Published Thursday, July 24, 2008 at 16:31
by
Editor
in Debate (603 views and 1 comments)
At the PES activists Forum in Vienna, PES President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen outlined how best to approach the migration issue. Recognising the need for "new minimum standards on how to treat migrant workers in Europe," he highlighted the importance of these being based on "rights and duties."
Judging from history, Poul noted that "When you play the fear factor it is always the conservatives who gain." Therefore, as Socialists, we need to play the future factor based on inclusivity and equality.
Check out the video and let us know what you think. What exactly should these new minimum standards be? What "rights and duties" need to be promoted to develop a sense of inclusivity amongst migrant workers?
read morePublished Tuesday, July 22, 2008 at 12:40
by
thanos
in Debate (609 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 Monday, July 14, 2008 at 15:24
by
Editor
in Debate (625 views and 5 comments)
What should Europe do to deal with migration? And what should be the PES position on the issue? After the adoption by the European Parliament of the directive on the return of illegal immigrants, the question became (even more) crucial!
António Vitorino, former Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs, defends that there is a need to have a “balanced migration policy”. That is to say that, on the one hand, Europe should “fight illegal migration” and, on the other hand, it is necessary to establish long term cooperation agreements with the countries of origin of immigrants. And let's not forget the humanitarian factor: immigrants should be treated with dignity!
What do you think Europe should head for on this issue? In your opinion how can Europe conciliate its needs of migrants and the security concerns...
read morePublished Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 12:41
by
Gregory 
in New Social Europe (622 views and 1 comments)
Commençons par une
bonne nouvelle : les européens vivent de plus en plus longtemps.
En moyenne, l’espérance de vie augmente de trois mois par an en
Europe. Une société qui vit plus longtemps ne va, a priori, pas
si mal.
Continuons par une moins bonne nouvelle : les européens n’assurent pas le renouvellement des générations. En effet, il faudrait une moyenne supérieure à 2 enfants par femme pour que cela soit le cas et nous en sommes loin. Avec des taux de fécondité de seulement 1,25 en Espagne, en Italie, en République Tchèque et en Pologne, la situation est parfois très inquiétante.
Le vieillissement de la population européenne aura dans les prochaines années des conséquences économiques et sociales très lourdes. Une pénurie de main d’œuvre et de matière grise qui fragilisera la croissance économique. L’augmentation du coût des soins médicaux et des retraites et les inégalités qui en découleront.
Face à ce défi démographique, l’Europe doit remettre en question sa...
read morePublished Friday, July 4, 2008 at 10:12
by
negrescuvictor
in European democracy & diversity (371 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, June 26, 2008 at 09:33
by
rikkeindenmark
in New Social Europe (703 views and 10 comments)
And now for
something completely different – as Monty Python would say! I’m
moving away from gender issues and on to a completely different
topic, namely education.
I work in the university sector, where tuition fees are currently
a burning hot topic for debate. In my home country we have a long
tradition for free – or rather publicly funded – higher
education. The argument is that when higher education is free
everyone – regardless of social or economic background – has the
opportunity to take a university degree. Basically, as Danes see
it free education is a question of equality and equal access to
education.
However, in globalization the Danish higher education model is
challenged: Denmark is one of very few countries in the world
which does not have tuition fees (correct me if I’m wrong, but I
think there are only 10 countries worldwide with free higher
education!). University education is increasingly becoming
‘internationalized’: more and more universities cooperate across
borders to offer joint degrees; more and more students go abroad
on exchange or take a full degree abroad, etc. With more
cooperation across borders it gets more difficult for Denmark to
stick with the ‘no fee’ policy – since many of the countries we
cooperate...
Published Wednesday, June 25, 2008 at 16:42
by
Editor
in European democracy & diversity (489 views and 0 comments)
European Network Against Racism (ENAR), representing over 600 anti-racism NGOs all over Europe, put forward its suggestions for the manifesto2009!
Check them here with its director, Pascale Charhon.
Read ENAR' full contribution here and
leave us your comments to tackle minority problems across
Europe!
Published Thursday, June 5, 2008 at 17:50
by
Editor
in New Social Europe (426 views and 0 comments)
The new “security package” in Italy risks to fuel tensions and increase the cases of violence such as the attacks on Roma-settlements around Naples and Milan.
As highlighted by the socialist MEPs in a hearing at the European Parliament on June 4, the new measures do not provide an equal treatment of individuals in front of the justice since for the same crime illegal immigrants will get an 1/3 higher penalty than the one established for nationals. Therefore, illegal immigration will become a crime itself targeted to asylum seekers, who usually run away from situations of war, extreme poverty and do not have other option than to arrive irregularly in a country.
