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Next Thursday is our Annual General Assembly (GA). It’s always a great pleasure to be with all our members. To discuss with them what we have achieved together and what we want to reach together for a more social Europe at time when citizens are struck with the highest level of poverty and unemployment. During the breaks I will be moving from one group of members to another listening to their concerns, there expertise and their proposals for a new way of doing policy in the EU. It will be refreshing, stimulating, and it will nourish my hope – a currency that I’m always ready to trade against the euro.

This GA will take important decisions. Our President, Conny Reuter, will end his mandate after 5 years of leadership and dedicated service to the Platform’s members. I cannot tell you the number of meetings where he led Platform delegations at the highest political levels such as with the President of the Council, the ministers of Employment and Social Affairs, Commissioners, and Members of the European Parliament. He has been the face of the social sector and he has tirelessly defended our values and messages in Brussels and in the capitals we went to. Thank you President for your leadership and the support you have shown to the work of the team. I also want to thank our two vice Presidents Heather Roy and Rodolfo Cattani, our Treasurer Michel Mercadié, Catriona Williams, Michaela Moser and Julien Dijol who have served in the last two years in the Management Committee. Many heartfelt thanks to all of them for their dedication, support, contribution and sense of leadership for the smooth running of the Platform.

At the GA we will have elections for a new Management Committee: President, Vice President, Treasurer and 3 members. We aspire to be what we expect from others – meaning that our elections are based on gender parity and a democratic election process with a mandate of no more than 6 years.

I titled this editorial great aspiration and going altogether– because we are not alone in the fight for a more social agenda. We will have the pleasure of hearing from Bernadette Segol, the Secretary General of the European Trade Union Confederation. She will speak about the social dimension of the Economic and Monetary Union. Going altogether with workers is about sharing the same great aspirations and showing strength and solidarity towards the EU leaders. The Economic and Monetary Union may seem far away from the objectives of social NGOs but this is the policy that impacts us the most in our daily lives with the detrimental social consequences of the austerity measures.

I will tell you more on the outcomes of our GA next week.

Let’s engage

Pierre Baussand – Director