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AN INSIGHT INTOTHE 2014 EUROPEAN ELECTIONS

THE INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENTOF THE FRENCH SOCIALIST PARTY

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WE MUST ALL VOTE, AND VOTE FOR PES IN 2014 P.5

« EUROPE, OBLIVIOUS OF ITS CULTURE, IS A STRAY EUROPE »BY FREDERIC HOCQUARD P.11

SOCIO-PROFESSIONAL INTEGRATION IN EUROPE P.13

ENGLISH AS A TEACHING LANGUAGE AT THE UNIVERSITY : P.15ANYTHING BUT A THREAT TO FRENCH

ENERGY AND BIODIVERSITY : A NEW CODE OF ETHICS AND A NEW COMMITMENT FOR THE EUROPEAN CITIZEN P.17

HOW THE FRENCH GOUVERNEMENT WORKS AGAINST THE GENDER PAY GAP P.19

FAIR TRADE ? BY THE WAY, WHAT IS IT EXACTLY ? P.21

INVESTING IN SOLIDARITY IS ACTIVE REFUSAL OF DESTITUTION P.23

SECURITY : ACT LOCAL P.25

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Between Thursday May 22th and Sunday May 25th 2014, according to Member states, elections will take place throughout Europe to appoint those who will represent us at the European Parlia-ment.

FOR PES = FOR A PROGRESSIVE MAJORITY

PES aims at forming with your votes the largest group in the next elected European Parliament so as to be able to build up a progressive majority :The Conservatives’ choices over the past 10 years have ultimately been spoiling the very idea of Europe in the citizens’ minds.Now Europe is not inescapably doomed to be right-wing : the 2014 European election is a good opportunity to reconnect Europe with the European citizens, to break away from the indulgent submission to mad finance, among others…The right, which has been heading Europe for ten years, must not be allowed to keep on dete-riorating the economic and social situation, and enhance the rise of populisms born from social distress.The Eurosceptic, the Europhobes, in short anti-Europeans must not be allowed to generate a Europe devoid of any aim, emptied of all substance : their favourite game consists in blocking sys-tematically and permanently each single decision-making level, and in making everyone believe afterwards that Europe is part of the problem, not of the solution.

WE MUST ALL VOTE INDEED …

Voting is a duty, and a privilege many people throughout the world are still longing for.

...IN ORDER TO ELECT OUR REPRESENTATIVES IN THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT…

The European Parliament is the only European institution directly elected by the European ci-tizens.

What will be new, in 2014, is that the result of those parliamentary elections will also impact the European Commission : as a matter of fact, the choice of the President of the Commission, so far, had no relevant link with the composition of the European Parliament.

Now, in its Article 17 §7, the Lisbon Treaty stipulates that the President of the Commission will issue from the majority newly elected in the European Parliament. Thus, for the first time, Euro-pean citizens will indirectly appoint the next President of the European Commission too, for the next five years.

> As a double consequence, the democratic legitimacy of the European institutions will be reinforced and an effective coherence between the Parliament (in charge of formulating new legislation along with the Council) and the European Commission (in charge of proposing new legislation and of upholding the Union’s treaties, of negotiating trade agreements and of drawing Member States’ attention on infringements, when any) will be promoted.

Besides, voting for the European Parliament is overseeing its work and action.

Feeding oneself, learning, undertaking, working, living in safety and security, enjoying protections (health systems, social and legal protections) : those basic requirements among others place Eu-rope at the heart of our lives because they simply are the core of the European Parliament’s work.

WE MUST ALL VOTE, AND VOTE FOR PES IN 2014 AND HERE IS WHY :

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What must not be overlooked or underestimated either is that, beyond those basic requirements, Europe, from its inception to present times, is emblematically consonant with the “nevermore” after-war determination of its founding fathers and remains, even today, a true area of long-term peaceful coexistence.

…WE MUST ALL VOTE FOR THE PARTY OF EUROPEAN SOCIALISTS (PES) AND, AFTER TEN YEARS OF CONSERVATIVE/LIBERAL GOUVERNANCE, SHIFT TO A TRUE, COMMITTED GOVERNANCERECONNECTED WITH US, CITIZENS…

For all its being a true area of peaceful coexistence, Europe is not a uniform area where diffe-rences among Members States no longer exist or fail to be taken into account.

What is true among countries is just as true among socialist parties from different European coun-tries. As with Europe, those socialist parties clustered within the Party of European Socialists (PES) will keep their intrinsic differences before, during and after the election, but the PES will not be divided.

The unity of the various European socialist forces within a consolidated PES is expected to • ensure that left-wing voters have better chances of indirectly appointing a left-wing President

of the Commission, while they keep a parliamentary representation really complying with their respective national understanding of their own interests;

• help avoid Europe’s exposure and subjection to individual powers : as a matter of fact, the cur-rent President of the Commission –who was the outcome of a negotiation process and not indi-rectly appointed by citizens- permanently aligns himself with the personal objectives of German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, who, evidently imposes her views on the Community at the expense of the interests of the whole European Community.

With PES, each country continues to plays a decisive role through its Socialist party; PES stands as the guaranty that Europe will be strong, yet not uniform, that the local level will be taken into account, that national Parliaments will be involved in the work done at the European level.

Besides, PES aims at forming with your votes the largest group in the next elected European Par-liament so as to be able to build up a progressive majority :

VOTING FOR PES IS VOTING FOR ANOTHER EUROPE :

The mission of the European Parliament, such as PES is day after day developing it can be sum-med up in these words : serving citizens. If PES gets the majority and can therefore succeed the Conservatives, its future policy will adjust Europe practically to “serving citizens”. Here is how :

PES serving citizens in the economic field means :• A European Community inside which solidarity between citizens and countries stops being

undermined; thus,• A European Community equipped with the necessary tools to redistribute wealth among

Member States;• A European Community strong in a globalised world and supported by fair trade, by made in

Europe production (see the European photovoltaic industry, little or badly defended in the face of its Chinese counterpart); a European Community suitably, pliably, intelligently protecting its outside borders;

• A European Community with a differentiated recovery strategy from the economic crisis, where corrective policies of public accounts take place at different speeds, instead of taking place at the speed demanded by the punitive approach of driving forces and of the right;

