent d'ôter la vie aux hors-la-loi… La France, pays réputé mondialement pour sa nourriture voit fleurir de plus en plus de « fast-food » au coin de ses rues. Le français, la langue des lumières, langue de Molière, Victor Hugo, et nombres d'autres...
read morePublished Friday, June 27, 2008 at 10:34
by
rikkeindenmark
in European democracy & diversity (1064 views and 3 comments)
“I don’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”Published Tuesday, June 3, 2008 at 10:17
by
Editor
in European democracy & diversity (454 views and 0 comments)
Many participants to the online consultation noted the need to push forward the anti-discrimination directive to deal with the increasing intolerance, homophobia and discrimination in Europe. We also need to educate people and politicians, and change backward mentalities to ensure legislation is effectively implemented. The PES should therefore produce a clear statement on this directive.
Natalia highlighted the need to put emphasis on equality policies as a cornerstone of the PES political action: “in defining socialist policies, we have a moral obligation to work in favour of this profound social change through education, legislation and the questioning of those social models based on the so-called superiority of one sex over the other”. The case of the Spanish government, with 9 women and 8 men, and a Ministry of Equality, should be used as a best practice.
read more
Published Wednesday, May 21, 2008 at 09:57
by
joelld
in European democracy & diversity (974 views and 1 comments)
Rainbow Rose, the
network of socialist, social-democratic and Labour LGBT activists
in Europe, is fully committed to support Michael CASHMAN's efforts for a new comprehensive
directive against discriminations, covering the whole field of
Article 13 of the Treaty on the European Community.
This very important social question was part of our contribution
for this consultation of the PES's activists. One can see the
text of our contribution, presently supported by nearly 30 PES
MEPs, on our website.
As Michael reminds us, the Barroso Commission has to deliver,
before the elections. José Manuel Barroso himself committed
himself to do so in 2004, and Commissioner Vladimir Spidla
(Employment and Social affairs) repeatedly said he would make
efforts to achieve such a new directive.
Rainbow Rose acknowledges the PES' support for a comprehensive
directive. We think that, in the coming month, the PES should
produce a clear statement, for example at the next leader's
conference on June 19th, calling for the Commission to match its
own promise. Europe must deliver, and the socialists must be
proactive to show that Europe can deliver even before the 2009
elections.
Tags: citizens, discrimination, equality, fundamental rights, gay, LGBT
File:
Rainbow_Rose_letter.pdf
Published Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 10:42
by
Editor
in European democracy & diversity (1039 views and 5 comments)
Today is the
International Day against Homophobia – a good day to
discuss discrimination and what we can do to fight it.
Michael Cashman (Labour, United Kingdom) is one of many
socialist Members of the European Parliament who are working hard
for the introduction of a new and more far-reaching
anti-discrimination directive:
"Since the Barroso Commission was elected in 2004 socialists
in the European Parliament have been calling for a new directive
on anti-discrimination, but nothing has happened yet. In its 2008
work programme the Commission mentions discrimination on grounds
of sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability,
age or sexual orientation (article 13 Treaty Amsterdam). But
since then, the Commission has indicated it will proceed only on
prohibiting discrimination on disability,” explains Michael
Cashman.
According to him the integrity of Barroso and his Commission is
at stake with the lack of a new inclusive directive:
“In 2004 the European Parliament was close to rejecting the whole
Commission, but we got a commitment from them: Barroso promised
to create a cabinet to work...
Published Wednesday, May 7, 2008 at 16:57
by
Editor
in European democracy & diversity (928 views and 0 comments)
Published Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at 11:49
by
Editor
in European democracy & diversity (1089 views and 0 comments)
Published Tuesday, March 25, 2008 at 09:40
by
Editor
in In the spotlight (1281 views and 1 comments)
A group of German PES activists are the first to send in a paper
with ideas for the PES manifesto. Read the German contribution in the documents section of
Yourspace.
The EU working group from the SPD in Berlin proposes eight 'building
blocks' for the PES manifesto:
Published Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at 14:21
by
Duncan Anderson
in European democracy & diversity (830 views and 4 comments)
As part of our Human Rights the last vestiges of discrimination must be banned. Each individual must be judged on Merit.
