We need a more democratic Europe

Brussels, 23 May 2012

Office of George A. Papandreou —

Statement by the President of Socialist International, George A. Papandreou, at the session of PES

"This is a make-or-break moment, both for Greece and for Europe; and Greece has come a long way. We have made major sacrifices, because we want to see a transparent Greece, a competitive Greece, a dynamic Greece, a just Greece, and we want to remain in the euro.

But, we also need time and understanding. And we need to understand that this is a wider crisis; it is a crisis where we need to go beyond name calling and scapegoating, and we need to collectively pull our strengths.

We need to invest in Europe, we need to invest in our youth for jobs, we need to invest in sustainable green growth, we need to invest in innovation and we do have the resources.

If we apply a financial transaction tax on the banks, if we create a Eurobond, we will have the resources for growth, for sustainable growth in Europe, make Europe competitive.

And there is one more point. We need a more democratic Europe. Europe is not a project only for the elite. Europe will fail, democracy will fail and we will fail the aspirations of our peoples, if it is not a project of our peoples, of our citizens.

We progressives feel that this is now the time for an opportunity to make major changes in Europe. Let's make this crisis an opportunity. Thank you."