Party of European Socialists
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| Party of European Socialists | |
|---|---|
 |
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| President |  Sergei Stanishev |
| Founded | 1953 (Group) 1973 (Confederation) 1992 (Party) |
| Headquarters | Rue du Trône/Troonlaan, 98, 1050 Brussels, Belgium |
| Youth wing | ECOSY |
| Women's wing | PES Women |
| Ideology | Social democracy |
| Political position | Centre-left |
| International affiliation | Socialist International |
| European Parliament Group | Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats |
| Official colours | Red |
| European Parliament |
186 / 736
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| Website | |
| http://www.pes.org | |
| Politics of the European Union Political parties Elections |
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The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a European political party led by Sergei Stanishev, former Prime Minister of Bulgaria. The PES comprises social-democratic national-level political parties primarily from Member state of the European Union, as well as other nations of the European continent. The PES member parties are themselves members of the Socialist International. The PES forms the majority of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group in the European parliament. The PES also operates in the Committee of the Regions and the European Council.
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[edit] Name
The party's English name is "Party of European Socialists". In addition, the following names are used in other languages:
- Partia Socialiste Europiane – Albanian
- Партия на европейските социалисти (Partiya na evropeyskite sotsialisti) – Bulgarian
- Partit Socialista Europeu – Catalan
- Strana evropských socialistů – Czech
- Plaid y Sosialwyr Ewropeaidd – Welsh
- De Europæiske Socialdemokrater – Danish
- Sozialdemokratische Partei Europas – German
- Páirtí Sóisialach na hEorpa – Irish
- Euroopa Sotsialistlik Partei – Estonian
- Ευρωπαϊκό Σοσιαλιστικό Κόμμα (Evropaïkó Sosialistikó Kómma) – Greek
- Partido Socialista Europeo – Spanish
- Partio de Eŭropaj Socialdemokratoj – Esperanto
- Europako Alderdi Sozialista – Basque
- Parti socialiste européen – French
- Euroopan sosialidemokraattinen puolue – Finnish
- Stranka europskih socijalista – Croatian
- Flokkur evrópskra sósíalista – Icelandic
- Partito del Socialismo Europeo – Italian
- Партија на европскиот социјализам - Macedonian
- Partit tas-Soċjalisti Ewropej – Maltese
- Europos socialistų partija – Lithuanian
- Európai Szocialisták Pártja – Hungarian
- Partij van de Europese Sociaaldemocraten – Dutch
- Sociāldemokrātu grupa Eiropas Parlamentā – Latvian
- Det europeiske sosialdemokratiske partiet – Norwegian
- Partia Europejskich Socjalistów – Polish
- Partido Socialista Europeu – Portuguese
- Partidul Socialiștilor Europeni – Romanian
- Партия европейских социалистов (Partiya evropeyskikh sotsialistov) – Russian
- Strany európskych socialistov – Slovak
- Stranka evropskih socialistov – Slovenian
- Партија европског социјализма (Partija evropskog socijalizma) – Serbian
- Europeiska socialdemokratiska partiet – Swedish
- Avrupa Sosyalistler Partisi – Turkish
[edit] History
[edit] 1960s
In 1961, the Socialists in the European Parliament attempted to produce a common European Socialist Programme but were neglected due to the applications of Britain, Denmark, Ireland and Norway to join the European Communities. The Socialist's 1962 congress pushed for greater democratisation and powers for Parliament though it was only in 1969 that this possibility was examined by the member states.
[edit] 1970s
In 1973, Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom joined the European Community bringing in new parties from these countries. The enlarged Socialist Congress met in Bonn and inaugurated the Confederation of the Socialist Parties of the European Community. The Congress also passed a resolution on social policy, including the right to decent work, social security, democracy and equality in the European economy.[1] In 1978, the Confederation of Socialist Parties approved the first common European election Manifesto. It focused on several goals among which the most important were to ensure a right to decent work, fight pollution, end discrimination, protect the consumer and promote peace, human rights and civil liberties.
