PES Newsletter n°35 - November 2009

Having taken stock of the result of the European elections, in December’s Congress the PES will launch a reflection on the future of progressive societies. The programme will include discussions of green growth and climate change, financial regulation, and initiatives aimed at strengthening the PES. Congress delegates will also produce an appeal to the participants of the Copenhagen climate summit. Registration will remain open for PES activists until 15 November.

PES Prime Ministers gathered in Brussels ahead of the October EU summit. They announced the creation of a troika consisting of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Werner Faymann and Poul Nyrup Rasmussen that will negotiate the two top positions created by the now fully-ratified Lisbon Treaty.

PES policy-makers from the European Parliament and beyond met to discuss the future of the Lisbon strategy. The Network chaired by MEP Alejandro Cercas rejected conservative calls for an exit strategy, converging on the need for an ‘entry strategy into the labour market’.
Read Poul Nyrup Rasmussen’s blog post on the topic.

The next five weeks will be exceptionally important for the future of our climate. The PES is following the climate change negotiations closely and contributes to a more progressive and ambitious EU climate policy. On 21 October, the PES gathered our environment ministers to discuss our climate change position. On 10 November, the PES Climate Change Network will further discuss important fields, such as the relation between development policy and climate change and possible contributions of the transport and agriculture sector to emission reductions.

The PES Group in the Committee of the Regions held an extraordinary meeting in Malmö, Sweden, at the invitation of Group member and Mayor of Malmö, Ilmar Reepalu. Participants underlined the role of local and regional action in the pursuit of a successful smart green growth.

The GPF campaign for financial regulation continues to gain momentum as it released its Call to Action, asking European leaders for a wholesale reshaping of finance to bring it in line with the needs of the real economy.

FEPS co-organized a high-level conference on the future of financial regulation, featuring PES President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen and Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz as keynote speakers. Delegates discussed possible ways forward in the direction of counter-cyclical regulation.

November
10th: Climate Change Network
12th: Coordination Team
16th: Gender Equality Ministerial
17th: Development and Defence Ministerials
19th: PES Presidency
28th: Romanian Presidential Election
30th: Social and Employment Ministerial

December
7-8th: 8th PES Congress, Prague