High-level party representatives, ministers, MEPs and members of national parliaments from the PES political family, trade unions and the civil society will discuss how to make globalisation work for everyone in a conference in Brussels on 12 October. Influential academics such as economist Jeffrey Sachs will participate.

Ahead of the conference, PES president and host Sergei Stanishev said:

“We must make sure that we achieve growth in the European economy — not growth for some, but growth for all — growth with rights. We must enable the European economy to protect workers from poverty salaries, zero-hour contracts and unfair competition, especially in the digital economy.”

The conference is aimed at developing ideas on how to boost sustainable and green growth and how to invest on social cohesion.

High-level speakers include:

Sergei Stanishev, PES president
Jeffrey Sachs, US economist and advisor to the UN
Nicolas Schmit, Luxembourg minister, chair of PES social & employment ministers network
Ylva Johansson, Sweden minister for employment
Luca Visentini, confederal secretary of ETUC
Susan George, board president, Transnational Institute
John Crombez, leader of sp.a Belgium
Matthias Fekl, former interior minister, France
Matthias Machnig, state secretary for economic affairs, Germany