[edit] 1980s
The Luxembourg Congress approved the first Statue of the Confederation of Socialist Parties in 1980. The accession of Greece in 1981, followed by Spain and Portugal in 1986 brought in more parties. In 1984 another common Socialist election manifesto was approved at a congress in Luxembourg. The Manifesto proposed a socialist remedy for the economic crisis by establishing a link between industrial production, protection of the fundamental social benefits and the fight for an improved quality of life.[1]
[edit] 1990s
In 1992, with the European Communities becoming the European Union and with the Treaty of Maastricht establishing the framework for political parties at the European Level, the Confederation was able to mobilize a majority of delegates in favour of transforming the Confederation into the Party of European Socialists. The first programme of the party concentrated on job creation, democracy, gender equality, environmental and consumer protection, peace and security, regulation of immigration, discouragement of racism and fighting organised crime.[1]
[edit] 2000s
In 2004 Poul Nyrup Rasmussen defeated Giuliano Amato to be elected President of the PES, succeeding Robin Cook in the post. He was re-elected for a further 2.5 years at the PES Congress in Porto on 8 December 2006 and for another 2.5 years at the Prague Congress in 2009.
He resigned at the PES Progressive Convention of Brussels on 24th November 2011, and was replaced by Sergei Dmitrievich Stanishev, chairman of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), elected PES Interim President, by acclamation, by the PES Presidency.
On the same day, the PES Council made the decision that the next PES candidate for Commission President would be democratically elected through a PES presidential primary taking place in January 2014.
[edit] Presidents
Presidents of the Party of European Socialists and its predecessors.[2]
| President | State | National party | Term | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Wilhelm Dröscher |  Germany |
Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) | April 1974 | January 1979 |
| 2. | Robert Pontillon |  France |
Socialist Party (PS) | January 1979 | March 1980 |
| 3. | Joop den Uyl |  Netherlands |
Labour Party (PvdA) | March 1980 | May 1987 |
| 4. | Vítor Constâncio |  Portugal |
Socialist Party (PS) | May 1987 | January 1989 |
| 5. | Guy Spitaels |  Belgium |
Socialist Party (PS) | February 1989 | May 1992 |
| 6. | Willy Claes | Belgium |
Socialist Party (SP) | November 1992 | October 1994 |
| 7. | Rudolf Scharping | Germany |
Social Democratic Party (SPD) | March 1995 | May 2001 |
| 8. | Robin Cook |  United Kingdom |
Labour Party | May 2001 | 24 April 2004 |
| 9. | Poul Nyrup Rasmussen |  Denmark |
Social Democrats (SD) | 24 April 2004 | 24 November 2011 |
| 10. | Sergei Stanishev |  Bulgaria |
Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) | 24 November 2011 | – |
[edit] Organisation
There are thirty-three member parties from all the twenty-seven member state, Norway and Moldova. There are a further twelve associate and five observer parties. PES is an associated organisation of the Socialist International. ECOSY - Young European Socialists is the youth organisation of PES and PES Women is the party's women's organisation, led by Zita Gurmai MEP.[3]
The parties meet at the party Congress twice every five years to decide on political orientation, such as adopting manifestos ahead of elections. Every year that the Congress does not meet, the Council (a quarter Congress) shapes PES policy. The Congress also elects the party's President, Vice Presidents and the Presidency.[3]
The President (currently former Prime Minister of Denmark Poul Nyrup Rasmussen) represents the party on a daily basis and chairs the Presidency, which also consists of the Secretary General, President of the S&D group in Parliament and one representative per full member party and organisation. They may also be joined by the President of the European Parliament (if a PES member), a PES European Commissioner and a representatives from associate parties and organisations.[3]
The Leader's Conference brings together Prime Ministers and Party Leaders from PES parties three to four times a year to agree strategies and resolutions.[3]
In Decembre 2009, disappointed by the European elections results, the PES decided to put forward a candidate for Commission President at all subsequent elections.[4] There is a campaign within the party to organise primaries to select this candidate.[5]
[edit] PES in the European institutions
[edit] Overview of the European institutions
| Organisation | Institution | Number of seats |
|---|---|---|
 European Union |
European Parliament |
162 / 736
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| European Union |
European Commission |
6 / 27
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| European Union |
European Council (Heads of Government) |
5 / 27
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| European Union |
Council of the European Union (Participation in Government) |
9 / 27
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| Council of Europe |
Parliamentary Assembly |
69 / 318
|
[edit] European Parliament
[edit] European Commission
European Commissioners are meant to remain independent, however there has been an increasing degree of politicisation within the Commission.[6] Although the current Barroso Commission is dominated by Commissioners from the centre-right EPP (13/27) and the liberal ELDR (8/27), six of the twenty-seven Commissioners belong to PES.