• A European Community with a genuine industrial policy and able to meet the difficulties of sec-tors such as steel, among others; minded to promote energy efficiency and having an energy policy with good and reliable future prospects for all; a European Community thrusting techno-logical development forward;

• A European Community whose importance as 1st trading power in the world is reflected in its effective political and diplomatic contribution, in its genuine determination to play an active role of political persuasion;

• A European Community which, in so far as it has no imperialistic mission, pools its Defence in order to better protect its citizens without deepening deficits;

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PES serving citizens in the field of employment means :• A European Community where the vicious circle of recessive austerity schemes designed by

conservative Liberals is replaced by a corrective policy completed with a proactive policy in favour growth through investment;

• A European Community re-launching quality jobs and where wages cuts (see the current ones in Southern Europe countries) are brought to an end;

• A European Community where a minimum wage standard is enforced;• A European Community acting to implement measures in favour of the training, of the appren-

ticeship and the employment of younger Europeans; enhancing integration through work and economic activity, and fostering entrepreneurship among the younger generation; making all those priorities;

• A social European Community where unfair competition does not drag citizens down to the bottom.

• A very chocking and inacceptable illustration of that can be found in European posted workers, most of the time posted from Eastern Europe by interim agencies acting as front (dummy) companies, and literally exploited and under-paid at the expense of other European workers. They constitute a very typical example of what the right allowed to develop rapidly and multiply, while the European socialists strive to make it disappear in spite of the liberal right’s resistance;

• A European Community that increasingly supports local initiatives;

PES serving citizens with regard to financial issues means :• A European Community where financial transaction tax and fight against tax havens that take

away 1000 (one thousand) billion euros from the European budget enable an ambitious social and industrial scheme.

• A European Community where banking union and European tax harmonisation allow compa-nies’ and workers’ efforts to converge and coalesce -instead of undermining them- and allow, subsequently, growth to be more dynamically recovery-oriented.

SO MUCH WITH NEUTRALISING EVERY INITIATIVE IN FAVOUR OF CITIZENS, AS LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES HAVE BEEN DOING OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS; SO MUCH WITH TURNING EUROPE INTO A CASINO CAPITALISM HAVEN AS WELL :

It is high time we set a progressive and non-punitive majority; a majority whose working method goes beyond blocking systematically institutions smooth running in order to neutralise every ini-tiative, as the conservative Liberals do; a majority instituting a genuine, democratic, controllable governance at the service of people throughout Europe. Such must be the issue underlying a Parliament worth the name. Simplifying without deregulating, protecting without falling into pro-tectionism; every European person needs Europe to be by his/her side in his/her daily life, but another Europe is possible : one promoting involvement, responsibility and shared growth as the best rampart against populisms.

PES promotes a watchful action, worked out with national Parliaments, to take over from the currently spreading fear fuelling inward-looking attitudes and isolationisms, both short-term and doomed to fail.

With PES, Europe is not part of the problem : quite the opposite, it implements new solutions to local problems. PES creates a new Europe, both ambitious and pragmatic. So, we must all vote in 2014 for European elections, and vote for PES.

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PRECONCEPTIONS : OVER-SIMPLE, OVER-DECEPTIVE;4 TO BUNDLE OFF MILES AWAY WITH LIGHTNING SPEED

ABOUT EMPLOYMENT :No, employment rate would not rise if borders were closed; nevertheless, it has become vital to oppose neo-liberalism.In order to know the solutions PES wants to implement, please read § “Voting for PES is voting for another Europe”.

ABOUT SOCIAL EUROPE :Quite obviously, Conservatives and Liberals have deliberately chosen to ignore this issue to the point of a general knockdown : they have completely turned down the European citizens, cast them out of their Community of rights, and transformed Europe into a deadlock.

No, Social Rights do not impede on Europe; they are, on the contrary, a prerequisite for its suc-cess. The next Parliament –with you, a left-wing one- will be in charge of voting Laws relating, among other issues, to Health, to workers and employees’ consultation, to the criminal competition between posted and local workers, to the social protection posted workers are deprived of in order to increase cost-efficiency ratios …No other, no better way of reconnecting Europe with its citizens can be found because no other, no better and more balanced operating mode of the European institutions can make those insti-tutions meaningful to people.

Now, that is specifically a left-wing, PES project.

LET US OPT OUT OF EUROPE AND WE SHALL BE THROUGH WITH POSTED WORKERS :

Nothing such will ever result from opting out of Europe.

Why ? Simply because we would be in industrial and economic competition with neighbouring countries that may chose, on the contrary, to welcome posted workers in order to lower the costs of production of their companies and businesses. Our situation would very badly suffer from it.

> The protection of domestic (local) workers must be dealt with vigorously and upstream, at the very level of the European Community.

(cf Voting for PES and another Europe, § PES and the field of employment; Preconceptions, § About social Europe).

Addendum / December 10 2013 :A European agreement, pushed by the determination of François Hollande –the Socialist French President- and The Socialist Minister of Labour Michel Sapin, has just been reached among Eu-ropean Ministers of Labour. It is a step in the right direction, but what has been achieved is an improving clarification rather than a change.

Two key elements resulting from that focus on stricter observance of the 1996 Posting of workers directive must be noted :• more means will be dedicated to controlling illegal workers, and controls will adapt to the tech-

nical evolutions of fraudulent practices in order to combat them; • the contractors (that simultaneously benefit from illegal posted workers and shift the responsibi-

lity of providing and managing them onto their subcontractors) will now be held criminally liable jointly and severally with subcontractors in the event of fraud.

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We must welcome such progresses, initiated by Socialists and resulting from a long negotiating process. Thanks to them, abuses are more likely to be disclosed and sanctioned.

But much is left to be done :• The measure relating to joint and several liability essentially targets the Building and public

works sector. No doubt, the emergency lies there; but however reluctant some countries may be, the measure must be met by all sectors if we want local workers to be properly protected;

• that agreement, dealing with controlling fraudulent practices whatever their forms, does not question –owing to a lack of consensus- the very principle of an unfettered and unworthy com-petition among European workers such as Liberals wanted it and devised it; now, it is precisely what a progressive Parliament would be keen to achieve : as a matter of fact, Socialists do ad-vocate a social harmonisation throughout Europe. It would be the only means of

*putting an end to competition between “legal” (i.e. registered) posted workers and local workers;

*putting an end to denying posted workers a genuine social protection;• both measures, which indeed constitute a diplomatic success, must be translated into legisla-

tive terms by the European Parliament; it is the level where progress becomes truly effective, and, logically, Martin Schulz (the Leader of European Socialists for the European election cam-paign) hopes that the whole 1996 Directive will be revised for, in his own words, “it is about time to acknowledge that workers’ fundamental rights are as important as is the principle of free movement.”

