Published Wednesday, July 2, 2008 at 09:33
by
Editor
in New Social Europe (563 views and 1 comments)
Check them here with Conny Reuter, Secretary General of Solidar.
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Published Tuesday, June 17, 2008 at 12:04
by
Editor
in New Social Europe (566 views and 0 comments)
Everyone is talking about the „New Social Europe“these days: it is one of the most important issues of the upcoming European elections, not only for European but also for German social democrats. On June 9 SPD chairman and manifesto2009 theme group leader Kurt Beck hosted an expert conference in Berlin. Together with Poul Nyrup Rasmussen (President of the PES), Walter Veltrony (chairman of the Democratic Party of Italy), Michael Sommer (head of the Confederation of German Trade Unions) and many others he discussed the challenges and future duties for the national states and the European Union in order to devise a European economic and social model for a globalized world.
SPD chairman declared the social Europe to be the central social-democratic future project for the European Union in the 21st century: “After the creation of the Single European Market, a common currency and the peaceful unification of the continent through enlargement, the work on a new social Europe must be the great integration project of the forthcoming years.”
In contrast to the European conservatives and the liberals, who are focusing solely on the liberalization of the market, social democrats also want to frame the forces of the market with common social and ecologic standards. Kurt Beck...
read morePublished Monday, June 9, 2008 at 21:03
by
Editor
in New Social Europe (512 views and 0 comments)
No differences between
workers from the West and the East. This was one of the conclusions
of the debate organized by the Latvian Social Democratic Workers Party (LSDSP)
on the “New Social Europe” and the PES manifesto.
The debate, a two-day event that that took place late April, gathered participants from the party in Riga. Among the speakers was Philip Cordery, Secretary-General of the PES, who presented the PES report on “New Social Europe”. This set off a discussion on the recent ‘Laval case’ where Swedish trade unions took action against a Latvian construction company in Sweden, violating collective agreements. The case was brought to the European Court of Justice which delivered a controversial ruling: Swedish trade unions cannot oblige a foreign company posting workers in Sweden to observe collective bargaining agreements. The 80 meeting participants stated their support for the position of the PES and agreed that Latvians working abroad should be entitled to the same rights as local workers.
There were also other ideas put forward for the PES manifesto:
Published Monday, June 9, 2008 at 16:30
by
Editor
in EU in the world (628 views and 0 comments)
The last months of the debates on EU in the world have again brought many proposals to include in the Manifesto to the 2009 European elections.
Global Disarmament
Several participants recommend that the Manifesto mentions Europe’s responsibility to ensure global disarmament and arms controls. Measures could include working towards a nuclear weapons-free Europe, reducing military expenses, focusing on conflict prevention, revitalising international processes and agreements (such as the non-proliferation and the CFE treaties), and banning small arms and light weapons (SALW) exports to unstable regions. But participants also agreed that the EU should develop its own military structures outside NATO to be able to independently carry out missions covered by the Petersberg tasks. Also, EU member states should press the US to restrain from engaging private contractors in conflict regions.
Towards democratic international...
read morePublished Thursday, June 5, 2008 at 11:50
by
Richard_Falbr 
in New Social Europe (590 views and 0 comments)
The golden
sixties, era when the Unions had the greatest influence and
success, will probably never come back. Those were the days when
the Unions in democratic states helped to increase the standards of
living of the workers, and even diminished the difference between
the white and the blue collar workers.
The Unions helped to create the European social model. Backed by the ILO, the Tripartite organization created after the end of the First World War, the Unions together with the employer's organizations and governments which did not want to risk another Great October Revolution adopted conventions later ratified by the majority of democratic states. And so the conventions on the right to organize the working time, the ban of slavery, the right of collective bargaining, were considered and respected as rules of the civilized and democratic world.
Fall of the ILO
After the fall of the Berlin Wall the enemy which was behind it suddenly appeared among us. And the influence of the ILO and its control mechanisms began to fail.
read morePublished Monday, June 2, 2008 at 21:31
by
liebetruth
in New Social Europe (520 views and 1 comments)
I believe
courageous steps towards a social Europe are needed to tackle the
challenges that Socialists and Social Democrats are facing all
across the continent before the elections for the European
Parliament (EP) in 2009. The trust of the citizens into the
European Union and politics in Europe in general can and must be
rebuilt. To reach this goal the PES campaign has to make clear
that a truly social Europe is possible – and that PES is the only
European political party which fully commits itself to turning
the vision of a social Europe into reality!
Social mainstreaming, Common EU minimum social standards and stronger EU social policies are needed to make clear that a New Social Europe is possible! We expect from PES to fully commit itself to building this New Social Europe in the 2009 electoralcampaign. This commitment is the key to rebuilding people’s trust into the European Union and a successful PES at the 2009 European elections.
Our map towards Social Europe
I am convinced that the following courageous steps are needed to reach a truly social Europe and should therefore become the centerpiece of the PES manifesto for the European elections 2009:
read morePublished Tuesday, May 20, 2008 at 10:20
by
jan.kreutz
in New Social Europe (562 views and 0 comments)
Dear
comrades,Published Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 16:22
by
corinnebord
in New Social Europe (556 views and 0 comments)
Aujourd’hui, journée de conférences à Bruxelles. Une sur le dialogue civil, une sur l’économie sociale organisée par le PSE.
