(8 December, 2011, Brussels) The Party of European Socialists (PES) has said that this European Council meeting is the time for ‘immediate action’ before commencing any debate on ‘treaty change’. However the PES is concerned that the Conservative political majority obsession with treaty change, as defined by the France President and Germany Chancellor, will make a positive outcome difficult.

“What people want from this summit is clear action to address the crisis. They expect nothing less. This talk of treaty change as some kind of panecea is not helpful”, said new PES President, Sergei Stanishev. He added that; “It is a question of timing. We cannot tolerate anymore delays. If there is a hole in the dam you plug the hole. Only then do you look at reinforcing the structure of the dam. The same should be true for the eurozone crisis”.

The PES has outlined a clear set of immediate proposals that does not require treaty change;

1. Political change not treaty change. Europe needs a coordinated investment strategy.

2. Joint and Several guarantees of the Member States to the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) which would deliver a viable Eurobond scheme without treaty change.

3. The EFSF must be granted a banking license so that it can benefit from the same refinancing capacities through the European Central Bank (as is the case for private banks).

Mr. Stanishev continued; “With their stampede to institutionalize austerity, the Conservative politicians at this summit are putting the emphasis on punishment rather than people. Our proposal for an EU investment strategy, Eurobonds and a licensed EFSF, would give us the political change of direction that we need”.

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For further information please contact Brian Synnott on +32 474 98 96 75 (brian.synnott@pes.org)

The PES brings together 33 socialist, social democratic, labour and progressive parties in the European Union and Norway, a parliamentary group in the European Parliament (184 MEPs) and in the Committee of the Regions (247 members) - plus observer and associate parties and organizations from all over Europe. ECOSY and PES Women are respectively the Youth and the Women's organizations of the PES.