LET US OPT OUT OF EURO AND BE BACK TO OUR FORMER NATIONAL CURRENCY :

After second thought, not such a good idea.

The possible impact of euro on prices must, if and when the case arises, be corrected. But stee-ring back to national currencies would have serious and far-reaching consequences. Among them, all those concerning our indebtedness. Our debt is denominated in euro and we cannot default on it.

Now, should we steer back to our (past) national currency, the burden of the debt we would have to discharge would be much heavier for taxpayers (in fact, it will explode), and loan rates for indi-vidual borrowers and businesses are also likely to increase then very dramatically.

Besides, 70% of French trade (imports and exports) is developed with its European partners; the imports of our country withdrawn from euro would be far more expensive for households and bu-sinesses, simply because the production of the latter often rely on such intra-European imports. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that businesses would find more or larger markets in the cur-rent background of international economic instability.

Yet, that would not be the end of our long-lasting decline : in order to remain competitive, our companies and businesses would take into account the burden of such costly but indispensable imports on their accounts, and would probably chose to alleviate their costs of production through downgrading, even maybe merely disposing of the social devices related to employment.

Eventually, some experts warn, exiting euro would quickly end up in destroying -at the lowest estimate- 1 million jobs.

DID YOU KNOW IT ? YOU ARE A MAJOR PARTNER OF EUROPESO, DO VOTE, AND VOTE PESTHEN TAKE PART IN THE WORK OF DEMOCRATIC EUROPE.

Here is how you can have your say:In order to contribute to European decisions, you can launch a European citizens’ initiative, i.e. an agenda initiative designed to call for a new legislation. If the initiative collects one million signa-tures, from a number of Member States, you can send it directly to the Commission, inviting it to take action. As a matter of fact, the Commission will then decide how the content of your initiative can be integrated in the European legislation.

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BEFORE YOU READ THIS CONTRIBUTION :Frédéric Hocquard, the National secretary in charge of Culture for the French socialist party had too much to say for a press release; on June 28 2013, subsequent to the Cannes Film festival and the Avignon Theatre festival, he enhanced his blog with the following post :

The decision whereby the audio-visual sector is excluded from the negotiating mandate for a free-trade agreement between Europe and the United States must be defended as an irreversible achievement. Aurélie Fillipetti, the French Minister of culture, has been decisively in the front line and her gallant struggle must be saluted, along with the impressive worldwide mobilisation of artists and professionals of Culture in order to withdraw cultural production from the range of goods governed by the laws of the market. Another tribute must be paid to political leaders -whether left-wing or right-wing- and to the full unanimity of their commitment to the defence of cultural diversity as constituent of the very idea of Europe.

(…) Yet, we must not be fooled : for all its being culture-free, the agreement has not turned all acceptable; as a matter of fact, it is plain to see that it is none else than the Trojan horse of Ame-rican multinational companies whose sole objective is to deregulate European trade and thus secure new profits on the Old continent. Coherence, in fact, should consist in fighting against the whole set of proposals for an overall deregulation, lest a partial action should, for instance, result in watching European auteur films with our mouths full of genetically modified (pop-)corn.

Besides, a faint insight is enough to anticipate that, beyond an apparent consensus, the true battle of cultural exception is only just beginning. Karel de Gucht, the European Commissioner for trade, clearly stated that audio-visual services could be reintroduced later into the negotiating process with the Americans. The liberal President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, who termed the French position “reactionary”, would probably rejoice upon the sly, surreptitious return of the threat we unequivocally discarded.

That is no minor risk indeed, in so far as Google, Apple, Facebook or Amazon are not going to stop pressing upon Europe before they get total market deregulation. Now, those American giants on the Net – who do not pay taxes in France- derive the major part of their profits from the circulation of cultural contents to the making of which they do not even contribute financially.

The thrust at cultural exception –which, incidentally, is protected by the 2005 UNESCO declara-tion- is emblematic of how every framework gives in one after the other to the proponents of an almighty liberalism. What is more, that orientation, now pervading the whole European construc-tion, comes here in total contradiction with the principle of cultural diversity inherent to Europe.

It must be acknowledged that, since the creation of the European union, Member states have not been mobilising for culture as much energy as they have for the emergence of major industrial and financial projects. Successive crises have gradually made it difficult for political leaders not to shift their attention away from culture, so that it is now reduced to being a mere vector for renewed growth in digital economy. That, typically, is a consumerist approach directly imported from the United states.

Apart from being a mistake, it is also one of the causes of Europe’s construction being in a deadlock. Europe, oblivious of its culture, is a stray Europe. Therefore, fighting in favour of cultu-ral exception is a historical fight that must lead to rebalancing forces and power, and to reverse the current liberal trend. Art and culture must be at the heart of that common determination, and support policies in their favour must not be subject to the sole and full force of the market.

« EUROPE, OBLIVIOUS OF ITS CULTURE, IS A STRAY EUROPE »BY FREDERIC HOCQUARD – JUNE 28 2013

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Instead, the European Commission should give free reins to States that implement policies of public intervention and economic regulation, and that, above all, develop redistribution mecha-nisms in the field of creation, from Heritage to Multimedia, not to mention Performing arts and live shows at large.

• We propose, for instance, that Europe should better support its creators through the creation of a “European culture fund” financed by effective taxation of data streams, i.e. of powerful providers of extended cultural contents.

• We propose a Continental support policy should be implemented to strengthen the book sec-tor all over Europe before Amazon swallows up the whole European market of books, whether in paper format or in digital format. This support programme would include appropriate regu-lations and rules.

• We propose a European solidity fund in favour of European Heritage should be created in or-der to prevent the end of its preservation in most heavily indebted countries suffering a lack of financial means.