In Britain this would include Working Men's Clubs, Freemasons, the Labour Party's All Women Selection and some areas of sport.
read morePublished Wednesday, March 12, 2008 at 10:57
by
santibenitez
in European democracy & diversity (1008 views and 3 comments)
Published Monday, March 10, 2008 at 09:41
by
joelld
in New Social Europe (935 views and 0 comments)
From Tuesday, March
4th to Thursday, March 6th, the NGOs federation ILGA-Europe has
organized a conference on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
(LGBT) families in Europe. The conference took place in Ljubljana,
Slovenia, in order to deliver a message on the EU agenda during the
Slovenia’s Presidency of the EU. ILGA-Europe and its national
members pointed out the juridical and social insecurity which is
still a very concrete threat for millions of European families and
children.Published Thursday, March 6, 2008 at 10:27
by
Editor
in European democracy & diversity (1515 views and 0 comments)
The first months of debating European democracy and diversity
have really brought up a lot of priorities and proposals for the
PES to consider:
Fighting discrimination
First of all, fighting discrimination is a very important topic,
including the promotion of minority, women and LGBT rights and of
equal opportunities for all, and the fight against fascism,
racism, anti-Semitism and islamophobia. Regulations already exist at the EU
and national levels, but Rainbow Rose points out the need to enforce these
regulations. The example of the Spanish socialist party, PSOE, was
put forward as a best practice to be followed by PES member
parties on gender issues – the PES itself is already committed to
40 percent representation of each gender, and has over 42 percent
women MEPs.
More democracy, please
The EU democratic deficit is also a recurrent theme. There is an
agreement on the need to ensure more participatory democracy and
reinforce the European Parliament, in order to reconnect the EU and its citizens. For instance, the
PES could insist on the creation of a
Published Friday, February 22, 2008 at 13:49
by
Editor
in New Social Europe (1186 views and 1 comments)
On average European
women earn 15 percent less than men. Today is the 22. February –
the day where working women will have earned a wage equal to the
yearly salary of working men. That’s almost two months longer women
need to work to achieve the same income. Read more about the wage
inequalities here and give us your ideas - what can Europe’s
socialists do to shut the gender pay gap?Published Tuesday, February 19, 2008 at 16:51
by
Editor
in New Social Europe (1411 views and 1 comments)
Published Friday, November 23, 2007 at 08:31
by
joelld
in European democracy & diversity (1684 views and 2 comments)
The first day of the PES Council in Sofia went well, despite the climate conditions, with rich debates and conferences. Rainbow Rose LGBT was well represented by Rodrigo Martín Galán during the debate on European democracy and diversity yesterday afternoon. As many speakers remarked, article 13 of the EC treaty, and other binding European laws such as anti-discrimination directives 2000/78 and 2000/43, are already implemented in all member States, improving the conditions of LGBT persons, women or disabled persons in all areas of social life. Still, it also appears clearly that EU treaties and regulations, being no magic solutions, had not eliminated racism, sexism, homophobia or transphobia in our societies. As socialist activists and NGOs report daily, discriminations in employment and work conditions, hate crimes, intolerant speeches in day-to-day life, are a reality we must face.
Rainbow Rose met at lunch time, outside the Council, with Bulgarian LGBT activists who could explain us what kind of exactions they live with in their country – and Bulgaria is not an exception. As European socialists are talking, these days in...
read morePublished Tuesday, November 20, 2007 at 17:17
by
rmarting
in European democracy & diversity (1176 views and 0 comments)
At the beginning of
the paper on the New Social Europe it is stated
that the EU is admired across the world for its social model.
Nevertheless, we are worried because there are still first and
second class citizens within the EU in the field of civil rights.
The PES manifesto should state the intention of the PES to find
solutions for this problem.
Let us approach this issue from a historical point of view: before the Enlightment in the XVIII century, many sectors of the European population did not have the opportunity to decide on their place in society. Enlightment philosophers placed human dignity at the heart of the European way of thinking. This historical process continued with the French Revolution where all members of society, regardless of their social class, would obtain the opportunity to determine their own life and their personal development.
In the XXth century, a new step forward was taken and the European progressive thinking has included individual rights not only on the basis of belonging to a disadvantaged social class but also to the belonging to a minority or a discriminated group on the basis of gender, ethnicity, disability, age etc.
