Under the broad theme "Saving Europe for Youth & Progress", the 2016 PES Council officially launched a key PES campaign, that is, the PES European Youth Plan, and adopted a resolution proposing progressive measures on jobs, social protection, youth rights, the economy and security.
The Council was preceded by a statutory meeting and the annual conference of PES Women, held on 1-2 December.
Led by CoR PES Group Vice-President Albert Bore, the delegation of the CoR PES Group participated in the plenary debates as well as several workshops organised in the margins of the Council.
Taking the floor during the debate about the adoption of the PES Council Resolution, Albert Bore called for more flexibility when it comes to applying the Stability and Growth Pact, underlining the urgent need to restore local and regional authorities' ability to invest in the delivery of public services. The point was retained in the final resolution.
Heijo Höfer, CoR rapporteur on the European Pillar of Social Rights, intervened in the Council's first plenary panel on “A Social Europe, when?”, alongside his European Parliament counterpart and S&D Vice-President Maria Joao Rodrigues, former Social Affairs Commissioner László Andor and PES 1st Vice-President Jean Christophe Cambadélis. Heijo Höfer insisted on the need for ambitious proposals, reiterating a key message of his opinion, that is, that economic policies must not take precedence over social policies. This clear message was also echoed in the PES Council Resolution.
Benedetta Brighenti, CoR PES ambassador for the PES European Youth Plan, intervened in the plenary panel “Act for Youth!”, alongside Laura Slimani, President of Young European Socialists (YES), Werner Faymann, UN special envoy on youth employment and former Chancellor of Austria, and Katarina Nevedalova, PES Vice-President. Brighenti urged for the Youth Guarantee to become a permanent and prominent feature of the EU's employment policies stressing that "cities and regions without active and fully empowered young people are not sustainable from a social, economic or even democratic point of view".
Shaping Europe’s digital future was the theme of a major event organised by the European Parliament's S&D Group in the margins of the PES Council, as part of their TOGETHERinitiative. Yoomi Renström briefly intervened in the second roundtable on the European Digital Labour Market and new ways of social solidarity, underlining the need to fight for a new kind of cohesion, alongside the social, economic and territorial one, that is, digital cohesion.
Kevin Peel moderated the workshop organised by Rainbow Rose on "Human Rights are Youth Rights - PES LGBTI Roadmap", aimed at discussing lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) topics with a strong focus on young LGBTIs. The workshop also discussed the content of a PES LGBTI roadmap project in order to promote LGBTI topics within our political family.
Babette Winter and Kata Tüttő both intervened in the workshop on "Leading the green transition: better ecology, better economy, better society", which discussed how the EU's economies can become more resource-efficient and less carbon-intensive, ensuring that this transformation is a motor for new jobs in both existing and new sectors. Babette stressed the importance of circular economy in this process and Kata the need to involve the ageing population together with children in creating green spaces in urban zones.
Albert Bore was amongst the speakers of the workshop on "Providing security, promoting liberties : fighting radicalisation & extremism", which discussed the EU tools available to different levels of government to address extremism, as well as the ways to empower families, schools and social workers to detect, prevent and act upon the radicalization of young people.
Albert Bore underlined the importance of engaging the different ethnic communities in political life, especially at local level. "You don't build resiliance to radicalisation by promoting national values, but by celebrating diversity", he underlined.
Last but not least, Sanchia Alasia represented the CoR PES Group at the statutory meeting and annual of conference of PES Women, held on 1-2 December. The theme of this year's conference was women’s economic empowerment, in relation to traditional and new forms of work and income. Sanchia intervened in the conference, talking about the dangers of gendered education from primary up to the higher education level, and gender segregation in employment.