La militante associative que je suis, aime lorsque à Bruxelles les discours valorisent les associations, reconnaissent leur poids économique, leur rôle dans la société et notamment celle d’un état prévoyant comme on dit…
Le secteur de l’économie sociale représente 10% du PIB en Espagne
et en France, 3,9% en Belgique, et bon nombre d’emplois, non
délocalisables et pourtant…
Pourtant effectivement lorsque les discussions se portent sur la
directive service, sur l’organisation du marché intérieur
notamment, on oubli le poids et l’intérêt de ce secteur.
C’est tout un pan de nos modèles...
read morePublished Thursday, April 10, 2008 at 16:46
by
noelhatch
in New Social Europe (754 views and 0 comments)
See more of his proposals and his debate here:
read more
Published Thursday, April 10, 2008 at 10:44
by
noelhatch
in New Social Europe (802 views and 3 comments)
Deborah Littman, Chair of London
Citizens Living Wage Network & UNISON
National Officer for Bargaining, at the New Social Europe debate in London, admitted she wholly agreed with many of
the proposals made in the New Social Europe discussion paper. But she
was concerned on how we get there, how we make social Europe a
concern for everyone.
Work has been made insecure, the social wage has been reduced and
there has been a steep decline in bargaining power from workers.
Communities have been dismantled, workers distanced from their
employers or contractors. There has been a very deliberate policy
to push back the gains of the workers, often by stealth.
Expectations have been constantly lowered to the extent that our
goal becomes not how we can make it better, but how can we
prevent it being that bad. How can you organise when you don’t
know who you’re actually working for? The trade unions struggle
with bargaining, sometimes too conservative in their approach.
The game has changed – we need to...
Published Wednesday, April 9, 2008 at 14:11
by
noelhatch
in New Social Europe (785 views and 0 comments)
See more of his proposals and his debate here:
read more
Published Tuesday, April 8, 2008 at 12:40
by
noelhatch
in New Social Europe (781 views and 0 comments)
To see more proposals and the debate please see the video below:
To read more:
Published Wednesday, April 2, 2008 at 09:16
by
Editor
in New Social Europe (789 views and 0 comments)
On the 11 March 2008 Labour Movement for Europe held a debate on
"Globalisation in the Community - how can we
shape a Social Europe?" This was the third of six manifesto
debates in London. One of the PES activists in London has
submitted videos from the debate to the PES manifesto group on
YouTube. Here is Deborah Littman, Chair of London
Citizens Living Wage Network and UNISON
National Officer:
Find more videos from the debate here
read more
Published Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 11:45
by
yoan.abiven
in New Social Europe (719 views and 1 comments)
The strike decided
by the Romanian workers in the Dacia plants ishows how much we
need to consolidate a Social Europe. The wages and working
conditions are the new adjustment variables of the new
international division of labour, even within the Union's Member
States. Employment is awarded to those deserving workers who are
ready to work a lot and earn little. The workers in Dacia want a
substantial increase in their wages, arguing that there is a lack
of workforce in Romania, and that is now starting to hit the car
manufacturing industry.
I am very happy to witness this social movement in Romanie. In
the end, this is a good sign of the successful integration of
this country in the Western economic area and the beginning of
its bridging its social and economic gap with the rest of Europe.
Under these conditions, an economic development founded on better
social conditions is more conceivable. Changes are underway in
the Romanian production system and for the better: the lack of
skills on which the present system is based seems to be on the
verge of disappearing. The EU should accompany these
transformations with strong social and modern policies in order
to anticipate the needs and also pave the way for social dialogue
and the organisation of social partners so that they can be put
at the heart of all these young democracies in the...
Published Wednesday, March 26, 2008 at 16:33
by
Editor
in New Social Europe (774 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 (1179 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 Friday, March 14, 2008 at 09:24
by
PES Group - CoR
in New Social Europe (1076 views and 1 comments)
Within the
framework of the consultation for the elaboration of a PES
Manifesto for the 2009 European elections, the PES Group is
organising a seminar to encourage a broad exchange of views on
the major challenges for the PES political family for shaping a
genuine Social Europe. It will take place at the
Headquarters of the Committee of the Regions
(Room 62, Jacques Delors Building, Rue Belliard 101, 1040
Brussels), on 8 April 2008 (09h30-13h00).
The seminar will be opened by the President of the PES Group, Mercedes BRESSO, and by Michel DELEBARRE, 1st Vice-President of the Committee of the Regions.
Anna DIAMANTOPOULOU , Member of the Greek Parliament and former Member of the European Commission in charge of Employment and Social Affairs, will address the keynote speech on the Perspectives for a post-2010 EU global strategy.
The seminar will focus on five key themes: the social dimension of the Lisbon strategy, the demographic challenge, the response to restructuring, the role of services of general interest and the challenge of social inclusion (see...
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