‚Failed austerity in Europe – the way out‘

The Socialists & Democrats in the European Parliament invite you to join the conference ‚Failed austerity in Europe – The way out‘ taking place on 7 March at the European Parliament in Brussels with French finance minister Pierre Moscovici as the guest of honour.

At the event, the S&D Group in the European Parliament and the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) will officially launch the ‚Progressive Economy‘ initiative.

Said S&D Group president Hannes Swoboda:

„We need a new direction. The European people have rejected harsh austerity – as we have seen in the recent downfall of the Bulgarian government – and anti-European and populist movements are on the rise in Italy and the rest of Europe. The European Union must provide a different answer to the crisis.

„The Socialists and Democrats have already begun this debate and we are convinced Europe must offer an alternative strategy. Fiscal consolidation needs to be less painful and more realistic and acceptable for ordinary people. The report has to rely on a new European strategy for growth and investment. This will be at the heart of this conference.“

The one-day conference will gather an impressive number of high-level politicians, academics, trade union representatives and media figures.

The debates will be live-streamed on the S&D Group website: (www.socialistsanddemocrats.eu)

Hannes Swoboda and Pierre Moscovici will hold a press conference at 11:00 – room ASP 5G2 in the European Parliament.

Among the contributors we will have the French finance minister, Pierre Moscovici; Luxembourg’s employment minister, Nicolas Schmit; the deputy secretary-general and chief economist of the OECD, Pier Carlo Padoan; world-renowned economists including Professor James K. Galbraith from the United States, Professor Jean-Paul Fitoussi from Paris and the Professor Gustav Horn from Germany; political leaders such as Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, secretary general of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) and former chair of the PES and prime minister of Denmark, Poul Nyrup Rasmussen; and members of the European Parliament.

The president of the S&D Group, Hannes Swoboda, will chair a debate focusing on the possible ways for the left to win the battle of the ideas in the economic and social fields.

The authors of the recent independent study on European growth (iAGS) – researchers from the French Economic Observatory (OFCE) (Paris), the Macroeconomic Policy Institute (IMK) (Düsseldorf) and the Economic Council of the Labour Movement (ECLM) (Copenhagen) – will also attend the conference to discuss their findings.

More information is available on the website: www.progressiveeconomy.eu