Main Congress resolution :
Security in Change

Today the Party of European Socialists holds its 5th Congress in Berlin, and today the city of Berlin is the symbol of a more unified continent after decades of division. It has never been so essential for Europeans to stand together, to answer the challenges of integration and globalisation, and to meet the expectations of the citizens. The Social Democrats and Socialists of Europe feel a special responsibility for Europe’s future and its role in the world, promoting peace and solidarity.

The EU has made considerable steps forward over the past few years:

• Success in moving towards full-employment and social cohesion
• The introduction of the Euro
• The further development of a Common Foreign and Security Policy and the creation of a European Security and Defence Policy
• The Charter of Fundamental Rights as an important step on the way to a Citizen’s Europe
• Expanding the EU’s environmental responsibilities
• Ambitious targets to achieve a competitive knowledge economy by 2010

We have four interwoven ambitions for the European Union so that it can:

• Develop in such a way that an enlarged EU will be stronger and be able to deliver for the whole of Europe
• Modernise and strengthen the European social model
• Contribute to building a more just world
• Engage our citizens more for the European Union

1. Enlarging and reforming the EU

The job of reconciliation and good neighbourliness begun here in Berlin by Willy Brandt can now be completed. Welcoming new member states to the EU is politically necessary, economically important, and a moral imperative. This will bring us close to achieving our ambition of a stable and democratic continent.

Enlargement is in everyone’s interests and should therefore be a success. At the same time many people have questions that we want to answer. All European citizens benefit from a policy of active co-operation. The process and perspective of Enlargement are already creating jobs, both in the EU and the applicant countries. Transitional arrangements may be needed. Putting in place trans-European transport and communication links and aligning environmental protection and social standards will improve the quality of life for all Europeans. Acting together in the fight against crime achieves more than acting alone.

The Treaty of Nice enables enlargement to take place because it increases the political capacity of the EU to act in a more effective way. Our aim remains a strong EU – able to take action, organised in a way people can easily understand and with more democratic legitimacy. We need this Europe not only because of Enlargement but also to master the tasks we face in a changing world. This is a task for both the present and future Member States.

The candidate countries must put every effort into preparing for EU membership and fulfilling the criteria set in 1993 by the Copenhagen European Council and specified by subsequent Councils. Each candidate country will be judged on its own merits. The EU has a responsibility to help the applicant countries to address their social and economic needs and to strengthen their democratic systems in order for them to become full members at the earliest possible moment. Our goal is to combine quality with speed in a viable and coherent enlargement process. We will do everything in our power to make possible the participation of new Member States in the 2004 European Elections.

2. Modernising and strengthening the European Union’s social and economic model

The European Union is more than an internal market. Europe is a society based on diversity, on the ideals of European enlightenment and humanism. Human rights, democracy, social responsibility, equality of opportunity, a balance between achievement and solidarity, between individual and state – these are what make up the shared European values of social democracy.

We have responsibilities to protect this community of values in a fast changing world. We accept the challenge of globalisation – we use its opportunities and we tackle its risks. We want to manage global change for the benefit of human progress, making possible greater solidarity and social cohesion, and using globalisation towards creating opportunities for the many and not the few. This is security in change.

We are equipping the European Union for globalisation, including international competition

• With a common currency
• With a better co-ordination of economic, fiscal and social policy in the interest of sustainable growth, with the Euro-Group having a special responsibility for real co-ordination within the Euro-zone.

We are modernising the European Union’s social and economic model, with the goal of full employment, to make it fit for the global knowledge society:

• By further developing social security and social integration as the basis of our societies
• By encouraging social dialogue at all levels
• By strengthening education and lifelong learning
• By strengthening the rights of European workers, including better information and consultation
• By an active European innovation policy and the development of a real European research area
• By creating access for all to new information technologies and by working for greater political and economic equality in the information society
• By developing regulatory methods at a European level which guarantee quality services of public interest at affordable prices for all – guaranteeing equality of access
• By promoting business initiatives and innovation
• By creating more and better jobs in private and public services and in the third sector.

We want to build an open, pluralistic and multi-cultural society and support, to this end, active policies for managing diversity and facilitating co-existence.

We want equality between women and men to become a reality. This means a clear commitment to equality in all areas of life, including gender parity in all political institutions.

We want the EU to play a leading role in environmental protection, first of all in tackling climate change. We call upon all countries, and especially the United States, to respect the Kyoto Protocol. We share a common responsibility to pursue sustainable development. We need a new approach to agriculture to ensure safer food for our citizens and a better balance in the food chain whilst maintaining rural cohesion. The PES will make its own contribution towards this fundamental debate.