European socialist parties have taken up the fight for equal opportunities....
read morePublished Thursday, November 15, 2007 at 16:10
by
joelld
in New Social Europe (1641 views and 5 comments)
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 protected against discrimination at work and in the access to all public and...
read moreTags: discrimination, diversity, equality, gay, LGBT, public services, welfare
File:
PES Group statement on the outcome of the conference on the year of equal opportunities.pdf
Published Tuesday, November 13, 2007 at 13:34
by
marek_siwiec
in European democracy & diversity (1262 views and 1 comments)
As I watched the news covering the recent outbreak
of violence in Prague connected with the attempt of the neo-Nazis
to march in the Jewish quarter of the city, known as Josefov, to
“celebrate” the anniversary of the so-called Kristallnacht of
1938, when the Nazis attacked Jewish houses and temples, I did
not think much about these modern-day followers of Hitler.
Instead, I focused on the reaction of the inhabitants of Prague
and their supporters who came from many countries to defend the
historic part of town from the massive demonstration of hatred.
Seeing thousands of people wearing yellow stars of David as sign
of unity with the Jewish inhabitants of Prague, ready to stand
against the groups of aggressors, brought my mind to the issue of
diversity in Europe.
I am happy to be part of the Party of European Socialists, which has drawn so much attention to matters of diversity and said a loud “no” to intolerance it in its recent campaign. It gives me hope that the main message of the campaign will be present in the PES manifesto and that the party will contribute to strengthening of diversity and tolerance in the European Union in the upcoming years. I myself have been involved for many years in the Polish-Jewish dialogue and am well aware that the spectre of anti-semitism and racism is...
read morePublished Tuesday, November 13, 2007 at 09:47
by
carl0s
in European democracy & diversity (1428 views and 0 comments)
Obviously we can't bracket together every new member of the EU from the former Eastern Bloc. But the problems with democratic stability and forming a new equitable economic balance are consistent from state to state. Every country has issues with the far-right either growing in influence or forming new organisations. Whilst these remain marginal, in many cases these influence the debate, even to the point where a member party of the PES, in Slovakia, feels obliged to join a coalition with extreme right elements.
The problems seem to often stem from the political economy which has replaced the monolithic state system. Politicians have generally failed to explain the challenge of converting to a market economy, and the huge changes to the social geography that this has entailed. Worse still, there is a risk that the new economies are becoming distorted into mirror images of developing countries, with huge inequalities between rich and poor, and failing public services. That the new industries will be simply dirty, primary industries, exploiting natural resources and a cowed workforce. This is not good enough for the EU. We still need to monitor how the new EU countries are performing across a variety of criteria - not just the Maastricht budgetary restrictions!
Whilst the countries which previously comprised the Austro-Hungarian empire have a cosmopolitan and varied history, the virtual isolation of previous fifty years have reduced the public's toleranceof...
read morePublished Monday, October 22, 2007 at 11:32
by
Editor
in European democracy & diversity (1659 views and 0 comments)
Joel Le Deroff from
Rainbow Rose, the LGBT network of PES, was one of
many grassroots taking part in last week’s PES activist gathering
in Brussels. We asked him what he thought should be in the PES
manifesto:
"We know that the EU will not, alone, change national regulations on for example same-sex marriage or adoption rights - but we would like to ensure that gays, lesbians, transgender persons, and their families, can keep the rights they have in their home countries, when moving to other EU countries. This is a way of provoking changes in more member states and something which I would like to see mentioned in the PES manifesto."
read morePublished Tuesday, October 16, 2007 at 15:25
by
Editor
in European democracy & diversity (2070 views and 0 comments)
‘Together against
discrimination’ is the European Commission’s latest
initiative on fighting discrimination. They invite children and
teenagers from all over Europe to design posters that will teach
others to say ‘no’ to discrimination.
Today racism, sexism, homophobia and other forms of discrimination are banned within the European Union. Equality before the law and non-discrimination is secured by national laws and also mentioned in article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
Still, discrimination is not history in Europe. There is a need to inform citizens about their basic rights and to empower them when it comes to saying no to discrimination. The poster competition is such an initiative.
But campaigns and information are not enough. Do you see other ways in which the European Union can ensure fundamental rights are respected in Europe?
read morePublished Wednesday, June 4, 2008 at 20:08
by Asynjen in European democracy & diversity ( comments)
During the coming 12 months, four politicians will be appointed as leaders of the European Union. For fifty years now, the picture of European political leadership has remained the same. It is time for a change. International top posts should always go to the most competent candidate. There are 250 million women in Europe; it should not be too hard to find qualified candidates among all these.
If you wish to see at least one female appointed as leader of the European Union, sign the petition from social democratic Member of the European Parliament, Christel Schaldemose!
More information here!
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