| Portfolio | Commissioner | State | Europarty | Photo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Vice-President; Foreign Affairs and Security Policy |
Catherine Ashton |
United Kingdom |
PES National: Labour |
 |
| Vice-President; Competition |
Joaquín Almunia |
 Spain |
PES National: PSOE |
 |
| Vice-President; Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration |
Maroš Šefčovič |
 Slovakia |
PES National: Smer-SD |
|
| Maritime Affairs and Fisheries | Maria Damanaki |
 Greece |
PES National: PASOK |
 |
| Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy | Štefan Füle |
 Czech Republic |
PES National: ČSSD |
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| Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion | László Andor |
 Hungary |
PES National: MSZP |
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[edit] European Council and Council of Ministers
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Party-alignment at the European Council is often loose, but has been the basis of some intergovernmental cooperation. At present five countries are led by a PES-affiliated leader, who represents that state at the European Council: Austria (Werner Faymann), Slovenia (Borut Pahor), Spain (José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero), Denmark (Helle Thorning-Schmidt) and Belgium (Elio Di Rupo). The makeup of national delegations to the Council of Ministers is at some times subject to coalitions: for the above governments led by a PES party, that party may not be present in all Council configurations; in other governments led by non-PES parties a PES minister may be its representative for certain portfolios. PES is in coalition in a further two countries: Ireland and Luxembourg.[8]
[edit] Overview
| State | Ruling party/coalition | Affiliated EU party/parties | Population |
Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spain |
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party | Party of European Socialists | 46,087,170 | 27 |
| Netherlands |
Christian Democratic Appeal Labour Party ChristianUnion[9] |
European People's Party Party of European Socialists Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists |
16,576,800 | 13 |
| Belgium |
Christian Democratic and Flemish Flemish Liberals and Democrats Reformist Movement Socialist Party Humanist Democratic Centre[9] |
European People's Party European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party Party of European Socialists |
10,827,519 | 12 |
| Greece |
Panhellenic Socialist Movement | Party of European Socialists | 11,125,179 | 12 |
| Portugal |
Socialist Party | Party of European Socialists | 10,636,888 | 12 |
 Austria |
Austrian People's Party Social Democratic Party of Austria |
European People's Party Party of European Socialists |
8,372,930 | 10 |
 Ireland |
Fine Gael Labour |
European People's Party Party of European Socialists |
||
 Luxembourg |
Christian Social People's Party Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party |
European People's Party Party of European Socialists |
502,207 | 4 |
 Slovenia |
Social Democrats Zares Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia Liberal Democracy of Slovenia |
Party of European Socialists European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party |
2,054,119 | 4 |
[edit] Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
[edit] Committee of the Regions
PES has 110 members in the Committee of the Regions as of 2007.[8]
[edit] National legislatures
[edit] Member parties
With 32 members it is the only political party to have a member from every EU state, although not all of them have elected MEPs.[10]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c "History". Socialist Group website. http://www.socialistgroup.eu/gpes/history.do?lg=en. Retrieved 11 November 2007.
- ^ "Former PES Presidents". PES website. http://www.pes.org/content/view/917. Retrieved 21 January 2008.[dead link]
- ^ a b c d "How does PES work?". PES website. http://www.pes.org/content/view/42/69/lang,en/. Retrieved 7 November 2007.[dead link]
- ^ "A New Direction for Progressive Societies. Resolution N. 2 A new way forward. Adopted by the 8th PES Congress". PES. 8 December 2009. http://www.pes.org/en/system/files/Resolution2_adopted_EN.pdf. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
- ^ Phillips, Leigh (12 August 2010). "Socialists want US-style primaries for commission president candidate". EU Observer. http://euobserver.com/9/30615. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
- ^ Mahony, Honor (7 May 2007). "Brussels struggles with communication policy.". EU Observer. http://euobserver.com/9/24016. Retrieved 12 May 2007.
- ^ Does not account for coalitions. Image as of 8 July 2010. Key to colours is as follows;
Party of European Socialists
- ^ a b "The Socialist Family in the EU". PES CoR Group website. http://www.cor.europa.eu/Pesweb/socialist.html. Retrieved 7 November 2007.
- ^ a b New government currently being formed in wake of recent elections. Government may change rapidly from June 2010
- ^ "PES Members". PES website. http://www.pes.org/content/view/11/48/lang,en/. Retrieved 7 November 2007.[dead link]
- ^ Kyriacos Mavronicholas, since June 2009
- ^ Bild.de, Linke Europa-Politikern tritt zur SPD über, 14. Mai 2009
- ^ Moldova is outside the European Union, hence this party does not participate in European elections.
- ^ Norway is outside the European Union, hence this party does not participate in European elections.
[edit] External links
- Party of European Socialists, official website
- Parliamentary Group of the Party of European Socialists, official website
- 2009 Manifesto consultation, PES website
- PES Manifesto, PES blog
- PES Group in the Committee of the Regions, official website
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