Archives: April 2008

  • Francisco Polo: The importance of being Earnest

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    Rating: 5/5 with 1 votes

    Published Wednesday, April 30, 2008 at 15:52
    by eromerof Join PES activists (888 views and 2 comments)

    In the last years, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and his government have been recognized for the social improvements introduced in Spain. Improvements that have turned this Mediterranean country into one of the most advanced places in the world. And I am talking, particularly, about the modification of the marriage laws that extend the right to get married to anyone independently of his or her sex since 2005. With this, there is no “gay marriage” in Spain. There is only one kind of marriage for everyone - no separate regulations.

    This is the most important point of the matter. We are not talking about the fact that some rights are being recognized for a part of the population and that homosexual people enjoy the same rights. We are talking about a greater benefit. And this benefit is the one I just mentioned: The fact that we are talking about the same marriage - the importance of being married.

    That importance has to do with the fact that the extension of a right to a part of the population that was not enjoying them, is forcing to the most reticent heterosexual population to make a pedagogical effort at the same time. Today there is no possibility of treating homosexual people differently in Spain. Since the law is recognizing that there is no room for differentiation the possibility for different treatment of homosexuals in any other social... » read more ...

    Tags: blogger of the week, diversity, gay, LGBT

  • Ignacio Henares: Democratic socialism and sustainable development

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    Rating: 5/5 with 3 votes

    Published Wednesday, April 30, 2008 at 09:22
    by eromerof Join PES activists (786 views and 0 comments)

    Willy Brandt: “Democratic socialism has the ability to make new beginnings possible”.

    Democratic socialism has been able to respond to new challenges and to a new a state of affairs through equality and social justice. Just as pacifism or feminism were integrated as new elements in the cluster of socialist values, the time has now come to include sustainable development as a central element of our socialist thinking and political practice.

    The Left should take into account the consequences of environmental degradation for our planet and introduce solidarity as a fundamental principle in the implementation of a model of sustainable development that is fairer and more responsible. The challenge for the 21st century no longer is to achieve a better redistribution of wealth and fight for equal opportunities but also to respond to the more complex challenge of making the environment healthier both at local and global level. Ecosocialism should therefore be understood as a question of solidarity between and among generations, both in time and space.

    A NEW MODEL OF DEVELOPMENT
    Europe has paved the way for environmental policies aiming at ‘cleaning up’ the environment. However setting limits... » read more ...

    Tags: blogger of the week, climate change, environment, renewable energy, sustainable energy

  • Mario Perales: We need a strong Party of European Socialists

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    Rating: 4.5/5 with 2 votes

    Published Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 17:00
    by eromerof Join PES activists (846 views and 0 comments)

    Today, European Union is an economic reality but not a political one because the weight of European Institutions in the international scene is very frail. This situation is not very good for the people who believe that economic liberalism is too strong in the whole world thanks to the globalization phenomenon. Social globalization is not so strong as the economical one and this is a real problem for the “socialist family” since the values of socialism are based on a social way of thinking.

    That is the reason because the European Socialists should work to build a very strong Party of European Socialists. We have to compensate for the excessive power of economic liberalism with a new model of social protection. European Union should take enough power to become one of the main international players (such as the United States, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, Japan, etc.) with real capacity of influence in the “international social agenda”. Today, decisions should be taken in a global way; socialists should bring together all their resources to push for a change in the European Institutions, and ways of acting of the European Union. Socialism must become global, as global as liberalism, otherwise our main... » read more ...

    Tags: activists, blogger of the week, globalization, PES

  • Josep Borrell: We need to promote fair trade

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    Rating: 4.8/5 with 5 votes

    Published Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 16:37
    by Editor (977 views and 3 comments)

    Josep Borrell is Member of the European Parliament for the Spanish socialist party, PSOE. He was President of the European Parliament 2004-2007 and in this video he gives his ideas for the PES manifesto:



    Do you agree with Josep Borrell's suggestions for the PES manifesto?

