EU 50th anniversary: socialist leaders say ‘happy birthday to EU’ - now let’s make new social Europe our political ambition
24 March 2007
PES Leaders' meeting ahead of the EU Summit to mark the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome agreed a declaration heralding the successes of the EU and acknowledging the serious challenges ahead.
The Declaration agreed by PES member party leaders today in Berlin states
“A New Social Europe must be the political ambition of the European Union – a new project for a common direction for renewing and revitalizing the European social model. Europe needs new policies to ensure that everyone can participate in, contribute to and benefit from our Europe. We need economic growth and new quality jobs with fair wages, new and better forms of social protection and rights, active labour market policies, equal opportunities, life-long learning, new ways to combine family and working life.”
The Declaration also says that “the European Union must work more intensively and effectively than ever before to deliver on its responsibilities both within Europe and in the world” including “To extend stability, peace and prosperity by welcoming more European nations into its fold”, “To halt and reverse climate change, to protect our environment, and at the same time ensure sustainable and efficient energy for Europe” and “To be a force for global peace, human rights, inter-cultural dialogue, decent work, development and democracy, and to speak with a stronger, united voice on world affairs”.
The Declaration concludes “We cannot do it without a better treaty”.
The Declaration is in stark contrast to the EPP declaration released last week which is vague on future enlargement, does not mention a new Treaty and talks about a Europe based on “cultural diversity” (as opposed, the PES assumes, to other types of diversity).
The PES Declaration is also much more explicit than the Berlin Declaration about social Europe, the need for a new Treaty and future enlargement.
PES President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen said “The PES has a clear vision of where it wants to take Europe. The EPP has no vision and is incapable of agreeing one. I can not even sure if you can describe such an unlikely grouping of conservatives, neo-liberals, populists and religious parties as a family.”
“A new Social Europe starts with progressive social and economic reform and new jobs” said German SPD Leader Kurt Beck “and that is what social democratic governments have been delivering from Germany to Portugal and from the UK to Spain, and now also in Italy.”
To demonstrate the PES’ commitment to further enlargement of the EU, Serbian President Boris Tadic joined the press conference following the PES leaders meeting. He was told by Italian Democratic Left Leader Piero Fassino “Serbia will go through tough soul-searching over the future of Kosovo, but I want to reassure Serbia that we European social democrats will work towards an ever closer relationship between Serbia and the EU with the goal of EU membership. I know President Tadic is the man to lead Serbia in the direction of the EU and its social democratic values.”
Those taking part in the PES leaders meeting included Alfred Gusenbauer (Austria), Ferenc Gyrcsany (Hungary), Boris Tadic (Serbia); Jean Asselborn (Luxembourg), Wouter Bos (Netherlands); Kurt Beck (Germany), Piero Fassino (Italy), Enrico Boselli (Italy), Mircea Geoana (Romania), Francois Hollande (France), Laszlo Kapolyi (Hungary), Wojciech Olejnicak (Poland), Waldemar Witkowski, (Poland), Yiannakis Omirou (Cyprus), Borut Pahor (Slovenia), Mona Sahlin (Sweden), Helle Thorning-Schmidt (Denmark), Diego Lopez Garrido (Spain), Anton Kutev (Bulgaria), Vyteris Andriukaitis (Lithuania), Javier Solana, Gunter Verheugen, Martin Schulz, Zita Gurmai, Giacomo Filibeck, George Vella, Luis Ayala.
