On the eve of the ceremony of the 150th Anniversary of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), PES Women celebrated today (22 May) its two decades of progress towards gender equality and women’s empowerment. The 20th Anniversary Reception took place in Leipzig, commemorating the foundation of the PES Women's Standing Committee in May 1993 and honouring the remarkable work of past PES Women Presidents Karin Junker and Fiorella Ghilardotti.
Within the framework of the 150th Anniversary of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), PES Prime Ministers and Party Leaders have gathered today in Leipzig (22 May) to examine the conclusions of the latest European Council meeting. The PES Leaders’ Conference discussed the ongoing effects of the crisis, the next steps for implementing the European Youth Guarantee and the details of a progressive industrial policy.
For hundreds of millions of European citizens, tax is a relatively simple affair. You see the gross figure on your pay check and the net figure in your bank account. Once a year you look at the limited ways you can claim some tax relief, and that is pretty much it. However the same rules do not seem to apply to two very significant categories, the super rich and the super companies. For too long, they have played by different rules. With some financial institutions only too willing to facilitate or ignore, tax evasion and straight tax fraud are endemic. Some estimates put the loss in tax revenue from these categories as high as 1000 billion euro per year. To put that in perspective, the annual budget for the EU is roughly 120 billion euro. This Thursday, European leaders must be made to acknowledge where the real savings can be made.
Final results of Bulgaria’s early general elections on May 12 have confirmed that the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), led by candidate Plamen Oresharski, came in a close second place with 26.61% of the vote. A much divided election with only four political parties meeting the 4 percent threshold to enter the National Assembly, the PES Member Party BSP managed to increase its votes by 25% and double its seats in the Bulgarian Parliament.
On Thursday the 16th of May, President François Hollande held a press conference at the Élysée Palace to mark his first year in office. In his speech, the French President called for a more politically integrated and social Europe, and announced ambitions reforms to tackle the growth crisis and the problem of youth unemployment in France. Hollande warned that the recession that has engulfed Europe for over five years is threatening Europe’s social model. What is needed above all is an “offensive” to bring “more growth and less austerity.” The French President is pushing for the creation of a Eurozone economic government with its own president within the next two years. The new body would meet on a monthly basis and be charged with creating growth as well as harmonising the economic policies of the Eurozone governments. As Hollande envisages it, the new body would have a budgetary capacity and gradually be able to raise its own debts.
At an extraordinary meeting on 17 May in Paris, European social democratic and socialist ministers urged their conservative and liberal colleagues as well as the European Commission to make progress on strengthening the social dimension of the Economic and Monetary Union.
Nicolas Schmit, Chairperson of the PES Social and Employment Ministers network underlined: "In light of growing unemployment, rising poverty, increasing inequalities and stagnating growth, the role of social and employment policies must be upgraded. Austerity policies can't be an answer to the crisis Europe is facing. We must enforce policies that generate sustainable growth. We believe that the European Semester should no longer focus unilaterally on reducing deficits, but should contribute to more and better jobs, a reduction of poverty and more social cohesion. In a declaration the PES Social and Employment Ministers adopted recently, we outline a concrete action plan to create a Social Union. It is not a question of more or less Europe. The crucial question is what kind of Europe we want. We as Socialists and Social Democrats are committed to build a Social Europe, which is at the service of its citizens."
On 14 March the Party of European Socialists (PES) Economic and Finance Ministers met at the PES Headquarters in Brussels to discuss the PES strategy for effectively fighting against tax fraud, tax evasion and tax havens and other PES priorities such as the need to create a strong European Monetary Union that prioritises citizen’s needs.
From 8-12 May, young socialists from all over the world celebrated 150 years of the German workers’ movement in Dortmund. The festival included over 40 workshops in which wide-ranging topics such as social affairs, democracy, activism as well as equality and feminism were discussed. Panels, political discussions and speeches surrounded the workshops.
European Parliament President calls claims 'unacceptable'
Senior figures from the Party of European Socialists (PES) have today condemned the claims of Bulgarian ex-interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov that PES President Sergei Stanishev, who is also leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), used corrupt practices to secure his post.
