The Ministers agreed that the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome marks a good occasion to assess upon what kind of Europe our progressive family should promote for the future.
It is imperative that Europe remain a fair, progressive and sustainable environment that promotes the wellbeing of everyone. In order to achieve this:
- Europe needs to intensify its investment strategy and focus more on social investment and regional cohesion.
- A strong insurance for deposits needs to be implemented to complete the banking union. The Stability and Growth Pact needs to be reformed to improve its ability to deliver social and economic convergence in Europe.
- Last but not least measures have to be put in place to effectively prevent tax dodging and making our fiscal systems fair, sustainable and redistributive.
PES President Sergei Stanishev said:
“Coming back from the PES Council in Prague and looking towards the future and the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, one issue becomes clear.
“Europe needs to listen more to its people. We need to restore their trust in European politics. This means the right combination of national politics and European politics. We need to protect our European Social Model, and especially our labour laws and standards.
“This is crucial – nowhere in Europe should labour standards drop below EU best practices. Workers should receive equal treatment all around the EU.”
