The Party of European Socialists is marking Europe Day - May 9th - with a European election ‘Day of Action' involving its member parties campaigning on the same issue across Europe.
PES member parties from at least 15 EU member states are organizing events and activities on the same day - May 9th - on the theme ‘A New Social Europe - giving people a fairer deal'.
This is the PES' second day of action following an enthusiastically supported PES mobilization of its member parties for International Women's Day on March 8th.
On Europe Day PES parties will be out campaigning for their manifesto commitments to tackle widening inequalities in European societies.
PES President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen explained "We social democrats are deeply concerned by the widening gap between rich and poor in Europe, and the dangers of today's recession creating deep and permanent divides within our societies. We feel very strongly that Europe must give people a fairer deal. That is why our manifesto for the European elections makes no less than 12 concrete proposals for a New Social Europe including decent minimum wages in all EU countries, protecting public services, strengthening rights to collective bargaining, and fair tax policies to guarantee the financing of our welfare states. In contrast European conservatives want to lower taxes across Europe making it increasing hard to finance public services. The European conservatives' manifesto describes European health and environmental standards as a cost, and social security as an obstacle to economic development - we disagree".
"Europe Day is of symbolic importance, and the fact that we have chosen that day to campaign for a fairer deal for people sends an important political message. It is not possible to celebrate the achievements of the European Union, which are considerable, without acknowledging the new direction which Europe needs. In this European election year it is vital to highlight the choices facing us. Europe has achieved a lot, but in the last five years of conservative domination social justice has been sorely neglected".
PES European Day of Action events will take place in Austria (Linz), Belgium (Brussels, Antwerp, West Flanders, Liege and Limburg), Bulgaria, France (Angers, Haute Garonne, Roquefort les Pins and Sarre), Estonia, Germany (Berlin, Bonn, Darmstadt and Spandau), Greece (Athens), Hungary (Pecs), Ireland (Dublin), Lithuania, Malta (Valletta, Sliema and Paolo), Romania (Bucharest), Spain (Barcelona, Madrid and Mallorca), Sweden and UK (London).
Among the activities planned are:
- a rally in Athens with Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, George Papandreou and Martine Aubry
- an information tent near the European Parliament run by Flemish socialist party sp.a
- leafleting at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin
- PES Women President Zita Gurmai addressing a meeting of over 1,000 Hungarian women in the city of Pecs
- a street performance in Darmstadt (near Frankfurt) ‘auction of workforce: buy us for low wages'
on Sunday 10 May PES activists from Mulhouse (France) and SPD members from Emmendingen will meet on the Rhine bridge at Sasbach/Marckolsheim with French and German European election candidates (click here to download the list of activities).
You can follow all events on Saturday 9 May through the live blogging and twittering on the PES campaign website.
For a full list of events, and contact details of organizers, contact:
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