Nothing but refusing the stringent logic of profit-making and ever-increased profitability can al-low creation to remain free and plural. Nothing else either can keep it available for each and every citizen. Cultural issues are pivotal and must flow through the whole European process, in particular through the European social pact, which must be rebuilt. That applies to education and youth (through big digital projects allowing the continent-wide sharing of intellectual, artistic and scientific resources), and to the battle to fight against precariousness and exclusion, the battle to fight for employment and growth too, as well as for environment … If we want the new impending Europe to be up to its ambitions in the crisis background, let us award it a decent budget amounting to no less than 1% of the Union’s budget.

As Fernand Braudel (*) once said :”Culture is Europe’s common language.” Well, it must now become one of Europe’s essential factor of social progress (…), i.e. more than just a source of international influence or of improvement of the trade balance. Culture has a power of emanci-pation and social transformation; it has the power to think ahead and design the world’s future.

The European union stands at a crossroads. True enough, it succeeded in excluding the audio-vi-sual sector from the Transatlantic trade partnership; but it is now time for it to go on the offensive and offer both a public policy for cultural issues and a model of economic regulation that will pro-tect artists and cultural diversity. On all those matters, Europe must steer a radically new course, and European construction is still dawning.

(*) Fernand Braudel, 1902-1985, was a French historian whose major contribution was the founding of Ecole des Annales, a group of historians whose approach dominated the French 20th century historiography. Among many other changes and contributions, Fernand Braudel turned historical research and writing into a cross-cutting discipline in which a relevant role was awarded to geography, economy, sociology etc.

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EXCLUSION IN EUROPE

Employment, a structuring element in social and societal life, has now become a “total social fact” (*), and it plays a decisive role in social integration. It is now simultaneously a productive factor, a social link provider, a means of expression and of fulfilment of the self. Although the wor-king poor are a fact that cannot be overlooked, there is nothing so highly inclusive as getting a lasting quality job.

Poverty hits every European country and ranges from 10.5% in Norway to 21.8% in Spain (on the basis of a living standard below poverty line defined as 60% of the average income per capita in a given country). For 2010, those rates transform into 84 million people hit by poverty in Europe (i.e. 14.6% of the population). That figure overarches intricate, sometimes combined field realities from youth and low skilled people, to women, elderly citizens and people with disabilities, and so forth.

Economic and financial crisis, structural unemployment and the difficulty of matching professional qualifications and job vacancies are shared challenges within the European union; as such, they must be tackled at the Community level, in a comprehensive way and with regard to the specific situation of each country. The reason why universal access to work and socio-professional in-tegration are not just a right but a major challenge of solidarity shared by all the European countries, is that setting an inclusive labour market will necessarily enhance greater social cohe-sion and fairness among the European territories.

HOW DOES THE SECTOR OF SOCIO-PROFESSIONAL INTEGRATION ARTICULATE WITH THAT, AND FOR WHAT PURPOSES ?

The players of socio-professional integration, in this context, serve a major purpose, that of ena-bling those furthest from the labour market and going through varied social difficulties to initiate a process leading them to a stable and lasting job. How is that ? They offer a gainful occupation -which is also acknowledged as training material- and, doing so, they offer skills that can be valued on the regular labour market. Those structures dedicated to providing integration through providing jobs are also involved in a process of overall social support of the persons at work along with social workers and players at large.

As the action of those structures essentially consists in serving their home territory and the spe-cific needs of its population along with the local networks, their impact must also be measured in terms of social cohesion and in terms of fairness among territories, as above mentioned : indeed, such players of integration through work and economic activity meet local needs that have failed to be met at all or in significant proportion. As a consequence, they contribute to boost such or such territory in which jobs otherwise not easily relocated are, thanks to them, granted both re-cognition and added value.

Yet it is not enough they should accompany workers in transition back to a lasting job; their other imperative objective is to bring training in line with the actual needs of the market. Therefore, structures of socio-professional integration are constantly in search of new or newly developed markets as heavy as possible with job opportunities. For that purpose, they never stop explo-ring many and various fields and markets such as green jobs, jobs related to short circuit distribu-tion, jobs in the field of recycling and re-use, or jobs in the sector of personal human services, all such jobs made relevant by current socio-demographic evolutions.

SOCIO-PROFESSIONAL INTEGRATION IN EUROPENOVEMBER 7 2013

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NATIONAL POLICIES OF ACTIVE SOCIAL INCLUSION ? MOST OF THEM IMPLEMENTED AND SUPPORTED AT THE EUROPEAN LEVEL.

Domestically, socio-professional integration may take as many forms as there are historical ori-gins. What Europe recommends is that three shoulds and musts stay national policies relating to active social inclusion : the employments must expressly be gainful and generate an inco-me, an appropriate qualifying training programme must necessarily be attached to them, and so must an overall social support.

The sector of socio-professional integration is quoted and embedded in three of the five objec-tives set within Europe’s comprehensive 2020 Strategy scheme (**). The watchwords of that strategy are : fostering “smart, sustainable and inclusive growth”. Europe’s Cohesion policy, in-cluding the Structural funds, is aligned with those priorities which also serve as a reference for the sector of socio-professional integration. As far as this sector is concerned, its missions are two : first, reach an employment rate up to 75% within the 20-60 age group; second, reduce by 20 million the number of people living in conditions of social exclusion.

Most of the characteristics the structures of socio-professional integration share are fully com-plying with the priorities of Europe’s 2020 Strategy. Among other examples, they enforce a model of real social innovation, they meet social needs –such as human services- unmet locally, they clearly specialise in green jobs and circular economy niches, they offer lasting job opportunities to those furthest from the labour market, etc.

Moreover, players of socio-professional integration should find in the future European Program-ming period 2014-2020 greater support and development opportunities. First, smallest structures will benefit by a simplified enforcement of the future programming; second, the creation of the new European status of “region in transition” will allow a more precise targeting of funding for operational programmes.

MORE CHALLENGES TO TAKE UP AND WORK OUT FOR EUROPE IN THE FIELD OF SOCIAL AND SOLIDARITY-BASED ECONOMY.

Only recently has social and solidarity-based economy been recognised at the European level; as a matter of fact, the first communication issued by the Commission on social entrepreneurship does not reach further back than 2011. Yet, what must be stressed is that Europe 2020 Strategy is evidently favourable to developing social and solidarity-based initiatives, and that, among them, socio-professional integration is in a prime position.