According to the socialist MEP Jan Marinus Wiersma, rapporteur of the EP Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, Italy is shaking the principles of the Schengen system and the values of the European Union enshrined in Article 6 of the Treaty. Roma community is a European minority and as such it needs to be protected at European level.
read morePublished Wednesday, June 4, 2008 at 15:15
by
Asynjen
in New Social Europe (404 views and 0 comments)
Women's rights - in my view a core socialist issue. So far
there's one particular aspect of the debate on women's rights
which I think deserves a bit more attention here on Yourspace;
namely trafficking.
According to the Coalition against Trafficking in Women
500.000 women are annually trafficked into Western Europe.
Prostitution becomes the "trade" of these smuggled women - and
please notice the inverted comments: these women are slaves,
'money machines' for kingpins without too many moral qualms.
Once in a while I come across arguments in favour of trafficking:
Like the people smuggler himself who says that he's really doing
the women a favour - they get a fair chance for a better life in
Western Europe. They would have been even worse off in their home
country. From this perspective trafficking is understood as a
sort of "development aid" (again a big emphasis on the inverted
commas!) - scary that some people are capable of rationalizing
like this, right?
Luckily, such an attitude towards women and human rights is not
found among Europe's socialists. We often - and loudly - express
our concern about trafficking and the conditions of these
enslaved women. I think it's time for a European-level...
Published Friday, May 30, 2008 at 10:05
by
jose reis santos
in New Social Europe (492 views and 1 comments)
I would like to
share with you some of the ideas that Manuela Augusto, leader of
the Socialist Women Department of the Portuguese Socialist Party,
presented during a conference in Faro on the “New Social Europe”
theme (check the videos here: part
1 and part 2). She kindly accepted my invitation to
write a few lines on the issue which you can read here:
Contributions for the manifesto2009
Bring together personal and professional life affects both men and women. Nevertheless, women are strongly penalized, sometimes even more than men.
This situation results in a higher female unemployment rate, carer progress difficulties and lower incomes, just to mention a few examples.
Let’s look, for instance, at one of the EU reports dating back of 2007. Women account for only 24% of the total number of deputies in the 27 national parliaments. At national government level, 76% of all the ministerial posts are occupied by men and no woman is leading a...
read morePublished Wednesday, May 21, 2008 at 09:57
by
joelld
in European democracy & diversity (617 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 Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 15:32
by
Editor
in New Social Europe (505 views and 0 comments)
A New Social
Europe calls for solidarity between citizens of all ages.Published Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 13:52
by
eromerof
in European democracy & diversity (864 views and 1 comments)
But all this would be just another subjective comment if women were not constantly forced to prove themselves and if they were not there merely out of a simple strategy of political marketing. In addition, women must also prove their worth and show that they are not just puppets. In our society, in most cases, women must adjust...
read morePublished Monday, April 28, 2008 at 14:45
by
eromerof
in New Social Europe (853 views and 2 comments)
Nowadays, the panorama of the left in Europe does not seem to be very tempting. Only 7 out of 27 countries belonging to EU are ruled by socialist parties. These are: United Kingdom, Portugal, Spain, Hungary, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Cyprus. We could argue that there is a lack of real political leadership, a leadership that in other decades was embodied by politicians such as Francois Mitterrand.
The political victory of Zapatero in Spain last march gives the Spanish socialism a great opportunity to implement and develop politics that can be seen as an example for other European countries. It generates a new opportunity to take the initiative in the European context. Whereas the majority of countries in South America are governed by left parties, sometimes with a strong and questionable populist sense, and whereas United States are given an opportunity to give the power again to the Democratic party, regardless of whether Clinton or Obama wins, the European left movement needs to reshape its political agenda, taking the initiative and dismantling the demagogic and populist discourse of conservative countries, too much focused on very sensitive and easy to be manipulated issues such as security, migration, taxes...
From a Spanish perspective, I would like to introduce some of the main points for a socialist agenda. An...
read morePublished Friday, April 11, 2008 at 16:35
by
martina
in New Social Europe (1126 views and 6 comments)
According to Eurostat a woman in Europe earns, in average, 15
percent less than her male colleague. With 22 percent difference
Germany takes a sad lead when it comes to pay inequality – on the
management level it is even worse (33 percent). Only a few
countries have taken action against this inequity.
The purpose of the international action day for equal
opportunities and equal pay, which has already taken place in the
US and Belgium, is to create awareness of this problem – and soon
there will also be actions in Germany. The German Network of
Business and Professional Women has taken the initiative for the
Equal Pay
Day on 15 April 2008 where the network, together with many
other women’s organizations, will organize numerous actions.
