PROGRAM OF THE BILBAO EUROPEAN FORUM
Friday, 9 November
13h Opening of the registration desk
14h – 16h Assembly (Youth) ROOM B3
Presentation by the different political families
1) The rise of the far right as a rejection of the political system for young people
2) Social and workers’ rights – Flexible forms of employment and uncontrolled competition
3) Environmental transition- How is the youth affected by the climate change and lessons to be learnt
Moderation: Eleftheria Angeli (Youth WG of the European Left) and Roxane Lundy (Génération.s)
Rapporteur: Kathi Gebel (linksjugend [’solid])
16h-17h30 Opening session: Build the Forum together *ROOM A3
● Welcome by Amaia Arenal (Councilor of Bilbao)
● General introduction: Jose Luis Centella (President of the Communist Party of Spain)
● Speeches by:
Walter Baier (Political Coordinator of transform! Europe, Austria)
Idoia Villanueva (Senator Podemos, Spain)
Nico Cue (General Secretary of MWB-FGTB, Belgium)
Lindbergh Farias (Senator of Partido dos Trabalhadores, Brasil)
Alberto Garzón (Coordinator of Izquierda Unida, Spain)
Benoît Hamon (founder of Génération.s, France)
Pierre Laurent (Vice-President of the Party of the European Left, France)
Maite Mola (Vice-President of the Party of the European Left, Spain)
Dimitrios Papadimoulis (MEP, GUE/NGL, Greece)
Ricardo Patiño (Ex-Minister of the Ecuadorian Government)
Ernest Urtasun (MEP Greens/EFA, Spain)
Julie Ward (MEP, Labour Party, United Kingdom)
Marilisa Xenogiannakopoulou (Minister of the Administrative Reconstruction, Greece)
Gabi Zimmer (MEP, President of the GUE/NGL, Germany)
Moderation: Anne Sabourin (French Communist Party, France), Jesus Hernandez (Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds, Spain), Pınar Yüksek (Freedom and Solidarity Party, Turkey)
Rapporteurs: Jose Luis Centella (President of the Communist Party of Spain), TBC
17h30-20h Plenary 1: A new Europe for a new World (migration, peace, international trade) *ROOM A3
● With speeches by (among others):
David Adler (DIEM 25, Greece)
Costas Douzinas (President of the Nikos Poulantzas Institute, Greece)
Ethan Earle (Co-chair of the international committee of DSA, USA)
Kate Hudson (Left Unity, United Kingdom)
Solly Mapaila (First Deputy General Secretary of the South African Communist Party)
Florent Marcellesi (MEP Greens/EFA, Spain)
Georgi Pirinski (MEP, S&D, Bulgaria)
Luc Triangle (General Secretary of IndustriALL, Belgium)
Madres y Padres, Altsasu Gurasoak, (Spain)
Transform (TBC)
Video from the “Mare Jonio” Boat on the Mediterranean sea (TBC)
Moderation: Marga Ferré (transform!europe, Spain), Julia Boada (Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds, Spain), TBC.
Rapporteur: Charlotte Balavoine (GUE/NGL, France), Felicity Dowling (Left Unity, United Kingdom)
20h30-23h30 tribute to Nelson Mandela and Dinner ESPLANADE BILBAO MARITIME MUSEUM
Speaker: Solly Mapaila (First Deputy General Secretary of the South African Communist Party)
Introduction: Gregor Gysi (President of the Party of the European Left)
Moderator : Pierre Barbancey (Journalist at l’Humanité)
Saturday, 10 November
9h-11h : Workshops
GUE/NGL WORKSHOP: ROOM A2
“Reclaim the Manifesto of Ventotene: What Europe in 2034?”
In 1941, Altiero Spinelli and his fellow prisoners wrote the Ventotene Manifesto. They wrote it in a fascist prison cell in the darkest hour of Europe. 16 years later six European states signed the Treaty of Rome. It was the beginning of European integration after the 2nd World War. Today’s Europe is much different from that in 1941. However, we are confronted with a dangerous political crisis again. This represents a huge challenge for the diverse and colourful left in Europe. Having in mind the Ventotene Manifesto, its democratic and socialist ideas for a united Europe: What should Europe look like from a left-wing perspective 16 years from now, in 2034?
Gabi Zimmer, President of the GUE/NGL group in the European Parliament, DIE LINKE, Germany
Florentyna Gust, Member of the National Board of Razem, Poland
Arianna Petrosino, Student activist, Rete della Conoscenza, Italy
Dimitris Christopoulos, President of the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), Greece
Josu Juaristi Abaunz, EH Bildu, former MEP, Basque Country
Frieder Otto Wolf, Professor of Philosophy at the Free University of Berlin, Germany
FUNDATIONS WORKSHOP: ROOM A4
The resistible ascension of the far-right in Europe: a critical assessment of the progressive counterstrategies
Since the last European election, the far-right and populist right-wing parties are electorally rising everywhere in Europe. Simultaneously, the xenophobic and islamophobic stances promoted by the far right parties have been gaining in audience and are more and more impregnating the rhetoric of the Conservatives and even some segments of social democracy. The coming reconfiguration of the far-right and right forces on the occasion of the European election and the growing diffusion of their ideas and schemes constitute a major and multifaceted challenge for the left and its counter-strategies.
