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Party
of European Socialists' Newsletter

8
October 2010

HOT TOPIC

Party
of European Socialists march for a recovery based on jobs

"These thousands demonstrating on the
street of Brussels today are the hardworking ordinary citizens
of Europe who have had to carry too heavy a burden in the
aftermath of the economic crisis," said Poul Nyrup
Rasmussen, PES President. "European leaders, using
European solutions, must define a new balanced way to recovery
that illustrates that the lessons of the crisis have been
learned and the burden shared."

Social
Europe

PES
President outlines future of social democracy in top
academic journal

In a headline article for the academic journal
Internationale
Politik und Gesellschaft
(‘International Politics and Society’
published by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation), PES
President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen
has outlined ten theses on the future of social
democracy in Europe.

PES

EPP
hypocrisy as their Dutch Member Party climbs into bed
with Wilders

“The European People’s Party’s reaction to
the new Dutch government has shown the true
intellectual weakness of the Conservatives in
Europe”, said PES General Secretary Philip
Cordery. “Reading the statement by the EPP
President, Mr Martens, we see that all the
rhetoric cannot hide their true motivation – power
whatever the cost”.

Economy

EU
Tax Commissioner criticised for Financial Transaction
Tax ‘cynical stalling’

The PES campaign for a
European Financial Transaction Tax went onto an
attack footing last week, as PES President, Poul
Nyrup Rasmussen used a Committee of the Regions
Conference (28 September) to criticise EU Tax
Commissioner Algirdas Semeta for cynical stalling
on a financial transaction tax. Mr. Rasmussen was
referring to a ‘non-paper’ produced by the
Lithuanian politician’s team. The paper, tabled
before EU finance ministers on 7 September
purported to be a neutral document but went on to
summarily dismiss the FTT concept. The PES
President told the assembled audience of EU tax
experts that the document ‘was not the kind of
work we should expect from the Commission’.

Economy

Commission
Economic Governance proposal forgets that creating and
saving jobs is the best indicator of recovery

PES say that
instead proposals will punish the economically
weak

Speaking on the European
Commission’s proposals on economic governance
which were formally issued on September
29th, Poul Nyrup
Rasmussen, President of the Party of
European Socialists (PES) said, “On a day when
thousands upon thousands of workers are
demonstrating in Brussels about how vulnerable
their jobs and conditions have become, the
European Commissioner for Economic Affairs
Olli Rehn decides to
publish a proposal that essentially says ‘let’s
punish the weak”.

EDITORIAL

For
our ‘fair growth’ way we have the numbers and we have
the answers
Poul Nyrup
Rasmussen, PES President

Standing shoulder to shoulder with 100,000 of
my trade union brothers and sisters last Wednesday, I
was filled with a sense of optimism that the real
fight-back from the crisis was underway. The
demonstration, organised by the ETUC, was the largest
ever to be organised around a European theme – in this
case our shared opposition to an ‘austerity only’
approach. We have been on a rollercoaster since the
crisis hit, in two years going from what we thought were
solid stimulus packages to a Conservative slash and burn
of the public budgets. Now, in a latest twist, we find
this ‘bonfire of the amenities’ has even been criticised
by the IMF of all sources. Last week, as reported in the
Economist and the Financial Times, the Fund stated that
austerity measures are having a significant impact on
the rate of growth. And still the Conservative
Governments march on in their ideological blindness.

News from PES members

PES Secretary General in Budapest
to back MSZP’s
fight for democracy and social justice

PES
Secretary General in Riga to denounce Dombrovskis’
killing the social welfare system

PES
sends strong message to Labour Party Conference: we
need to work together to present a solid alternative to
conservatism

PES meets Socialist
Senegalese Leader

Forthcoming events

12 October - PES Social Europe
Network
13 October - FEPS Conference
- The Lack of Global Governance - What Consequences for
the World’s Natural Resources?
14 October
- PES Presidency
Meeting

Re:new

My
PES

Economy

Social
Europe

Environment

World

PES
Women

PES

More
news

PES

PES
President congratulates Ed Miliband on his election as Labour
Party leader

PES President Poul Nyrup
Rasmussen congratulated Ed Miliband, former UK State
Secretary for Climate, on his election as Labour Party
leader.