One of the activities of the German Equal Pay Day will be
‘Red Bag’
– which was already put into practice last summer in connection
with the European year of equal opportunities. At that time the
initiative went rather unnoticed by the general public - I don’t
remember having heard about it before now.
Every woman can take part in the ‘Red Bag’ action...
Tags: blogger of the week, equality, women, workers
File:
Equal Pay Day_DE.pdf
Published Friday, April 11, 2008 at 15:31
by
Editor
in New Social Europe (716 views and 0 comments)
Published Friday, April 11, 2008 at 10:31
by
noelhatch
in New Social Europe (656 views and 0 comments)
However, the economic layers of governance have been eroded by
globalisation. There is an increased pressure on costs. If we
debate the reform of the European social model, we need to debate
the reform of globalisation. Economic globalisation increases
within and between countries.
How can we develop a politics of international
redistribution?
Henning proposed that we needed a politics of national and
international redistribution - we need to explore a global social
politics. This includes:
Published Thursday, April 10, 2008 at 12:42
by
Editor
in New Social Europe (722 views and 0 comments)
Yes, but… a revision
needs to be done. The social dimension of the Lisbon Agenda and
perspectives for post 2010 EU strategy were key issues on the
agenda of the seminar on the New Social Europe of the
PES Group
in the Committee of Regions on 7 April 2008. The seminar is
part of the group’s contribution to the PES manifesto
consultation.Published Tuesday, April 8, 2008 at 12:00
by
noelhatch
in New Social Europe (620 views and 0 comments)
Published Monday, March 31, 2008 at 09:36
by
cafeneaua.politica
in European democracy & diversity (901 views and 4 comments)
In the last time I have participated in some interesting left
civil society and social democrat debates, under the PES
Activists auspices at Oradea and Cluj-Napoca in Romania. The
quality of the subjects and on the other hand of the speakers and
listeners prove again that “the left” has a very good future in
Romania and probably in Europe.
1. The Oradea debate subject:
”Parliamentary bureau - The feed-back connection with
citizens”
2. The Cluj-Napoca debate subjects:
”Is the Romania a success example for different cultures
joining?”
Published Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 12:35
by
ania_skrzypek
in New Social Europe (902 views and 3 comments)
Thinking about the
next post of the blog – I was actually trying to remind myself what
is that people enjoy reading. Coming from the political school of
manifesto: ‘others want to see true intentions that inspired you at
the first place, to be also inspired’, I decided to use one of my
very peculiar interests while traveling;… women magazines. From
cover to cover – scanning all the pictures, trying to get empathy
for the authors of ‘letters to editor’, looking at some clothes
that are not only strange but absolutely unaffordable for a regular
employee… But above all the most exciting and the most interesting
is what the knowledge these colorful pages give; the portrait of a
woman of today. The last time I did that reading I discovered
something absolutely disturbing; women of my own age (around 30)
are the group with the highest risk of the heart attacks. Even more
terrible, most of us had already some mini-version ones without
noticing that even!Published Wednesday, March 26, 2008 at 16:33
by
Editor
in New Social Europe (679 views and 0 comments)
Here is the last of
four reports from the manifesto debate in Denmark:
The manifesto theme 'New Social Europe' was one of the topics of
discussion when PES activists from Denmark, Sweden and Norway met
in Jørlunde, Denmark on March 1st and 2nd 2008. Here are the
conclusions from this dedicated discussion group:
Ole Christensen, MEP, introduced the workshop by speaking about
labour market policy in a new social Europe. One of the main
focuses was the role of Court of Justice in connection to the
Vaxholm case regarding the labour market models in the Nordic
countries.
The case was seen in connection to the increased mobility, out
posting of labour and the terms offered the employees as well as
the competition between foreign and domestic labour in relation
to collective bargaining.
The focus was also on the Danish labour market model and
flexicurity, the role of the parties within the labour market,
the social dialogue, rights and duties.