3. The EU’s global role in building a more just world

(We want to make use of the weight the EU carries in the world to make sure that international organisations put into place better social and environmental minimum standards. We want the EU to contribute to global equality, social development, peace and democracy and to develop a new human rights agenda. The EU must contribute actively to the efforts for the respect of international law and UN decisions. It must also work for the prevention of the use of the threat of violence in the international system. The EU must take the lead in the fight against poverty through more equal trade conditions, debt reduction and direct aid. We need to restrict speculative capital movements and should examine the feasibility of fiscal means to achieve this. The EU needs to draw up firm and fair common policies for dealing with immigration. The agreed co-ordination of asylum policy should be intensified. Where possible these policies need to be based on partnerships with countries of origin.

The EU’s Balkan Policy, in the shape of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, is an example that demonstrates that the EU’s responsibilities do not end at its borders and that it is possible to develop different forms of association and partnership. It is for this reason that the Euro-Mediterranean policy agreed in Barcelona must be strengthened and developed in the interests of stability and progress for Europe and for the people of its south. The PES also demands new initiatives to strengthen the cooperation with the western CIS (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova), such as the EU’s policy on the northern dimension, concentrating on economic and social reform, improved transparency of their societies and freedom of the media. Only by working in this direction will we avoid the creation of new “Iron Curtains” in certain parts of Europe.

The Common Foreign and Security Policy addresses the needs of the new Europe and the conditions of globalisation under which the European Union can only punch its weight if it acts in concert. It is also a condition for a long-term, sustainable and just partnership with our American allies and for the European Union’s co-operation with Russia. We need a coherent representation of the European Union in international organisations. Through the CFSP, the EU must develop an all-embracing concept of security which includes political, military and economic, social and environmental elements and which takes into account the whole range of requirements for successful crisis prevention and civil and military crisis management. A close co-operation with the UN and the OSCE is necessary for this, as well as with NATO. We need to develop new forms of democratic scrutiny of the CFSP.

4. Engaging our citizens in the construction of a united Europe

The EU’s legitimacy depends on the involvement and consent of its citizens. That is not a given. If the EU is going to be able to master the tasks it will face in the future then it has to constantly engage with its citizens. Firstly, by policies that address the expectations of the citizens. We also have to reform the EU so that it can properly perform its tasks whilst creating an ever-closer union between its peoples and making the principle of European citizenship concrete. Even after the Nice Summit, the development of the EU’s ability to act in a democratic effective, open and transparent way remains an ongoing concern. In this regard, the framework established by Nice – to be concluded by a further Intergovernmental Conference in 2004 – is of particular importance.

We want a wide, open debate about the goals of the EU, about its structures and decision-making processes. This must involve citizens – especially young people, civil society and the social partners. European political parties, including the PES, have an important role in generating this debate. The European Parliament, Commission and Council of Ministers, the national parliaments and regional authorities should be involved in a format such as for example the convention method used to prepare the Charter of Fundamental Rights. In this way proposals could be prepared for a short IGC.

We want to:

• Review the status of the Charter of Fundamental Rights in relation to the Treaties
• Reform the Treaties and institutions with the goal of getting more transparent and democratic decision making, a new definition of the role of national parliaments in the building of Europe while strengthening the European Parliament, a better division of tasks between the Union, Member States and their local and regional bodies whilst respecting subsidiarity. Only in this way can the EU develop its full potential and achieve sufficient legitimacy.
• Simplify the structure of governance of the Union and establish clear and transparent responsibilities between the Union’s institutions.
• Create a European administration that is people oriented, transparent and accountable and that promotes high public standards.

Some would call this a constitutional process. Others would emphasise the European Union’s capability to act better. Together we want a European Union where we can achieve more together than we can achieve alone.

We want to co-operate with workers, employers and SMEs to show the world that economic performance and social responsibility are not contradictory but rather complimentary. We want to co-operate with young people in building a more humane and socially just European Union, a dynamic, knowledge-based Europe of full employment and decent quality of life. We want to co-operate with all citizens to make a reality of a European Union in which different cultures live peacefully together – where racism and xenophobia have no place. We want to co-operate with women and men to make the European Union a model of equality. We want to co-operate with local and regional bodies to form stable partnerships with civil society for democratic participation of citizens. We want to co-operate with scientists to join us in putting the European Union at the forefront of progress. We want to co-operate with artists to join us in cultivating European culture.

Social Democracy, with its rich internationalist tradition, is the force that can lead the European Union successfully into the future. We will stand up to the challenges and promise Europe’s people security in a changing world.

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