EU social democrat leaders meet in Austria, discuss change in policy

Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern on Tuesday hosted a meeting of German and Swedish social democrat leaders here, with the urgent goal of building an "alliance for a social Europe," local media reported.

The attendees included European Parliament President Martin Schulz, Social Democratic Party of Germany chairman Sigmar Gabriel, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, as well as trade union leaders.

Kern said the 10-point-plan presented to the media with his colleagues, as a "European pact for social progress" was a summary of social-democratic ideas for a change of policy course in Europe. With right-wing populism on the rise, such changes are needed in order to "save the European project."

He said that along with the four main fundamental freedoms of the European Union (EU) -- freedom of services, capital, people, and goods -- social democracy must now stand behind a fifth, a "social pillar."

In this regard, the goal is to provide growth and social security.

"For this we have formulated a pact for social advancement, that should be a basis for discussion in the future," he said.

Gabriel said wage dumping and social dumping should not be allowed in the future, and that the Swedish proposal of a Europe-wide minimum wage should be supported.

"We have to show that the interests of people take priority," he said. Endit