The Party of European Socialists approved the resolutions of its 12th Congress, a blueprint for a more progressive, more sustainable future for the European Union. The Congress, hosted with SPD in Berlin, addressed the many challenges Europe faces and renewed the progressive commitment of our political family, which will turn 30 in the second week of November.
The resolution is available to read in full in the four official languages of the PES: English, German, French and Spanish.
The PES resolution calls for more room for investment to and for measures to support citizens through the energy crisis, including additional flexibility in national budgets, through a progressive reform of the Stability and Growth pact. Progressives believe this crisis cannot be overcome with the same recipes as the previous financial and economic crisis.
The Russian aggression on Ukraine is unacceptable and the PES clearly stands against it in its resolution, as it has done throughout this war. The PES renewed its commitment to Ukraine and stands ready to support a new round of sanctions against Russia. We want true solidarity with asylum seekers, and solidarity between Member States as was shown in the case of the refugees from Ukraine.
The resolution calls for a strengthened European Defence to complement NATO, with joint procurement, coordinated defence spending, and a European framework for an air defence system.
Progressives call for barriers to financial speculation, and for greater social justice, building up on the recent work done by our party with initiatives such as the SURE programme of unemployment support through the pandemic, the European Minimum Wage, or the Next Generation EU, the PES-inspired, biggest ever recovery plan launched after the pandemic. The PES Congress resolution calls for protection for all workers, including those working for digital platforms and the gig economy and for a Social Progress Protocol to be added to the European Treaties to guarantee fundamental social rights, as well as a European Anti-Poverty Law.
The PES resolution calls for all government bodies to make an additional effort to provide affordable housing.
The protection of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law, including inside the EU, remains one of the key priorities, as reflected in the resolution. We need to strengthen existing measures like the conditionality mechanism, tying European funding to respect for the rule of law.
Some of these ambitious goals may require changes in the functioning of the EU, including more majority rules in certain policies, and a stronger role for the European Parliament moving towards the right of initiative.
The first day of the PES Congress gathered more than 800 participants, including Prime Ministers, European Commissioners, MEPs, delegates from PES member parties and from our organisations. The PES believes these measures to be a good stepping point for our successful political work in the immediate future/ for the next thirty years.
Photographs from the event are available on the PES Flickr.