Pablo Livigni, Researcher, Espaces Marx (France)
Walter Baier, Political Coordinator, transform! (Austria)
Aurélie Maréchal, Director, Green European Foundation (Belgium)
Cornelia Hildebrandt, Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Berlin (Germany)
11h-14h Plenary 2: For a Europe of equality: stop the patriarchy + Assembly (Women) *ROOM A3
From 11am to 12pm- Workshop on experiences sharing. Different forms of feminist struggles.
Towards the 8M European feminist strike. From 12am to 2pm – Feminist Assembly
Sharing the experiences:
Olga Carrasco Heras (Movimiento Democrático de Mujeres, Spain)
Agustina Guglielmetti (Communist Party of Asturias, Spain)
Esti Hernandez (Comisiones Obreras Euskadi, Spain)
Pepi Lupiañez (Comisiones Obreras, Spain)
Núria Parlon Gil (Socialist Party of Catalunya, Spain)
Isabel Salud (MP of Unidos Podemos, Spain)
Lucia Santos Felix
Dominique Tripet (French Communist Party, France)
Angeliki Visviki (SYRIZA, Greece)
Tren de la libertad (TBC)
Video by Despina Kostopoulou (SYRIZA, Greece)
Proposal for a call to the 8M European feminist strike
Cristina Simo (Communist Party of Spain)
Moderation: Ana Mata (Movimiento Democrático de Mujeres, Spain), Heidemarie Ambrosch (transform!europe, Austria) and Florentyna Gust (RAZEM, Poland)
Rapporteur: Angeliki Visviki (SYRIZA, Greece), Brigitte Berthouzoz (Labour Party of Switzerland)
14h-15h lunch
15h-17h30 Plenary 3: A new solidary economic model to invest in work and social rights *ROOM A3
Keywords: social-ecological transformation, solidarity-based economy, social rights, economic democracy
● With speeches by (among others):
Toni Barbara (Marea Blanca por la sanidad pública, España)
Heinz Bierbaum (Die Linke, Germany)
Frédéric Boccara (French Communist Party, France)
Nico Cue (MWB-FGTB, Belgium)
Enrique Daniel Carmona (Trade Unionists Network Europe)
Aurélie Maréchal (Green European Foundation)
Mehdi Ouraoui (Génération.s, France)
Dimitrios Papadimoulis (MEP GUE/NGL, Greece)
Gabi Zimmer (MEP GUE/NGL, Germany)
Moderation : Jean-Christophe Paris (Génération.s, France), Mina Kostopoulou (Progressive Caucus) and Iñigo Martinez (Izquierda Unida, Spain)
Rapporteur : Oskar Arenas (International Department Comisiones Obreras, Spain), Waltraud Fritz-Klackl (Communist Party of Austria)
17h30-18h Break
18h-20h30 Plenary 4: Europe in Ecological Transition *ROOM A3
● With speeches by (among others):
Lluis Camprubí (Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds, Spain)
Joan Herrera (General Director at Ministry for the Ecological Transition, Spain)
Roland Kulke (transform!europe, Germany)
Julie Maenaut (Workers’ Party of Belgium)
Rosa Martínez (MP Equo, Spain)
Mikel Otero (Eh Bildhu, Spain)
Tiina Sandberg (Communist Party of Finland)
Moderation : Albert Klein (Génération.s, France), Olga Athaniti (Syriza, Greece), Alba Gutiérrez (European Left, Spain)
Rapporteurs: Teo Comet (Federation of Young European Greens), Maite Mola (European Left)
21h30-1h Concerts ESPLANADE BILBAO MARITIME MUSEUM
Sunday, 11 November
9h30-11h30 Assembly (Trade-Union) ROOM A4
Topic: The fight against precarious work.
Introduction : Heinz Bierbaum (Party of the European Left)
Rapporteur : Enrique Carmona (Trade Unionists Network Europe)
11h30-14h Conclusion of the Plenaries/Assemblies and future of the Forum *ROOM A3
1) Report of the Assemblies + Report of the Plenaries
2) Special word of personalities representing the different European families on the future of the Forum and next steps
3) Reading of the Final Declaration
Lluís Camprubí (Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds)
Roxane Lundy (Génération.s)
Uta Wegner (Party of the European Left)
Moderation: Margarita Mileva (Bulgarian Left, Bulgaria), Natasa Theodorakopoulou (SYRIZA, Greece), TBC
* Simultaneous interpretation in English, French, Spanish, German and Basque