Published Thursday, October 9, 2008 at 18:53
by
Editor
in Debate (539 views and 0 comments)
Today, the European
Parliament Declaration on combating trafficking of children was
presented to the press and the public by its promoters, socialist
MEPs Maryusa Lyubcheva and Zita Gurmai, with the support of other
MEPs and representatives of NGOs, such as Terre des Hommes, Care
for Europe.Published Tuesday, September 9, 2008 at 16:45
by
Editor
in Debate (680 views and 2 comments)
Socialist MEPs Marusya Lyubcheva and Zita Gurmai have succeeded
in getting the European Parliament to adopt a Declaration on
combating the trafficking of children.
The five MEPs say that more than two million children are
trafficked every year for sexual exploitation and/or forced
labour.
This is not just a problem in developing countries or in the new
Member States. It’s a terrible violation of Human Rights, a
despicable crime, and totally contrary to any democratic
principle and humanity itself. According to the Socialist MEPs
the fight against trafficking is not helped by the lack of
priority given to it, a lack of cross border cooperation among EU
member States, and a lack of specialised training.
The Declaration calls for:
· all Member States to recognise the fight
against children trafficking as a priority in their national
policy frameworks and to continue cooperating and sharing
information and experience with the relevant European
Institutions and NGOs concerned;
· the Parliament and the Council to provide
with the necessary resources for promoting and safeguarding the
protection of childhood.
It aims towards improving cross border cooperation, improving
anti – trafficking legislation, expanding the...
Published Wednesday, August 27, 2008 at 17:48
by
Ceciliag 
in Debate (663 views and 0 comments)
Le 7 juillet, à
Cannes, Brice Hortefeux, ministre français « de l’immigration, de
l’intégration, de l’identité nationale et du développement
solidaire » (sic!) a officiellement proposé au Conseil européen
des ministres des affaires intérieures et de la justice un projet
de « Pacte européen sur l’immigration et l’asile». « Son objectif
est clair : organiser l’immigration légale et désorganiser
l’immigration illégale », nous dit son ministère.
Loin de n’être qu’un objectif en soit du gouvernement français, le contrôle de l’immigration (passée, présente et future…) est en fait devenu un outil bien pratique pour s’attaquer à la culture, au mariage mixte, à la famille.
Cet été, après le groupe de musique Konono n° 1, ce fut au tour du groupe Kasai All Stars d’annuler sa tournée en raison des difficultés d’octroi de visas. Alors que la politique du « cas par cas » ignore le principe de l’égalité de droit,...
read morePublished Wednesday, July 2, 2008 at 10:01
by
rikkeindenmark
in In the spotlight (754 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 Tuesday, June 24, 2008 at 11:56
by
Editor
in New Social Europe (712 views and 1 comments)
Have you ever
imagined how many elderly can not afford to go on holidays and the
consequences on their wellbeing?Published Thursday, June 19, 2008 at 08:04
by
Joel Cordier
in EU in the world (1104 views and 4 comments)
Par 369 voix pour, 197
contre et 106 abstentions, le Parlement européen a adopté, ce
mercredi 18 juin, la directive sur le retour des immigrés illégaux.
Ce texte qui a été massivement soutenu par la droite prévoit :
- une durée de rétention excessivement longue ;
- la détention d'enfants en centres fermés ;
- l’absence d'obligation pour les États d'organiser une assistance juridique gratuite ;
- la possibilité d'expulser des personnes gravement malades vers des pays où elles seront privées des soins pourtant nécessaires à leur survie ;
- l'interdiction de séjour sur le territoire européen de 5 ans pour toutes les personnes qui ont reçu un ordre de quitter le territoire.
La seule porte de sortie face à ce texte scandaleux est la faculté laissée aux Etats membres d’appliquer des normes plus favorables.
Il y a des jours où j’ai honte d’être citoyen de cette Europe là.
Allez, courage, la lutte continue !
read morePublished Wednesday, June 4, 2008 at 15:15
by
Asynjen
in New Social Europe (657 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, April 25, 2008 at 15:40
by
Editor
in EU in the world (1027 views and 0 comments)
Published Monday, April 21, 2008 at 12:08
by
Duncan Anderson
in New Social Europe (939 views and 2 comments)
I know the British National Health Service can be improved, but I still personally believe that Free Health Service and Free Education from cradle to grave should be part of the fundamental human rights of every citizen, but let's start in the EU first.
read more
Published Friday, March 28, 2008 at 14:32
by
Editor
in In the spotlight (1216 views and 1 comments)
The Eurosocialists in Geneva have also sent in their
ideas for the PES manifesto - read the full document here. The group proposes the following four
objectives for the EU in the world theme:
Do you have any ideas to add? Leave a comment and debate with
Eurosocialists Geneva!
Published Friday, March 14, 2008 at 11:52
by
AnneSofie
in EU in the world (1209 views and 0 comments)
The manifesto theme
'EU in the
world' was also on the agenda when PES activists from Denmark, Sweden and Norway met in
Jørlunde, Denmark on March 1st and 2nd. Here are a few
conclusions from this dedicated discussion group:
Published Friday, March 14, 2008 at 11:50
by
AnneSofie
in European democracy & diversity (1142 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':Published Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 11:33
by
Editor
in EU in the world (1350 views and 2 comments)
Published Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 09:46
by
Editor
in New Social Europe (930 views and 0 comments)
Published Thursday, January 24, 2008 at 10:49
by
thanos
in EU in the world (1316 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 Friday, January 18, 2008 at 12:30
by
joelld
in EU in the world (1388 views and 0 comments)
Tags: equality, fundamental rights, gay, human rights, LGBT, peace, solidarity, women
File:
Yogyakarta_principles.pdf
Published Friday, January 11, 2008 at 12:55
by
fairness
in EU in the world (1469 views and 2 comments)
Published Monday, November 12, 2007 at 16:58
by
anqa
in EU in the world (1321 views and 0 comments)
Here's a visit to the office of Marek Siwiec, Vice-President of the European Parliament. He talks about the role of Europe in an increasingly globalized world and our responsibility towards other continents.
read more
Published Wednesday, October 10, 2007 at 10:32
by
Editor
in EU in the world (1520 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 Friday, October 5, 2007 at 16:05
by
Editor
in EU in the world (2020 views and 2 comments)
We
Socialists are traditionally very interested in development –
supporting poorer and relatively newly independent countries to
become more prosperous, more sustainable, more democratic. But
genuinely good development polices are very hard to forge and
even harder to implement.
One problem is that it is very broad as a concept – and so many different policies come into play. Different EU countries have also had different approaches and interests so creating an EU framework for development has not been straightforward.
Today EU trade policy, agricultural policy, energy policies, the EU’s willingness to engage in peace missions, the EU’s decisions on debt cancellation, the extent it is willing to take action in support of democracy and human rights, its funding and support for AIDS, environmental sustainability, humanitarian relief, immigration policies all have an impact on development. All of these issues, and no doubt many more, should be covered in one EU development policy.
Everyone agrees that these policies should be ‘coherent’ – that one policy does not to contradict undermine the other, but instead should be ‘integrated’. In short we want the sum of different EU policies to add up to one clear and effective policy that supports...
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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