More than 700 people attended the presentation of the Progressive Society policy report on Sustainable Equality at an event co-organised with the Athens office of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and the Athens Development & Governance Institute (A.D.G.I-INTERPOST).
“More than 700 people attending the presentation of our Sustainable Equality report in Athens sends a clear message: There is a huge interest in our proposals on how to lead Europe onto a path of sustainable equality. Visiting Greece, less than one year after the end of the last bailout programme, has also made clear: The worst might be over, thanks to sacrifices Greek people made; Yet, the crisis that was aggravated by the Troika still has many repercussions in people’s lives, most notably in deep inequalities,” said S&D Group leader Udo Bullmann.
“We are convinced that, in order to fight these inequalities, we have to introduce higher coherence between our policy fields. Measures for better wages and a green economy, for fair taxation and against child poverty thus become elements of the same fight – for better living conditions for all. Greece and the whole Mediterranean, with its great resources like sun and wind, can become key in this endeavour. We are happy that our proposals, which were developed in the framework of the S&D Progressive Society under the lead of former Greek Minister of Labour and Economy Louka Katseli and former Prime Minister of Denmark Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, are very well reflected in the PES-Manifesto for the European elections adopted 10 days ago in Madrid. While serving different purposes, both documents are written under the premise that we need to make the UN 2030 Sustainable Development goals our compass,” Bullmann added.
The Prime Minister of Greece Alexis Tsipras as well as the vice-President of the European Parliament Dimitris Papadimoulis attended the event. The two Greek members of the S&D Group, the KINAL (PASOK) and To Potami (The River) didn’t participate.
“Despite differences, progressive forces share the determination to change the course of Europe towards a truly fair economic, social and environmental model that will serve the many, not only a few lucky ones. We want to build on this common ground. After having presented our Sustainable Equality report in Brussels, Milan, at the PES-Congress in Lisbon, and in Athens, we will continue the dialogue that we started. We invite other progressive forces to join in and support us in building a better Europe,” Bullmann concluded.