    Tags: development, European Parliament, fair trade, solidarity

  • Natalia Reyes: The colour of politics

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    Rating: 5/5 with 1 votes

    Published Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 13:52
    by eromerof Join PES activists (989 views and 1 comments)

    After an election, the democratic process goes on with the set up of a government, which then defines a project for the future, and more concretely appoints its ministers. If the present Spanish government can be called ‘pink’ because it has 9 women and 8 men, as Berlusconi recently pointed out (see The Times and The Independent), then the rest of EU governments could be called ‘blue’. In this respect, there are no differences between the developed countries of the Western World and developing countries, whatever their ideologies and history. For instance, the presence European Commission has only 9 women out of the 27 commissioners. The colour ‘blue’ therefore seems to be a common trait that no-one should boast about.

    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... » read more ...

    Tags: activists, blogger of the week, equality, political parties, women

  • The future is always beginning now...

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    Rating: 3.8/5 with 5 votes

    Published Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 10:12
    by markus.austria Join PES activists (782 views and 1 comments)

    In my post I would like to adress the following questions as proposed in the discussion paper (available at the top of this page or here):

    2. What sort of UN reform should the EU propose?
    I think that - in the longterm - the UN Security Council should be replaced by the UN General Assembly as the central decision making body within the UN umbrella. To this end, I think it will be necessary to elect UN representatives in direct elections to arrive at a sort of 'world elections' in a manifestation of the supremacy of democracy over other, more exclusive forms of government.
     
    4. How should the EU work efficiently with NATO?
    I think we should think about developing military structures on a European level outside NATO in order to indenpendently carry out missions covered by the Petersberg tasks and the UN. Also, I think the EU member states actively engaged in the NATO should press the US to restrain from engaging private contractors in conflic regions (keyword: Blackwater).
     
    8. What actions should be undertaken by the EU to achieve the UN Millennium Goals?
    I think that the sole establishment of a headline number, such as 0.7 percent of GDP spent on Development Aid, will not be sufficient to... » read more ...

    Tags: activists, Africa, defence, democracy, development, multilateralism, peace, poverty, UN

    File: PES manifesto consultation.pdf

  • Esteban Romero: The political agenda of the left

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    Rating: 3.8/5 with 4 votes

    Published Monday, April 28, 2008 at 14:45
    by eromerof Join PES activists (957 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... » read more ...

    Tags: blogger of the week, climate change, development, diversity, equality, welfare, women

  • The current food crisis is alarming

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    Rating: 3.7/5 with 3 votes

    Published Monday, April 28, 2008 at 14:33
    by raphi sternfeld Join PES activists (703 views and 2 comments)

    According to the media a number of Italian pensioners are forced to stealing since they cannot afford food anymore. The food crisis has finally reached Europe. This terrible situation needs to be dealt with. This could be the moment of European social democracy. The era of neo-liberalism finally seems to be over. The time is there to discuss social responsibility. (Western) Europe has been in a positive development since 1945, while governments have paid attention to social symmetry. Now we are experiencing a growing gap in society – we need to reduce this gap. Europe must become social. This can only be achieved if social democracy is strengthened. Let us be brave and take the fight with the conservatives. Europe’s citizens are on our side.

    Original version in German is attached to this post.

    Tags: elderly, food crisis, welfare

    File: Hungerkrise_DE.pdf

  • Blogger of the week: Esteban Romero, Spain

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    Published Monday, April 28, 2008 at 10:27
    by Editor (936 views and 0 comments)

    Thanks a lot to Isabella Frenning for being last week's blogger!

    This week Esteban Romero from Spain will be blogging on Yourspace. Esteban is 29 years old and lives in Granada where works as an assistant professor at the local university. He committed to the PES manifesto campaign last year while he has doing a traineeship in the European Commission. Currently he is coordinating a Spanish-language blog about the PES manifesto.

    Next to Esteban a number of other PES activists from the 'Manifiesto 2009' blog team will be sharing their ideas on Yourspace. So this week you get the chance to experience several voices from Spain!

