PES Leaders' conference 19 June 2008

The Leaders of Europe’s social democratic and socialist Parties today agreed that the Irish referendum “reflects a need for Europe to deal in a more focused way on people’s real concerns." PES Leaders agreed that the process of ratifying the Lisbon Treaty should continue, and that once each member state has decided on the Treaty a political agreement is found on the necessary reforms of EU decision-making rules. In a declaration issued in advance of today’s EU summit, the Leaders of Europe’s social democratic and socialist Parties state “Climate change, a global financial crisis, continuing poverty and unemployment, rising food and energy prices and uncertainty about the future of migration – all these questions demand progressive action by the EU and its Member States." “We respect the result of the recent referendum in... [read full story]