Nice-Premium: Two days before the election, what does your list propose for this election?
Vincent Peillon: The European Socialist Party (PSE) is the only one to propose a real common program to the parties of the 27 states that constitute it: the Manifesto, which gathers 71 very concrete proposals to change Europe.
To get Europe out of the current crisis, we first propose a major European stimulus plan of 100 billion euros, in favor of fair, innovative and sustainable growth. Focused on major infrastructure works, this plan will put Europe on the path to “green” growth and create ten million jobs in ten years. We also want to put in place the necessary economic regulations at the European level that we lack, because the right has always opposed them in the name of its liberal doctrine. We will therefore continue to fight for European tax harmonization or against tax havens.
We then propose to lay the foundations of a real social Europe. We want to vote on a European Pact for Social Progress, which would particularly include a European minimum wage guaranteeing a minimum salary at 60% of the median salary in all EU countries, and a social safeguard clause to protect social achievements. We want to elevate all European countries.
Finally, we wish to make Europe a leader in the fight against climate change by adopting a global climate agreement and providing the Union with a common energy policy that meets the challenges.
N-P: What kind of Europe do you aspire to?
V-P: The Europe I aspire to is, on the contrary, a strong Europe-power, with enhanced powers to carry out ambitious European policies and promote real social and tax harmonization among member states. For this, Europe must have real budgetary levers: this is why we, socialists, advocate for an increase in the European budget and the subscription of a major European loan, which the right stubbornly opposes.
N-P: European elections often suffer from a high rate of abstention. How do you explain this?
V-P: Europe often appears distant and technocratic, while countless political decisions taken in Brussels have very concrete impacts on people’s lives.
The best remedy against abstention is to politicize the European elections, to show that the right and the left carry two different visions, two different projects for Europe. This is not easy because the right, in this campaign, has constantly sought to avoid debate. They hide their record from us and lie about their project.
The record of the right, let’s remember, is five years of deregulation, deregulatory policies, and rampant liberalism, which have led us to the current crisis.
N-P: What do you plan to do to help citizens have a better vision of Europe?
V-P: It is precisely necessary to explain and show that Europe is not impersonal and apolitical, but that it reflects the political women and men and parties that lead it. The right and the left, in France as in Europe, are not the same. By emphasizing this point, we will show the French that an alternation in the European Parliament would change Europe.
N-P: What do you think of the Lisbon Treaty?
V-P: With 27 countries, the European institutions do not function well. The Lisbon Treaty allows us to adapt to the requirements of this new situation. By giving more powers to the European Parliament, it will make Europe more democratic. And more democracy means more social progress.
However, this treaty does not end the institutional debate, as it contains many significant shortcomings. Therefore, it is not truly capable of meeting the challenges Europe faces. I would have liked it to go much further towards political and economic integration.
I would have also preferred it to be submitted to a referendum. This would have avoided many misunderstandings. I remain, however, strongly in favor of an ambitious project of a constituent assembly of the European peoples, to finally provide Europe with a real democratic constitution.
N-P: Polls show a relative lag in the voting intentions of the PS compared to those of the UMP (4 points). Does this worry you?
V-P: A poll is never a vote! I am not worried because the end of the campaign gives me a lot of hope, and everything is still possible. Especially since the proportion of undecided is still very high. In this election, our main enemies are abstention and the dispersion of votes. The number of people who do not know if they will go to the polls is still colossal.