    Tags: activists, blogger of the week, blogosphere

  • Isabella Frenning: Common media and basic education

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    Rating: 3.5/5 with 2 votes

    Published Monday, April 28, 2008 at 09:30
    by Isabella_Frenning Join PES activists (626 views and 2 comments)

    The great thing about the European Championships or the Eurovision is not only the love of the game or the passion for great (?) music – but also that both events are shared throughout our member states and can be used as a common point of reference.

    So far, most other events are not. We need to make it possible for Europeans to receive information about the same developments in public life if we want to deepen the European identity. It is often said that a common public sphere should be the foundation for building a stronger sense of European community and shared identity; that we need to talk to each other and share the same experiences if we want to share the same political goals as well. But when trying to construct European-wide medias, we must not only overcome the challenges of our diverse languages, but also those of education and participation. Though many members of my generation speak at least one European language besides from their own, many still find it hard enough just to learn their native tongue.

    And while talking about how to make people participate in the European debate, we... » read more ...

    Tags: blogger of the week, education

  • NGO interview: Focusing on people's rights

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    Rating: 3.5/5 with 2 votes

    Published Friday, April 25, 2008 at 15:40
    by Editor (815 views and 0 comments)

    ActionAid is an international anti-poverty agency whose aim is to fight poverty worldwide. Joanna Maycock is EU Representative and presents ActionAid's suggestions for the PES manifesto in this video interview:

    Tags: development, human rights, NGO, poverty

  • Isabella Frenning: What kind of car should I get?

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    Rating: 5/5 with 1 votes

    Published Friday, April 25, 2008 at 12:30
    by Isabella_Frenning Join PES activists (952 views and 0 comments)

    Like most other consumer goods these days, people consider their cars an expression of their personal taste and identity. In the late 90’s a Danish sociologist even named his book about population segmentation ‘If your neighbour was a car’, using different brands of cars as representatives of different life style choices.

    Admittedly, growing up in Copenhagen it never really seemed relevant to bother about getting a driver’s license, so if I was in the market for a new ride, I’d probably be more likely to ask ‘What kind of bike should I get?’ instead. But many for many families the discussion about what car to get seems a quite important one. Since the frightening report of the IPCC we have all been much more concerned about climate changes, wanting to do our bit to help the globe. And reducing our CO2-emissions by choosing environment-friendly means of transportation seems like a reasonable place to start. As a consequence, the question about what car to get is not only about price and design, but also one... » read more ...

    Tags: blogger of the week, sustainable energy, transport

  • Isabella Frenning: Shh... Work in progress

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    Rating: 5/5 with 1 votes

    Published Thursday, April 24, 2008 at 11:33
    by Isabella_Frenning Join PES activists (756 views and 3 comments)

    If you take a look at the home page of the Danish Parliament today, it will inform you that the items of the agenda today are local funding, cultural inequality and housing projects.

    Only far down the text will it tell you about the main topic for discussion: Denmark is to adopt the Lisbon Treaty today. Though most parties has been trying to avoid any discussion about the treaty since the French and Dutch 'no', you will be able to follow the discussions live here.

    Fingers crossed, we might have an agreement later on today...

    Tags: blogger of the week, treaty

  • Compass Youth, UK: Voxpop on the PES Manifesto

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    Rating: 5/5 with 1 votes

    Published Thursday, April 24, 2008 at 11:25
    by noelhatch Join PES activists (647 views and 0 comments)

    Tags: citizens, youth

  • We're all Europeans, We're all Londoners

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    Rating: 5/5 with 1 votes

    Published Thursday, April 24, 2008 at 11:01
    by noelhatch Join PES activists (835 views and 3 comments)



    Non-British EU citizens living in London have the right to vote in elections for the Mayor of London on 1. May 2008! Support Ken Livingstone, Labour UK, as Mayor of London!

    All Europeans are invited to sign the support statement of Labour Movement for Europe here. You can also support Ken Livingstone on Facebook: Join the group or become a fan.

    Tags: citizens, democracy