A tool to fight social exclusion, as well as a tool to reinforce equality among territories, socio-pro-fessional integration also aims at stimulating territories : when it enhances, for instance, jobs that cannot be relocated and local initiatives, it simultaneously gives pride of place to territo-ries and enhances their individual attractiveness.

So, now what ? It is most important to keep in mind that no limitation of action to a compensation policy should be all and end of an exhaustive economic policy worth the name, and we must thus remain very sharp-eyed about it. No providing jobs to people furthest from the labour market, no taking over the training mission of regular businesses for their own employees, can change the fact that socio-professional integration reaches much further than mere compensation. In fact, including that sector in a unified and inclusive labour market is one of Europe’s major challenges; and including it in a life-long on-going vocational training is but another challenge for Europe. Obviously, there is more than one way for Europe to prove itself focused and mobilised on supporting and developing socio-professional integration.

(*) The expression “total social fact” was originally created by one of the most influent founders of French anthropology and ethnology, Marcel Mauss (1872-1950). A socialist activist, he took part with Jean Jaurès in the creation of L’Humanité, a daily newspaper, in 1904. What is more, as a socialist, he turned the concept of gift into the core of his research and renewed it completely : he emphasised that giving, receiving, but also giving back were one social function, and that the three of them relied on honour. As he thus regarded archaic exchanges as the pivotal link of all social life, Mauss proposed to term those social exchanges “total” because they were the hub of interacting causes and effects : “All these facts (ex-changes) are simultaneously legal, economic, religious and even esthetical (…). They constitute “wholes”, complete total systems (des systèmes totaux entiers”).” The above contribution stresses that employment, in contemporary societies, is in the pivotal and stan-dard-setting situation previously occupied by exchanges. More can be read on that shift in “Le travail. Une valeur en voie de disparition ?”, by Dominique Méda, 2010, Editions Flammarion, Collection Champs essais, 2ème édition : “Work has become a central value in our society, and beyond that, “a total social fact”; be-sides, it sets a judgement and a wish, which both are normative.”

(**) The Union’s five objectives to be reached by 2020 are on employment, innovation, education, social inclusion as such and climate/energy; the targets for each of those objectives have been left up to each Member states.

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BEFORE YOU READ THE PRESS RELEASE : Mediapart is a French news website whose blog, Les invités de Mediapart, deals with political issues.

Two members of the French socialist party had been invited to post the hereafter article on the blog : Stéphane Delpeyrat, the National secretary in charge of Research for the French socialist party, and Bernard Soulage, the National secretary in charge of Higher education for the French socialist party.

Very much indeed has been said and written about Article 2 of the Higher education and Re-search Law drafted by Geneviève Fioraso, the French socialist Minister for higher education and research. This Article, as a matter of fact, stipulates that French universities may, at last, teach their students in English. To its opponents, this decision is synonymous with end of French language. Yet, are those opponents not deliberately turning a blind eye on the reality of the university pic-ture ?

There is no possible understanding of his legal provision without putting it in context. First, there are already exemptions from the Toubon Law (translator’s note : a 1994 law relating to the usage of the French Language in official publications, in advertisements, in all government financed schools, etc; the Law itself includes a certain number of exemptions); in addition, the English language is the de facto working language widely used in research, and top-ranking higher edu-cation schools already run numerous classes in English. Refusing a change would only widen the gap between top-ranking higher education schools and universities, and impede our public research.

The key issue of the Fioraso Law must therefore be understood as no less than related to social justice and the international influence of France. Proficiency in English improving greatly occupa-tional integration, this Law will also put on a level students from higher education schools –mainly from the most favourable socio-economic backgrounds- and university students. What is more, our universities will welcome a greater number of foreign students and contribute to reinforce both the attractiveness and the prestige of our educational system. Now is the time for prag-matism; we must not fear to take place in the international environment and we must accept the concomitant risk of being potential losers.

Nonetheless, those who love and defend French –among which we do range- can rest assured : French, the language of Molière, will not be shelved, far from it; instead, the amended Fioraso Law, giving a tightly controlled opportunity to teach in English at the university, will paradoxically promote the French language. We note that this cause brings strong infatuation, probably be-cause it articulates the fear of coerced Americanisation and the pride derived from the French cultural exception. Yet, in terms of linguistic enrichment and development, confronting as well as crossing-and-mixing cultural influences yields more significant results than an isolated evolu-tion would do … and that which applies to languages applies identically to cultures. Besides, it is remarkable that the English language, whose pre-eminence we are so much concerned about, recurringly takes over French vocabulary.

ENGLISH AS A TEACHING LANGUAGE AT THE UNIVERSITY :ANYTHING BUT A THREAT TO FRENCHIN LES INVITES DE MEDIAPART – MAY 23 2013

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The conditions in which those languages mix must undoubtly be clearly determined. This, preci-sely, is the main objective behind the Fioraso Law. It is not a law about replacing the French lan-guage by the English one in the university, but about allowing specific trainings and programmes to be, when needed, provided in a foreign language, for instance, syllabuses which are part of a European programme, of an agreement signed with a foreign educational establishment and of multilingual cross-border curricula. It refers to teaching foreign languages and cultures and to guest teachers/professors or partner ones. In compliance with the amendments adopted in Com-mittee in the French parliament (Assemblée nationale), the trainings and courses will be run only partially in a foreign language and the students who will receive them, will have to learn French as a counterpart. Those very students will later act as ambassadors of francophonie abroad. Their promoting the French language and culture and the openness of France onto the world will more and better develop francophonie than any antiquated isolationism.

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Amid economic, social and ecological unrest -now a fact of life, Europe progresses at a slow pace to solve the ensuing problems through a better formulation of Community Law and through the formulation of new policy directions liable to guide a few major projects. European identity re-mains nevertheless something difficult to forge, and citizens of the Member states confess they find it hard to trust that Europe could improve their well-being. In the public opinion, Europe is more often associated with flaws and complexity than with success, whatever the number of its successful achievements.

There cannot be a successful European construction without a new democratic inspiration and fillip, and, above all, the shared feeling of one’s really belonging to the Union. Ecology could pro-vide these in two different ways : and innovative and efficient management of our energy, and a new way of valorising our biodiversity.

WHY SHOULD WE USE ENERGY TO GIVE EUROPE A NEW DEMOCRATIC IMPETUS ?

