Prague, Dec 3 (CTK) – The European Union has been threatened by populists and neoliberals, the Party of European Socialists (PES) Council declared in its resolution “Saving Europe: for Youth and Progress” approved at the end of its three-day meeting in Prague Saturday.
“Years of misguided austerity, of increasing inequality, of insecurity have provided fertile ground for despair, and this is the result of years of neoliberal and conservative policies across Europe,” the resolution says.
Citizens are expressing their worries and they are seeking more stability and protection, it adds.
“Populists are taking advantage of this situation to spread their lies, hatred and division, as the results of the British referendum and the American elections have shown. In many countries, the far right is now an ugly reality,” the PES Council says in its resolution.
“We believe that it is an absolute priority for the EU to work towards preventing radicalisation in our societies,” it says.
According to the PES resolution, the EU is under threat because people do not have fulfilling and secure jobs and because they do not believe that their children will have a better life than they have.
The PES Council says it “is fighting against austerity-only policies and pushing for more growth and investment in Europe.” It wants high investments into the Youth Guarantee employment and further education programme and the introduction of decent minimum wages across Europe.
The resolution says neither basic economic freedoms nor competition rules can take precedence over fundamental social rights. It pledges to fight tax evasion and to close tax havens.
In the security spheres, EU member states and law enforcement agencies should “continue deepening their cooperation and enhancing the quantity and quality of information shared.”
The PES Council considers migration “a continuous and natural phenomenon.”
Unless the rule of law and human rights in Turkey are restored, the ongoing accession negotiations should be frozen, the resolution says.
The PES Council names the challenges that Europe is facing in the last part of the resolution: “Saturday, too few citizens are feeling the benefit of shared prosperity and too many have concerns about their future. Many young people no longer feel represented. Turnout in elections is decreasing in many countries, as citizens have less and less confidence in politics and democratic institutions.”
PES chairman Sergei Stanishev, former Bulgarian prime minister, said in his final address that the European Socialists are the only political family that offers realistic solutions.
