The European elections must be a transparent, fair and ethical battle of ideas. Today, the Party of European Socialists (PES) reconfirmed its commitment to this mission by joining with other European political parties to sign a common Code of Conduct.
The Code of Conduct was developed by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) in collaboration with the European political parties and the European Commission, under the initiative of Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, PES Secretary General Giacomo Filibeck said:
“On behalf of the PES and our President Stefan Löfven, I express our thanks to Vice-President Jourová and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. Thank you also to this community of parties for committing to protect democracy. It is crucial as we enter the campaign period, just two months ahead of the European elections.
“Let us be clear: our parties are opponents, competitors, adversaries. We are campaigning and fighting to win the trust of citizens. But we are not enemies. There are other actors who are enemies who are threatening the European integration project.
“The EU is the greatest project for promoting peace and democracy, unique in the world. Our task is to protect that democracy, because without it there can be no EU integration process.”
The common Code of Conduct will foster transparent, fair and ethical campaigning and promote trust of European citizens in the upcoming electoral period.
The Code of Conduct is available on the European Commission website.
The PES encourages its member parties – and all political parties at that national level – to also sign up to the Code of Conduct.
