This is what PES President Sergei Stanishev said meeting Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Löfven.
The PES leader is on a two-day visit in Oslo attending the Congress of Scandinavian social-democratic parties (SAMAK). Party leaders as well as trade union leaders from the Nordic countries play a key role in this congress.
‘The Scandinavian model of democracy and sustainable social economies is an inspiration for the whole of Europe. It manages to combine economic efficiency with social justice and the result is less inequality, said PES President in his speech before the delegates.
We are faced today with a number of challenges such as globalisation, economic crisis, pressure from markets threatening to weaken or even dismantle the European social model, etc. Right-wing policies of last years brought nothing but disappointment in and from Europe, increased inequality and unemployment, stagnation and feeble economic growth. PES’s primary goal in 2015 will be the creation of a new Plan for sustainable economic development to stimulate investments, create jobs and assure a good standard of living.
During his meeting with Stefan Löfven, Prime Minister of Sweden, Stanishev discussed Juncker’s Investment Plan for Europe. What is important for Socialists now is where the money will come from and where the money will go to so that it can produce real added value in the economy and create new jobs, said PES President Stanishev.
The two leaders also discussed the preparations of the social-democrats for the upcoming climate change conference in Paris in 2015. We can learn a lot from the experience of the Nordic countries in the field of renewable energy sources as well as in striking the right balance between environmental protection and a functioning economy, Stanishev commented after the meeting.
Another topic of discussion was the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations (TTIP). ‘We all here share the same view that European citizens’ interests should be protected and we should not allow EU’s social policies to be undermined. These negotiations concern important fields such as food security, consumer protection, development of small and medium enterprises, among others.’
On the issue of refugees, Stanishev said that a common European coordination policy is needed to support both ‘border-States’ which initially host the refugees, and destination countries.
PES President Stanishev discussed these issues also with Antti Rinne, Minister of Finance and leader of the Social-Democratic Party of Finland, as well as with the leader of Norway’s Labour Party – Jonas Støre.
Leave A Comment