29/04/2009
EPP rethoric not matched by actions
As the EPP open their Congress in Warsaw, the Party of European Socialists highlighted the gap between the European conservatives’ rhetoric and their record.
PES President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen warned “Voters beware. There is a yawning gap between what the EPP say and what they do. The EPP’s rhetoric does not match their actions.”
“The EPP has been the largest party in all EU decision-making bodies since 2004, and what they say they want in their manifesto is quite different to what they have done over the last five years. Their manifesto does not say a word about their record over the last five years, I think they want to draw a veil over it. ”
He explained “The EPP manifesto claims that the creation of new jobs is their core priority. But they have already declared that Europe does not need to do any more to fight unemployment. At the G20 in April European conservatives rejected Barack Obama and Gordon Brown’s proposal for new investments to create new jobs. Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy have made it quite clear that they believe Europe has done enough.”
“There is a real danger that unemployment will hit 27 million across Europe next year. That is an appalling prospect and a terrible waste of talent. It will be enormously expensive in welfare payments and lost taxes, and provides powerful financial and humanitarian reasons for Europe to invest in the fight against the recession.”
Rasmussen added “The EPP manifesto says they want better regulation of the financial market but they have spent years arguing against regulation. For months they resisted my report on regulating hedge funds and private equity, and changed their tune only after the collapse of Lehman Brothers.” See more info below.
“The EPP manifesto says they want a society based on solidarity and social cohesion but what have they done to achieve it? Inequality and poverty and unemployment have all grown in the five years they have been in charge. They have consistently voted against proposals that improve solidarity and social cohesion.” See more info below.
“The EPP candidate for Commission President is the incumbent José Manuel Barroso because he has driven a right-wing agenda. He has done nothing like enough against the financial and economic crisis. Barroso is the candidate of the conservatives. The PES cannot support Barroso. We want a new, progressive European Commission.”
More information
Rejecting regulation
The EPP’s ‘Rome Manifesto’ of March 2006 states “In the past decades, some of our nations and the European Union as a whole became too regulated and protective in many areas. This over-regulation undermines competitiveness and costs jobs.”
Hans-Gert Pöttering told the European Parliament on March 9 2005 (when Leader of EPP Group in the European Parliament) of “the need for us to create a culture of risk-taking.”
In an EPP press release on 2 June 2008 John Purvis MEP explained that he had tabled amendments calling for the deletion of the whole legislative proposal to regulate hedge funds and private equity.
Finnish Conservative Piia-Noora Kauppi told the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee on 24 September 2008 “I think the biggest mistake the European Commission could have made would have been to think that more regulation is always the answer… I do not think we need to radically change our approach.”
Voting against solidarity and social cohesion
The EPP voted against ending the opt-out of the Working Time Directive. The EPP voted against the Lynne Report in April 2008 after the PES amended it to call for a new directive against discrimination. The EPP voted against excluding social services from the Services Directive. The EPP were split when it came to voting on the Agency Workers Directive, and in a vote on reviewing the Posted Workers Directive.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Julian Scola, Communications Advisor - Media & Campaigns
Party of European Socialists, Rue du Trône, 98, B-1050 Brussels
Mobile +32 486 117 394
julian.scola@pes.org
