By:
Göran Persson
Prime Minister of Sweden

Ferenc Gyurcsány
Prime Minister of Hungary

Jiri Paroubek
Prime Minister of the Czech Republic

Poul Nyrup Rasmussen
President of the Party of European Socialists
Former Prime Minister of Denmark (1993-2001)

The public debate over modernising Europe's social models, which was focused on the informal summit in Hampton Court and which will now be taken to the European Council this week, has helped clarify where we stand in our vision on our Social Model. All of the social democratic parties of Europe have decided to develop a common future direction for action and reform, not only nationally but also at European level. We are committed to the development of a new Social Europe, which better meets the concerns of our peoples and improves our way of managing globalisation.

Indeed, as European social democrats, it is our responsibility to modernise the welfare state in the twenty-first century. Globalisation makes public institutions and policies more, not less, relevant in the modern world. The social dimension of our economies - social rights, protection and social dialogue - must be at the core of how we ensure that ordinary people can face economic change with confidence and ease into the future. Reforms must be combined with and supported by new growth and more jobs. We must provide more and better jobs, higher competitiveness and renewed social security.

We as social democratic leaders are committed to a Social Europe. For us Social Europe is a set of common values. We share common values of equality, social justice, solidarity and prosperity for all in Denmark, Sweden, Hungary and the Czech Republic as with other member states of the European Union. We see the European Union as an important instrument for safeguarding and strengthening these values in a globalised world.

In this regard, there have been substantial political misrepresentations in the past few months: that the Scandinavian "model" should be exported to the rest of Europe; and that the social and labour market systems of new member states are a threat to those of Scandinavian countries. These two misrepresentations bear no relation to our common conception of social democracy, which we intend to pursue in mutually supportive ways.

Our respective social models have been developed over time, in the context of our history, geography and the evolution of our societies. We should of course learn from each other's experiences and best practice. But this does not equate with exporting a "model" or trying to impose a social system on another country.

It is important to realise that central and eastern European countries are not a homogeneous block, and should not be uniformly characterised as low-wage economies with low social standards, high unemployment and extreme poverty. Social policies and employment rights are well entrenched in the Czech Republic and Hungary. Unemployment is lower than in many old member states and we have levels of income inequality that are closer to Sweden and Denmark than Estonia or Greece. As social democrats, we make common cause in opposing social dumping of any kind. Each new enlargement brings new potential for growth and jobs and we should harness this potential to the full.

We believe that completing the Internal Market is one path to generating greater prosperity in the European Union. In doing so, we should ensure certainty about the future of rights and practices - including long established traditions of collective bargaining and negotiated salaries - which workers should possess and continue to enjoy. The workers of one country should never be set against the workers of another. This is fundamental for future support for the European project. The Internal Market can and should be compatible with workers' rights. The Vaxholm case, currently discussed by the European Court of Justice, will show whether today's EU legislation gives sufficient protection to national collective bargaining systems or not.

Furthermore, rights and freedoms, as established at European level, should be enjoyed by all workers: those of the EU-15 as well as those of the new member states. In becoming members of the EU, we fully subscribed to the four freedoms - goods, persons, services and capital - as a means to enriching our own and each other's citizens and countries.

It is perhaps not surprising that some workers from the new member states today are becoming disillusioned with a Union in which they feel like second-class citizens. We favour a twin approach to the question of creating an open European labour market. Transitional arrangements, restricting the free movement of workers from the new member states, should be rapidly phased out. Workers from the new member states should have the same right and opportunity as those in the old member states to find a job and seek a future in any country of the Union. But at the same time, it should be clear that a member state hosting workers and companies from abroad has the right to demand that all work within its borders should be carried out with respect to the country's minimum wages, health and safety regulations and other rules concerning working conditions independently of whether they are established by law or collective agreements. If that is not the case, we risk opening the doors for social dumping and playing into the hands of the European right that wants social harmonisation to take the form of a race to the bottom instead of lifting those currently at the lower end.

A renewed openness between member states should be accompanied by a coordinated drive towards higher competitiveness in the European Union. Intelligent public investments are fundamental in this drive: in education, skills and vocational training; in infrastructure and social services; in research, development and innovation. Our efforts for higher economic growth must combine the right type of structural reforms with focused coordinated investments for more jobs in the economy. Only through a new partnership for renewal within our societies and between our governments can we make competitiveness an opportunity for all, not just a race to the top for the few.

Demographic ageing, the fast pace of globalisation and technological developments, are common challenges we all face. Social democracy is more relevant than ever as a political project, given that active public policies hold the key of how we can manage change and offer ordinary people new forms of security in a globalising world.

Our drive for modernisation must place economic competitiveness, social justice and environmental sustainability as mutually reinforcing and inter-dependent. This new Social Europe of ours must serve all citizens and workers, on the basis of our common values, in a genuine partnership for renewal of our social models, but also faith in the European project.