Because energy fuels every activity of ours, all day long, in whatever field. Internationally or do-mestically, the structure, the profits and, equally, the risks of our economic markets are correlated with our energy production and consumption. Understanding the former brings immediate un-derstanding of the latter.

The energy transition in Europe is imperative and relies on three pillars : renewable energies, en-ergy efficiency and some sort of targeted frugality in our modes of consumption. In these three cases, a democratic awareness can be involved all over Europe : as a matter of fact, each single European household, can, with the support of public services, be a producer of energy for its own community. Such a kind of citizen involvement must necessarily be prompted and stayed by two backup devices, one related to renewable energies and the other related to a decentralised pattern of energy production.

In Europe, there is sufficient technology and there are enough means of communication available to allow a sharing of energy; thus would inequalities in renewable resources among territories be bridged. As a matter of fact, smart energy grids can be developed in Europe on several different scales. They would be an excellent means of making the solidarity and the efficiency within a village or a town, within a cluster of associated villages and towns, within a region, and even a member state, a tangible reality. The economic potential of such innovations related to ecological transition, and their impact on employment is limitless. Besides, it is not doubtful that a positive impact on costs savings for the citizens is to be expected too, as a decentralised management normally adds to the overall efficiency of such devices.

WHY INJECT FURTHER DEMOCRATIC MOMENTUM INTO BIODIVERSITY VALORISING ?

Because biodiversity, like energy, accompanies us 24 hours a day, although in decreasing pro-portions. Biodiversity, a source of well-being in the field of beauty as well as medicine, makes it obvious for each citizen that our whole consumption relies on natural resources. Any decoupling of Man and Nature is but an illusion : such is the teaching of our vulnerable economic markets that are over-dependant on fossil energies and raw materials.

The economic weight of biodiversity is most evident in many sectors and perfectly illustrated by tourism, for instance.

ENERGY AND BIODIVERSITY :A NEW CODE OF ETHICS AND A NEW COMMITMENT FOR THE EUROPEAN CITIZENOCTOBER 16 2013

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Ecosystems provide economic players with free irreplaceable services that would otherwise be partially and artificially provided at a very high cost. Practically, with biomimetics (*) arise innova-tions of a different kind, liable to bring economic returns and to increase cost-effectiveness. With ecodesign of products too (**), emerges still another field of innovations, along with the exten-sion of products lifetime and a lower consumption of raw materials.

The European model should privilege circular economy both for energy management and for upgrading of natural resources. As a matter of fact, beyond reusing and reducing waste and losses, circular economy means that local players work in synergy with one another; and, as circu-lar economy makes production channels come close and consolidate, it also means that citizens themselves are necessarily involved in the local community affairs. In such a model, local commu-nities are drawn together by common ethical standards, and thus become individual pixels of a more democratic European Community.

In order to make this vision come true, a few prerequisites must be met : the rules and regula-tions protecting citizens and environment must be strengthened; investments must irrevocably be indexed to criteria of public and environmental health; and last –not least- assessments about impact on the competitiveness, seldom interested in short term negative impact or positive fee-dback mechanisms- should lose in importance in favour of risk-taking.

Its strong collective structure and the sharing of its means, offers Europe a unique opportunity to develop such ethics on energy and nature, and to find a renewed global authority in terms of economy, politics and culture. With Europe as a place for citizens intellectually, politically and socially committed, with Europe fostering improved well-being and the construction of a shared European identity, with Europe soon a landmark in energy and biodiversity, Europe cannot fail to be a successful land of brighter growth and solidarity.

* Biomimetics : the study of living organisms in order to transfer towards human activities engineering solu-tions derived from the observation and imitation of those living organisms;

**Ecodesign of products : a approach taking into account both the protection of environment and the whole life cycle of a product -from procurement to disposal- for designing those very products, with prefe-rence for using renewable resources and practising waste recovery, whether reuse, repairing or recycling.

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On average, French women earn 27% less than men.

Part of the explanation for this gap lies in the practice that consists in paying them lower wages than their male counterparts, for similar jobs and experience. This practice is a complete denial of the principle of “equal pay for equal work”.

This is sheer and stark discrimination, and as such, must not be accepted or allowed to happen. This is the reason why the French socialists, unlike previous governments, decided to place wage equality at the very heart of their action as soon as they took office (May 2012 for the President of the Republic and June 2012 for Parliament).

In July 2012 took place the first large scale “Conference on social issues” organized by the French government in order to determine with social and local players the government’s track record on social issues. During this “Grande conférence sociale”, Social partners opened a negotiation process to deal with wage equality between women and men.

The first measures resulting from that negotiation were taken in December 2012 :Companies must now fulfil new obligations; and they must face a new system of control leading to real sanctions, when appropriate.

Those measures are as follows:• It is now mandatory for companies with more than 50 employees to include the pay gap issue

in their corporate negotiations and action plans;

• Besides, companies with more than 50 employees shall file their action plans related to tackling pay inequalities with the State authorities; those will subsequently scrutinize them;

• Attested failure of the negotiations is the only case in which companies shall be authorised to adopt a unilateral action plan. This measure ensures the primacy of negotiations with the trade unions in the field of social matters, for companies of more than 300 employees.

These new measures have already proven to be effective : since the beginning of 2013, 2.700 com-pany plans or agreements have been filed with the State authorities, and 400 formal notices have been issued.

A few words are enough to sum up the spirit of the French government policy : so much for dwel-ling in incantation, now for dissuasive sanctions that will actually be enforced.

In the Minister for Women’s rights and Spokesperson for the French government, Najat Val-laud-Belkacem’s own words : “In some regions, over half the companies have already complied with their obligations. This figure rises as controls proceed (…) We do enforce sanctions. Once companies have been ex-plained the facts, accompanied, warned, it is but normal to hold people in charge accountable. And the fear of retribution is often what works”

In April 2013, the first two penalties have been applied (those penalties could reach up to 1% of the payroll of a company). In the first case, the cause for penalties was the absence of a prospec-tive action plan in order to tackle pay inequalities; in the second case, the company had not filed the requested documents with the State authorities. Since then, two other companies have been sanctioned.