These great social democratic challenges were highlighted during
the discussion:
Published Tuesday, March 25, 2008 at 11:03
by
phoenix999
in New Social Europe (927 views and 12 comments)
Hello,
A few months ago I had to change my cell phone and I purchased a Nokia phone. After that, I learned that Nokia was leaving Germany with the money of the Germans, leaving Germany for Romania because salaries and wages there were, in euros, FOUR times lower. "What a social Europe !" I said to myself then. If I had known that piece of news earlier, I would have joined the Germans in the Nokia boycott. Anyway I signed the German petition FOR the boycott. But things are changing and Europe is not just a huge market place, not yet : the Romanian automobile workers have decided to go on strike because their wages were too LOW whereas the auto company was making a huge profit with their low standard cars. There, we have two choices left, yes WE, us, Europeans, have one alternative:
- Either we choose to follow the media and think : Let's keep these poor fellas underpaid, because there will be a big competition with Morocco or India or whatever, and there, they pay even lower salaries (when and where, in the World, does it end ?);
- Or, we decide to make a political DECISION : We agree on a decent minimum wage across the whole European Union and we, Europeans, TAX importations from the poor countries where they pay their salaried slaves literally nothing and exploit women and small children. This is our last chance if we want a social Europe and there, as an exception to the rule, I'll quote George W Bush : ' Our living standards are...
read morePublished Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at 14:22
by
Editor
in In the spotlight (684 views and 0 comments)
The Swedish social
democrats discussed the future of EU when the Swedish Social
Democratic Party met in the Swedish Parliament on March 7th. The
keynote speakers were Mona Sahlin, party leader and chair of the
PES group Save our planet, Margot Wallström, Vice-president of
the EU Commission, Jan Eliasson, former Minister for foreign
affairs, and Wanja Lundby-Wedin, President of the Swedish LO and ETUC. Around 250 persons
attended the conference.Published Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at 14:21
by
Duncan Anderson
in European democracy & diversity (593 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 Monday, March 10, 2008 at 14:56
by
heisbo
in New Social Europe (1005 views and 5 comments)
Last week Finnish
Minister of Labour introduced a motion that parental leave should
be divided in three: one part for mother, one part for father and
one part to share however the family wants to. In Iceland they
have already implemented this model. I have been demanding it to
be implemented in Finland as well and therefore I've been forced
to answer following questions. Aren't parents capable to decide
what's best for their child and family? Is it really necessary
that society gets involved in family life by telling parents how
to share the parenthood? I think it is. Motherhood is
unfortunately one of the main reasons for inequality on the
labour market. That's why the change begins inside the family. If
we are demanding equal pay, permanent contracts and equal
pension, we need to demand shared parenthood.
Of course the Icelandic model is not the only way to reach the goal. In Sweden it has been introduced a model where family gets tax relieves if they decide to share the parental leave in half. One way is to share costs of parenthood between all employers. The question is not only about equality in the labour market, but also in families. Father should have an equal right to parenthood as mother has. I think it's a win-win situation if fathers would also stay home with their children. As a result we would have more equal...
read morePublished Monday, March 10, 2008 at 09:41
by
joelld
in New Social Europe (620 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 Friday, March 7, 2008 at 09:30
by
Zita_Gurmai
in New Social Europe (1080 views and 4 comments)
Why is it that women in Europe are 52% of population & 59% of
university graduates but only 33% of managers, and 23% of
national Members of Parliament and earn 15% less than men? Women
of Europe – we’re all in it together. We should have the same
rights as men. Women should also enjoy the same rights in all EU
countries. I say “the same rights, the same fights”.
International Women’s Day – it’s as important as it has ever
been. It’s a good day to reflect on how we can make progress for
women in Europe through the PES manifesto for the 2009 European
elections.
There have been a lot of posts and good debate so far on
Yourspace relevant to women – below are just a few of my
favorites
How do we shut the gender pay
gap?
European politics is still a
man’s world
EU must say no to
prostitution!
For the emanicipation of women
AND for the economy, stupid!
What can the PES do to promote
women's health?
Dads, what about staying at home
with the children?
What do you think is the best thing we can put in our manifesto
to achieve more equality between women and men? Is there one
commitment we can make that would...
Published Monday, February 18, 2008 at 15:20
by
maj1991
in New Social Europe (930 views and 3 comments)
Within the borders of
EU thousands of women each day sell their bodies for sexual
pleasures. For some it’s a choice of their own or a last way, but
for 700.000 to 2 million women and children it’s not. They are
victims of trafficking. When it comes to trafficking the message
from EU is very clear: we will not tolerate this!Published Thursday, February 14, 2008 at 21:20
by
Eric
in New Social Europe (960 views and 1 comments)
Published Friday, January 18, 2008 at 12:30
by
joelld
in EU in the world (1100 views and 0 comments)
Tags: equality, fundamental rights, gay, human rights, LGBT, peace, solidarity, women
File:
Yogyakarta_principles.pdf
Published Friday, December 7, 2007 at 14:06
by
Editor
in New Social Europe (1495 views and 9 comments)
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