The president of the Socialists and Democrats group within the European Parliament brings with him a message of unity for Europe’s leftist leaders when he lands in Malta. Gianni Pittella tells Kurt Sansone progressives cannot be detached from the real society.

S&D group president Gianni Pittella in Malta for the Valletta summit in 2015. Photo: Mark Zammit CordinaS&D group president Gianni Pittella in Malta for the Valletta summit in 2015. Photo: Mark Zammit Cordina

Social Democratic parties across Europe are facing an onslaught from the far right on what should be their traditional voter base among the working classes. Has the moderate Left ignored for too long the concerns on immigration prevalent among the working classes?

We have to take the fears and concerns of people seriously. Over the last year, the increasing refugee flows have made many people in Europe anxious. However, many of the fears are unfounded and simply based on lies communicated mainly by far right, extremist and racist groups. This was true for the UK referendum and Trump election campaigns, in which citizens were faced with a massive amount of false information and xenophobic speeches against migrants.

LIVE BLOG: EU leaders meet in Malta 

However, people’s anger also stems from the inability of the EU to get to grips with this major challenge: to be more precise, the unwillingness and selfishness of some member states to show solidarity and share responsibility in managing the migration challenge. This is unacceptable for European citizens and society.

In an interview you gave me in 2015 you said that “socialists, reformists and progressives have to build a welcoming society” with reference to the migrant influx. Since then the British have voted to leave the EU, primarily because they want more controls on who enters the UK. Do you think European voters have the appetite to be welcoming?

I actually do think so. Over the last years we have seen amazing support by the people for refugees, whether in Germany, my country Italy, Greece or Malta. Without the immediate support of citizens we would not have been able to manage the refugee crisis.

At the same time, it is clear that this is not enough and politics has to play a role. This means ensuring responsibilities are shared by all EU countries.

Though the European Commission and Parliament have done their homework to agree on a Europe-wide relocation mechanism, individual countries have raised walls – some even physical ones such as the case with [Hungarian Prime Minister] Viktor Orban’s border fence in Hungary just to gain mores votes at home. The relocation mechanism has been blocked in the EU Council and we are still waiting for its implementation. We cannot tolerate this. The refugee problem is a European responsibility, it has international causes but national and local implications. These issues are not insurmountable if the responsibility is shared between all of us.

We need to be very clear with President Trump and tell him that he is making big mistakes and endangering democracy worldwide

You have ended the grand coalition in the European Parliament with the European People’s Party. Did the grand coalition reinforce the idea that there is little difference between mainstream socialists and conservatives, giving more fuel to anti-establishment parties?

I do not share this view but I am nevertheless positive that the time of the so-called ‘grand coalition’ is over. The rise of populism in Europe is linked to many factors, particularly to austerity that has driven too many people into extreme poverty and dramatically increased social inequalities on this continent. We have to end austerity and deliver on the social triple AAA rating that Commission President Juncker promised us in 2014.

We will no longer accept the neoliberal economic outlook of this Commission and the new centre-right coalition in the EP. We will start by working with the left-wing groups in the parliament – the Greens and Leftists. Together we will form a progressive bloc and confront the conservative forces – the centre-right EPP, the Liberals and Eurosceptic Conservatives. At the same time, we will challenge the Commission to see our priorities approved. We are against [German finance minister] Wolfgang Schäuble’s austerity and in favour of fairness, tax justice and social equality for all. This is what we will fight for.

The S&D controls no key posts within EU institutions. Was the election of EPP candidate Antonio Tajani as president of the parliament a setback for you?

Of course we, as the S&D group and me personally as candidate, would have liked to win. Yet this was not possible and I respect Tajani as new EP President and am sure he will act responsibly in his new post. However, instead of a setback for our group I see that democracy has won due to us. This election was a historic one; it never happened in the history of the EP that there have been four rounds of elections in a fully open and transparent process. For us it implied that we ended the so-called ‘grand coalition’ and launched a new political phase.

So rather than a setback I see the S&D group stronger than ever, ready to fight for a stronger parliament, a better and fairer Europe and a democratic pro-European alliance starting with the centre-left. This also implies that we will fight to end the EPP monopoly holding three presidents in the EU. This is the opposite of a balance of power in the EU institutions and it is time for us to speak about the future presidency of the European Council. We will discuss this among our progressive leaders in our meetings today in Malta.

You are calling for an alliance of the Left. How can the positions of socialist leaders such as Jeremy Corbyn in the UK and Benoit Hamon in France be reconciled with the more moderate voices like Joseph Muscat in Malta and Martin Schulz in Germany?

One of the main enemies for the Left is intellectual conformity. Political diversity is an added value for us. Our real mistake would be to split our political family. Unlike the Right, our challenge is to fuel internal pluralism and show that we really believe in internal democracy. Within the Left there is a serious debate and the progressives cannot hide away in a fortress detached from the real society with its debates, fears and expectations.  We are the only group represented in 28 EU countries and thus stand for unity in diversity.

How should Europe react to US President Donald Trump?

Donald Trump is showing himself for what he really is. A President promoting the isolation of the US, who wants to undermine the EU. The EU is the most successful example of transnational democracy. We must stand united. We need to be very clear with President Trump and tell him that he is making big mistakes and endangering democracy worldwide. We as the EU stand for the opposite model of an open and democratic vision. If President Trump continues his current dangerous path, we have to go beyond words and take into consideration real action.

This could include the suspension of visa reciprocity or blocking the appointment of Ted Malloch as the possible future US ambassador, whose statements against the EU are simply delusional. Europe cannot accept to have its integration model, its values and its institutions destabilised. The EU is called upon to act immediately as one.

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