HOW THE FRENCH GOUVERNEMENT WORKS AGAINST THE GENDER PAY GAPOCTOBER 17 2013

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« Between laissez-faire and protectionism, let us invent fair trade”, proposed, in October 2010, Henry Weber, a socialist Member of the European Parliament and the Deputy Chairman (2nd term) of the Inter-parliamentary Delegation European union / China for the 2009-2014 legislative pe-riod.

But, you will ask, what is exactly “fair trade”?

“L’abécédaire euro-socialiste” (*), a glossary of European terms, achievements, convictions and objectives written by the French socialist group, offers a very clear and committed answer. Please, find hereafter a translation of their definition :

Fair Trade : Fair trade, that we advocate for, is the opposite of overall free trade, such as Liberals have been implementing it for 30 years. It is equally the opposite of a protectionism characterised by an inward-looking attitude, such as promoted by the Liberals’ opponents from the far-right or the far-left. Four principles define fair trade :

• reciprocity : if China, or any other country, has the right to access to our government contracts, we must have the right to access its;

• balance : if China exports for a 280 billion euros amount to Europe, the European union must be allowed to export an approximately equivalent amount to China, instead of the current 130 billion euros worth;

• equity : our markets must be open to goods from less developed countries, free of customs duty;

• compliance with European and international standards framed by major Conventions : sanitary ones for consumers’ protection such as promulgated by the European union, but equally environmental, social and human ones.

Each option and action of ours was guided by this very table of referential items every time a vote was taken on a trade agreement with a third country.

(*)“Abécédaire euro-socialiste, L’action des euro-député-e-s pendant la 7ème législature, 2009-2014”, décembre 2013, Editeur responsable : Délégation socialiste française au Parlement euro-péen, 288 Boulevard Saint-Germain, 75007 Paris, France.

The European Members of Parliament who wrote that glossary present it as follows :As we are not in power, the record of the achievements of Europe and of its institutions is not ours.

Yet, by dint of perseverance, several battles we fought ended up in an acquired asset benefiting every European citizen. Those progresses that we forced through stem from our commitment and the strength of our convictions. With that very strength of conviction, we manage to divide our political opponents and to overcome.

May such an alphabetic glossary (in French) allow you, as we hope, to make the action in favour of our Europe that we take on your behalf totally yours.

FAIR TRADE ?BY THE WAY, WHAT IS IT EXACTLY ? DECEMBER 9 2013

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BEFORE YOU READ THIS CONTRIBUTION :Hélène Geoffroy is the National secretary in charge of Struggle against exclusion for the French socialist party.

The following text is her draft press release on the 2013 World day to overcomedestitution (October 17 2013). In France, the non-profit organisation ATD Quart-Monde had been invited to deliver a conference in Parliament (Assemblée nationale) to promote “The place of people living in poverty throughout the elaboration of public policies.” This conference took place in the presence of Marisol Touraine, the Minister for Social affairs and health, Jean-Claude Bartelone, the socialist President of Parliament, and Dominique Baudis, the French Ombudsman (born April 14 1947-died April 10 2014).

In the afternoon of the same day, ATD Quart-Monde organised a peaceful march from Parliament (Assemblée nationale) to Trocadéro, this year under the theme of « Struggling against poverty is struggling against preconceptions”.

The text proposed by Hélène Geoffroy on October 17 2013 must be read in the light of those initiatives :

Poverty is no fatality. It stems out of a long process that can be fought and eradicated. Above all, poverty is something undergone, not chosen.

Between 2002 and 2012, poverty has increased as never before in France. Today, nearly 9 million people -i.e. 14.7% of the population- live under subsistence level. One child in 5 lives within a poor family. Poverty has shifted towards news forms, and women and youth are more widely concerned.

The rhetoric about assisted people living on welfare, a populist and absolutely demagogic stance taken by previous right-wing governments in order to stigmatise the most vulnerable members of our society, has resulted in the belief that solidarity policies are open to systematic abuse in every possible way. Such a belief, now shared by an important portion of the population, has been extensively fuelled by a rhetoric that turned “the poor” into lazy profit-makers who misap-propriated public money.

Since taking office, the government headed by Prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, has refused to indulge in the ordinary fatality-based communication; he has also refused to indulge in blame and guilt-casting attitudes. Instead, in line with its commitments, the government has given jus-tice and solidarity a central place in its action.

The consequence of such a change of tone and substance in political communication with the new government in office, has been the implementation of “A multi-year plan to tackle poverty” (“Plan pluriannuel de lutte contre la pauvreté”) : that plan mainly aims at reducing inequalities, but its specificity is that it gives to people facing situations of insecurity the instruments of their recovery towards autonomy. Actually, the plan was developed with all the stakeholders and with the most vulnerable people themselves.

The plan, designed as an overall and cross-cutting issue, combines local structures providing counsel and help into employment, into accommodation and into access to schooling for youn-gest children; the general idea is that struggling simultaneously on all three fronts is the key condition to successful autonomy for the most vulnerable citizens.

INVESTING IN SOLIDARITY IS ACTIVE REFUSAL OF DESTITUTIONBY HELENE GEOFFROY – OCTOBER 17 2013

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Among the emergency measures taken, let us mention : • the provision of accommodation for 8000 people;• a 10% rise in the conditional Active solidarity income (RSA, in French) in favour of people de-

prived of all resources, or whose professional activity is not sufficiently gainful;• extended conditional free access to healthcare(CMU-C, in French) -within the National social

security tariff limits- for people leaving in France with extremely low earnings, along with access to a complementary health insurance (ACS, in French) for 700.000 people;

• social alleviated energy rates extended to 8 million people; • implementation of a programme (Garantie jeunes, in French, which is experimental until 2015)

to support insecure young people between 18 and 25 during their interval periods out of em-ployment and training;

• a 25% rise in the family support allowance to single parent families; • a 50% increase in the complementary allowance for large families under subsistence level.

Besides, in order to facilitate finding a job and enabling people to accept it, 140.000 insecure families now benefit by an allowance relating to one-third of the cost of non-parental child care. Those measures are complemented by a policy of systematic reservation in nurseries of a quota of 10% for children from families under subsistence level, and by a policy of schooling children aged 2.

Moreover, simplified access to social allowances is under way, to ensure that no person is de-prived of access to his/her rights. This government is thereby actively involved in combatting non-use of social services and opportunities, in frequent cases just given up in the past.

It must be noted that all those measures were taken in, or, shall we say, in spite of a pungent bud-getary context, which highlights the government’s determination in favour of solidarity.

