Everything about The Party Of European Socialists totally explained
The
Party of European Socialists (PES) is a
European political party comprising of thirty-three
socialist,
social democratic and
labour parties from each
European Union member state and
Norway. PES forms a
parliamentary group in the European Parliament, the
Socialist Group, which is the second largest grouping with over 200
MEPs.
The Party was founded in 1992 and is led by
Poul Nyrup Rasmussen MEP. However the history of the Socialist Group goes back to the beginning of the
European Parliament in 1953. Until the
1999 European election it had been the largest group elected in Parliament. The group is currently led by
Martin Schulz MEP.
History
In 1952 the Socialist Group was formed and in 1973 the Confederation of Socialist Parties was founded, later becoming the Party of European Socialists in 1992. The party had done well in elections, being the largest single group in Parliament, until 1999 after the
Santer Commission crisis.
Formation
In 1953, the European Parliament had been established (as the Common Assembly of the
European Coal and Steel Community), socialist
Paul Henri Spaak was elected as its first
President. The social democrats within the chamber established the Socialist Group to work and vote together.
Guy Mollet MEP was elected as its first
chair and a bureau and secretariat was established in
Luxembourg. In 1961 the socialists attempted to produce a common
European Socialist Programme but were eclipsed by the applications for
enlargement. Their 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. In 1964 the first woman chair was elected: Käte Strobel MEP. In 1971, once more a socialist,
Walter Behrendt, is elected President of the Parliament.
In 1973,
Denmark,
Ireland and the
United Kingdom joined the
European Community bringing in new parties from these states. The enlarged Socialist Congress meet 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. In 1975 Socialist
Georges Spénale was elected President of the Parliament. With the exception of the
1999-2004 People's-Liberal coalition the post of President of the Parliament has been split between the EPP and PES from this point on, with the PES Presidents being
Enrique Barón Crespo MEP,
Klaus Hänsch MEP and
Josep Borrell Fontelles MEP. This left-right coalition has dominated Parliament for this period.
Creation of the party
In the
1989 election they won 180 of the 518 seats. In 1992, with the creation of the European Union, the Confederation was transformed into the
Party of European Socialists. The first manifesto of the party concentrated on job creation, gender equality, environmental and consumer protection, peace and security, regulation of immigration, discouragement of racism, fighting organised crime and democracy. They went onto win 215 of the 626 seats in the
1994 election, the largest and most cohesive group, and
Pauline Green MEP was elected Group President, its second female leader.
In the following elections, the People's Party defeated the Socialists, taking 233 seats to the Socialists' 180. 2004 brought in a further 10 member states and new parties with them. In the
2004 election the Party lost again, winning just 200 of the 732 seats.
Presidents of the Socialist Group in Parliament; and has ten principles;
- 1. "Rights and duties for all": Outlines that PES doesn't wish to leave society to be shaped by market forces, but instead advocates rights and duties to hold together a modern welfare society. Government has a duty to ensure citizens have access to public services and to protect their rights. In return, government expects citizens and other actors to contribute to the welfare society. Businesses have a right to fair competition in a transparent and stable environment. Their duty is to contribute to public finances, aid full employment, increase skills in their workforce and aid society through corporate social responsibility. As for the individuals, they've a right to participate fully in society and the workforce while their duty is to advance through education and training.
2. "Full employment": Realise full and high quality employment in the context of a modern welfare state. Labour markets would be made more dynamic though inclusive polices of security and support, including fighting age discrimination. The EU and its member states would have to provide conditions for "smart, green growth and the EMU would be geared towards coordinated economic polices of high growth and job creation.
The parties meet in the party Congress twice every five years to decide on political orientation, such as adopting manifestos ahead of elections. Every year that the Congress doesn't meet, the Council (a quarter Congress) shapes PES policy. The Congress also elects the party's President, Vice Presidents and the Presidency. It is led by a President, currently Martin Schulz MEP, and a Bureau of Vice-Presidents.
Other institutions
European Commissioners are meant to remain independent, however there has been an increasing degree of politicisation within the Commission. Six of the twenty-seven Commissioners belong to PES. These are First Vice-President Margot Wallström, Vice-President Günter Verheugen (Enterprise & Industry), Commissioner Joaquín Almunia (Economy), Commissioner Peter Mandelson (Trade), Commissioner Vladimír Špidla (Social) and Commissioner László Kovács (Taxation).
Parties in the Council of Ministers and the European Council are some times subject to coalitions. At present the following countries are led PES members (European Council member in brackets): Bulgaria (Sergey Stanishev), Hungary (Ferenc Gyurcsány), Lithuania (Gediminas Kirkilas), Portugal (José Sócrates), Spain (José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero) and United Kingdom (Gordon Brown). PES is in coalition in a further six countries: Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, Germany, Italy and Luxembourg.
Associate and observer parties
Further Information
Get more info on 'Party Of European Socialists'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://party_of_european_socialists.totallyexplained.com">Party of European Socialists Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
