Thursday, November 29, 2007

PES Council: a common manifesto, yes please

PES Council: a common manifesto, yes please

Published Friday, November 23, 2007 at 16:54

by Editor in New Social Europe (32 views and 0 comments)

Towards the PES manifesto – was the dynamic title of the fourth and last plenary of this week’s PES Council. The session was a mix of live speakers and videos with PES activists giving their take on what should be in the PES manifesto. There were several topics which were mentioned again and again – by both politicians and PES activists: workers rights, employment, immigration, energy supply and climate change. Several speakers also mentioned the lack of citizen participation and the low turnout at European elections as issues that the PES should deal with.

Marek Siwiec, Vice-President of the European Parliament and from Poland, was among the plenary’s live speakers. He brought up the gap between rich and poor parts of Europe as an important priority for the PES manifesto:“New Social Europe sounds very different in rich and poor Europe. In poor Europe access to quality education is the number one issue right now. There are great differences between the villages and the cities when it comes to the possibilities for education.”These were just a few of the opinions put forward during the debate today – you can watch the full session, including all speeches. Next to what is mentioned here – what do you think should be in the PES manifesto?
Tags: council, education, employment, equality, immigration, women

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