Proinsias De Rossa (Labour Party)

candidate EU elections
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Europe’s task is to provide solutions for ordinary people. It must offer answers for those



• Young and old whose wages and jobs and homes are under pressure



• Whose savings and pensions are exposed to the market meltdown



• Whose essential services from healthcare to childcare are the first to be cut



• Who are deeply worried about their future and that of their children





As we face into this recession, I believe Europe – a revitalised Union of Member States, committed to cooperating to solve problems – is more important than ever.



It is clearer now than it has been for a long time that Labour, and our Socialist colleagues in Europe, is correct when we say we must have an economy that serves society, a social market economy. For 15 years politics at European level has been dominated by doctrinaire conservative economics and politics. But it does not have to be like that. We can re-launch the European project to achieve fairness at home and in the world at large. In Ireland that means voting for the Labour party – at Council level, for the Dail and for the European Parliament.



The last time there was a global economic crisis of this magnitude was in the 1930s. Then, like now, it was ordinary people who suffered – whose homes, livelihoods and futures were on the line, even though it was not of their doing. That experience, followed by a world war, taught millions of Europeans that we can only prevent these problems by working together at the European level. And that realisation, in turn, gave rise to the European Union. The doctrinaire conservatives, Thatcher, Reagan, Bush etc, fought back and we have had in more recent years a return to a dog eat dog economics, and we all can see where this has led.



We can turn this crisis around providing that Ireland and the other European states co-ordinate our policy responses, ensuring that as many people as possible can hold onto their jobs, homes, decent incomes and pensions, while providing adequate support for those who are thrown out of work or lose pensions. This is also the occasion to put in place sufficient regulation so that citizens are never again left to the greed of the bankers and speculators.



Our task now is not only to rebuild our economy. We must also rebuild our community based on fairness and solidarity. In Ireland that requires investing in social and in physical infrastructure. It requires investing in people, and above all investing in our children, their care and their education, guaranteeing their future, not destroying it.



This is the approach I have taken in the European parliament up to now and which I hope to continue in the next parliament with your support.



Proinsias De Rossa MEP



Labour party/Socialist group







Looking forward - Programme



Together with his Socialist colleagues in the European Parliament, Proinsias is working to:







• Launch the recovery of the European economy and prevent new financial crises





• Renew Europe’s Social Agenda to deliver fairness in society





• Make Europe a global force against climate change





• Advance gender equality





• Develop a fair European migration policy





• Enhance Europe’s role in promoting peace and development, and combating global poverty.