Economy

Enough
of lame excuses: Europe needs an FTT now!

The PES financial and economic network
met in Brussels on 30 September. During the meeting, network
members agreed to push for a European-wide Financial
Transaction Tax (FTT) as an instrument to balance the effects
of the present crisis.

Social
Europe

The
Spirit Level: why equality is better for everyone

Whatever your social position is in any
given society, the more equal this becomes, the better off you
will be. On Thursday, 28th September, the authors of The
Spirit Level (Wilkinson and Picket, 2010) were able to explain
and prove this in front of a room full of actors from civil
society. Invited by the European Trade Union Institute, PES
President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen said: « that equality is better
for everyone is the argument for a well-tailored welfare state
and the core of Social Democracy. By imposing austerity in
Europe, the right is proving that they understood this too
well. It is precisely because equality does not matter to them
that they are dismantling the welfare state.

Environment

It’s
not just the economy that must grow

How does success in life look like? For
the great majority of people it means a healthy family, a well
paying job and actually having enough spare time to live a
little. People obviously care about more than just money and
economic growth. So how come we only measure material wealth
when we evaluate the success of society as a whole? Is it not
sad that the only body known for talking about “things in life
money can’t buy” is a major credit card company!?

You
are invited to join the UNITED “International Day against
Fascism and Anti-Semitism” on 9 November

On 9 November PES activists can join a
European Action Day for the International Day against Fascism
and Anti-Semitism. The day is organized in protest against the
rise of neo-fascism in the EU.

World

Middle
East Peace Process

Breaking an almost two year deadlock,
direct negotiations between Israel and Palestine finally
recommenced under US sponsorship on the 4 September 2010. The
settlements issue has loomed over the discussions. Both
negotiating sides prioritized the issues of borders, the
status of refugees, security and the final status of
Jerusalem.

World

PES
Balkan network calls for balanced socio-economic strategy from
EU

The Party of European Socialists
convened its Balkan network on 30 September. Bulgarian MEP Mr.
Kristian Vigenin, and chair of the meeting, said that ‘’The EU
needs to increase its assistance to all Western Balkans
countries whether they have candidate status or not. We must
avoid the piecemeal country by country approach in EU policy
implementation towards this region. This could prevent Europe
from achieving its 2020 strategy goals. The EU needs a new
approach that embraces the region and allows all Western
Balkan countries to prosper.”

World

PES
welcomes Dilma Rousseff first ballot victory on Brazilian
presidential elections

The Party of European Socialists (PES)
welcomes the ballot results of Dilma
Rousseff, who has obtained 46,56% of approval on the
Brazilian presidential elections held on October 3rd 2010. The
candidate of the Workers’ Party is leading the elections,
which will have a run-off vote on October 31st, and is one
step away from becoming the first female President of Brazil.
Ms. Rousseff has previously served as Minister of Energy and
President Lula’s Chief of Staff.

World

PES
condemns attempted coup d’état in Ecuador President Correa
praised for ‘calm leadership’

The PES is very concerned about
the recent violence aimed at destabilizing the established
authority of Ecuador and calls for EU and international
support for the democratically elected Government of
Ecuador.

PES Women

Protection
for all Women in Europe

On October 8th, EU Justice
Ministers will be debating the European Parliament
Womens’ Committee position on a European
Protection Order (EPO). A very important debate for women
in the EU: the EPO tries to protect victims of violence,
particularly women who have suffered gender-based violence,
regardless of what EU country they are in. The LIBE/FEMM
report proposes to specifically protect minors and young girls
across Europe from being taken to another country for genital
mutilation or forced marriages.

PES

Coming
soon! PES to launch inclusive debate on the future of
progressive societies

The PES will launch soon
an open consultation on the values of progressives for the
21st century.

Questions we will ask:

How should we update concepts that
shape our political agenda – role of the states, markets,
reforms needed – and keep our core values?