Because precariousness may hit each single person, the French government opts for investing in solidarity. It seeks to promote autonomy, skills and the ability of every person to face life with resilience.

The French socialist party salutes the government’s political commitment which restores solidarity to its place and role : that of basis of social cohesiveness.

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BEFORE YOU READ THOSE PROCEEDINGS : A FEW LANDMARKS :

CITY POLICE FORCES (Police municipale) : • under the direct authority of a Mayor who decides whether they should be armed or not

(tear gas, tonfa baton, all but a gun); • performs administrative tasks : ensure *public order, *safety, *public security and protection of public health,all such tasks the elected official has been empowered to perform.

POLICE FORCES/STATE SECURITY FORCES (Police nationale) : • under the Ministry of Home affairs (Ministère de l’Intérieur);• with missions performed throughout the whole national territory;• help ensure *that fundamental freedoms are protected,

*that the democratic institutions of the Republic are preserved and defended,*that peace and public order are maintained,*that people and property are protected.

GENDARMERIE NATIONALE :• an armed force in charge of police tasks, essentially in rural areas;• under the supervision of the Ministry of Home affairs;• 3 assignments :

1) Judicial tasks : *ascertaining offences,*locating and arresting criminal offenders,*judicial inquiries;

2) Administrative tasks :*public security,*maintaining order,*providing assistance and rescue,*road traffic;

3) Military missions :*military police (security and law enforcement within the army,*gendarmerie prévôtale : the mission of a corps workingoutside the French territory (for example in Germany or Senegal) in charge of military police and of part of military justice, *field operations.

In her introduction, Clotilde Valter, MP for Calvados in Normandy and the National secretary in charge of Security for the French socialist party, reminded the meeting that, beyond its history, the French left had been consistently working on security since 1981, making a particular point to take into account the experience of local elected representatives. She paid tribute to those local elected officials who, throughout the years, shared their experience and stressed on-the-ground difficulties in a most inspiring way both for the Party and for city Police forces. The case of video surveillance, for instance, epitomises the benefits of a partnership between the State and municipal authorities in terms of on-the-ground action.

For Jean-Yves Le Bouillonnec, MP for Val de Marne in the Greater Paris and the Mayor of Ca-chan, a town in Val-de-Marne, insecurity is one element in citizens’ dissatisfaction. He reminded the meeting that figures on delinquency were one of the greatest fraud of the Sarkozy right-wing period. He then stated that security is distinctively and without any possibility of confusion the

SECURITY : ACT LOCALSATURDAY AUGUST 24 2013

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exclusive responsibility of the State, in particular when it comes to policing and maintaining order. In his view, the socialists cannot let local organisations grab this competence, in spite of a few attempts made by Parliament in past years in order to transfer that responsibility to Mayors and to grant them extended capacities for action. As a corollary, community life and togetherness mean that local authorities enforce policies ensuring sustainable security for each person.

He noted that private citizens rarely met Police commissioners directly, and hardly ever met a judge face to face. Therefore, it is for Mayors and local elected representatives to carry out an active role in easing and healing, in supporting and leading towards the resolution of existing problems. Among the instruments that can be implemented by regional authorities to do so, J-Y Le Bouillonnec explained, city Police forces rank first, with missions clearly distinct from those of State security forces –even though some tasks can be common to both, for instance road safety and demonstrations security. But the permanent mission of the city Police must be a better com-munity life and togetherness, in other words, the respect for common rules and regulations for which Mayors are empowered.

Concerning partnerships, J-Y Le Bouillonnec declared that they can be remarkably useful to local elected representatives : associations, providers of social housing and others should be invited to show reality as it is and to behave as whistle-blowers so that discussions may be opened with city Police forces. Mayors should regard these multilateral debates as a means for strategy-making.In the particular case of video surveillance, J-Y Le Bouillonnec declared he was in favour of its use restricted to specific places. To him, video surveillance is not an overall security system and, when people suggest the contrary, he systematically stresses that it is but an escape from mobilising actively a long list of other capacities and capabilities.

Then, Jean-Jacques Urvoas, MP for Finistère in Brittany and the Chairman of the French Par-liament Standing Committee on Legislation, addressed the meeting. The main difficulty, he first emphasised, a local elected representative was confronted to in terms of Police and Gendarme-rie, was that both were powerful but vertically structured organisations. What is more, he added, the Police is a fragmented as well as labyrinthine organisation. So much so that a local elected representative may have some difficulty in having a single contact point.

He next insisted on the paradox of dealing with such a local reality as delinquency with a national force, whether Police or Gendarmerie. The Law, he added, places Mayors in a pivotal position for crime prevention without totally including them in the decision-making process leading to deve-loping prevention and repression within their territories.

Jean-Jacques Urvoas eventually advocated for phasing out Police forces (State security forces) parallel activities (…) so that they may better focus on their prevention and repression tasks; he also advocated for a collective developing of security policies rather than a compartmentalisation of policy making on one hand and technical / administrative expertise on the other. Besides, in his mind, repression should not be surrendered to the Police alone although the latter is naturally inclined to manage this matter independently. He finally claimed that Police forces suffered from asymmetric information-duty with Justice services, so that they never knew what happened after the arrests and imprisonments. Most of them, under such circumstances, feel that their action is devoid of any use. State security forces and Justice should all be looking in the same direction, he concluded on this matter, stressing it was precisely what CLSPD (Local councils for security and crime prevention) were for.

Last, Patrick Mennucci, MP for Bouches-du-Rhône in the South-east of France and Mayor of the 1st and the 7th districts of Marseille, on the Mediterranean coast, informed the meeting that violence in Marseille would be a major issue during the forthcoming campaign for municipal elections. He reminded the participants of the fact that Police services had been trimmed down and the city deprived of 400 of its police officers while the right had been ruling the country. Patrick Mennucci added he had never seen right-wing Mayor of Marseille, Jean-Claude Gaudin, chair the Local council for security and crime prevention, not to mention the fact that the 2007 Law on family summoning had not been enforced in Marseille. With 30% of the local population living with a monthly 800€, with a rate of school drop-outs up to 25% and of school failure up to 27%, with a lot of children who do not speak French, Marseille requires a multifaceted solution including security, poverty, urbanism, in short, a solution both economic and social.

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