Party of the European Left

The Party of the European Left (PEL), commonly abbreviated European Left, is a European political party that operates as an association of democratic socialist[2] and communist[2] political parties in the European Union and other European countries. It was formed in January 2004 for the purposes of running in the 2004 European Parliament elections. The PEL was founded on 8–9 May 2004 in Rome.[3] The elected MEPs from member parties of the PEL sit in the European United Left–Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) group in the European parliament.

Party of the European Left Partei der Europäischen Linken Parti de la Gauche Européenne Partito della Sinistra Europea Partido de la Izquierda Europea Partido da Esquerda Europeia Κόμμα Ευρωπαϊκής Αριστεράς Avrupa Sol Partisi Il-Partit Ewropew tax-Xellug
President	Heinz Bierbaum (DE)
Leader in the EP	Gabriele Zimmer (DE)
Founded	8–9 May 2004; 14 years ago
Headquarters	Square de Meeûs 25, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Think tank	Transform Europe[1]
Women's wing	EL FEM
Ideology	Democratic socialism[2] Soft Euroscepticism Minority: Communism[2]
Political position	Left-wing to far-left
European Parliament group	European United Left–Nordic Green Left
Colours	Maroon
European Parliament	28 / 751
European Council	0 / 28
European Lower Houses	344 / 9,874
European Upper Houses	27 / 2,714
Website
www.european-left.org
Politics of European Union Political parties Elections

Several member and observer parties participate also in the more radical European Anti-Capitalist Left. Before the PEL was founded, most of its members already held annual meetings together as part of the New European Left Forum (NELF).[4]

The current president is the German politician and economist Heinz Bierbaum[5] The four Vice-Presidents are Maite Mola, Margarita Mileva, Paolo Ferrero and former PEL President Pierre Laurent. Swiss Brigitte Berthouzoz serves as the new EL treasurer.[6]

As of December 2016, the Party of the European Left gathers 27 member parties, 8 observers and 3 partners from 25 European countries.

Membership

Member parties

Country	Party	National MPs	European MEPs
Austria	Communist Party of Austria	–	–
Belarus	Belarusian Left Party "A Just World"[7]	–	Not in EU
Bulgaria	Bulgarian Left[8]	–	–
Croatia	New Left (Croatia)	1 / 151	–
Czech Republic	The Left	–	–
Denmark	Red-Green Alliance[9]	13 / 179	1 / 14
Estonia	Estonian United Left Party	–	–
Finland	Communist Party of Finland[10]	–	–
	Left Alliance[7]	16 / 200	1 / 13
France	French Communist Party	12 / 577 12 / 348	–
Germany	The Left[11]	69 / 709 4 / 69	5 / 96
Greece	Coalition of the Radical Left	86 / 300	6 / 21
Hungary	Workers' Party of Hungary 2006 - European Left [7]	–	–
Italy	Communist Refoundation Party	–	–
Luxembourg	The Left	2 / 60	–
Republic of Moldova	Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova	–	Not in EU
Portugal	Left Bloc	19 / 230	2 / 21
Romania	Socialist Party of Romania	–	–
Slovenia	The Left	9 / 90	–
Spain	United Left	5 / 350 0 / 266	2 / 54
	Communist Party of Spain	4 / 350 0 / 266
	United and Alternative Left	2 / 350 0 / 266	–
Switzerland	Swiss Party of Labour	1 / 200	Not in EU
United Kingdom	Left Unity[12]	–	Not in EU

Observer parties

Country	Party	National MPs	European MPs
Belgium	Mouvement Demain	–	–
Cyprus	Progressive Party of Working People	16 / 56	2 / 6
Czech Republic	Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia	15 / 200	1 / 21
Italy	Italian Left	2 / 630 1 / 315	–
Northern Cyprus	New Cyprus Party[13]	–	Not in EU
	United Cyprus Party[14]	–
Slovakia	Communist Party of Slovakia	–	–

Partners

Austria	Der Wandel
France	Ensemble
	République et socialisme
Germany	Marxist Left
Hungary	Táncsics – Radical Left Party
United Kingdom	Democratic Left Scotland

As well as those of member and observer parties, individuals may also hold membership of the party.[15]

Former members

Country	Party
Belgium	Communist Party (Flanders)	stopped working as a Party in 2009, since December 2013 not listed as a Member
	Communist Party (Wallonia)	resignation decided at the party congress on 30 July 2018.[16]
Czech Republic	The Left	Merged into The Left in 2020
France	United Left (France)	merged with the French Communist Party in Fall 2015
	Left Party (France)	left the EL on 1 July 2018
Germany	German Communist Party	ended on 27 February 2016 the observer status.[17]
Greece	Renewing Communist Ecological Left	merged to Syriza in 2003
Hungary	Hungarian Workers' Party	quit 1 May 2009
Italy	Party of Italian Communists	renamed in Partito Comunista d'Italia in December 2014
	The Other Europe	dissolved in 2019, which meant that the "observer status" was lost
Poland	Young Socialists (Poland)	dissolved in 2015, which meant that the "observer status" was lost

Party congresses

The party's first congress took place on 8 October 2005 in Athens, and produced the Athens Declaration of the European Left. The second congress was held 23–25 November 2007 in Prague.[18] The third congress was held on 2–5 December 2010 in Paris.[19][20][21] Its fourth congress was held on 13–15 December 2013 in Madrid.[22] Its fifth congress took place on 16–18 December 2016 in Berlin,[23] and elected German lawyer and politician Gregor Gysi as the new PEL President.

Leadership

• President: Fausto Bertinotti (2004–2007), Lothar Bisky (2007–2010), Pierre Laurent (2010–2016), Gregor Gysi (2016–present)
• Leader in the European Parliament: Francis Wurtz (2004–2009), Lothar Bisky (2009–2012), Gabriele Zimmer (2012–present)

See also

• European Anti-Capitalist Left
• European United Left–Nordic Green Left
• Initiative of Communist and Workers' Parties
• List of communist parties represented in European Parliament
• Maintenant le Peuple
• Nordic Green Left Alliance
• Unified European Left Group

References

1. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/pdf/grants/Grant_amounts_foundations%2003-2015_new%20logo.pdf
2. Nordsieck, Wolfram (2019). "European Union". Parties and Elections in Europe. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
3. Kate Hudson (2012). The New European Left: A Socialism for the Twenty-First Century?. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 46. ISBN 978-1-137-26511-1.
4. "Some remarks concerning the creation of the Party of the European Left". Official European Left site. Archived from the original on 2 October 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
5. "European Left Party elects Die Linke's Heinz Bierbaum as new president". Morning Star. 15 December 2019.
6. "Le 2eme Observatoire". 2e-observatoire.com. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
7. Approved as a full member by the Executive Board of the PEL in Geneva in October 2009. "The EL Executive Board settles the agenda for 2010". Party of the European Left. 25 October 2009. Retrieved 7 December 2010. The decision was ratified by PEL's 3rd congress in December 2010. "EL elects new President and vice-chairpersons!". Party of the European Left. 6 October 2009. Archived from the original on 13 December 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
8. Approved as a full member by the Executive Board of the PEL in Luxembourg in September 2010. "Executive board met in Luxembourg: Countdown to the Congress". Party of the European Left. 15 September 2010. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2010. The decision was ratified by PEL's 3rd congress in December 2010. "EL elects new President and vice-chairpersons!". Party of the European Left. 6 October 2009. Archived from the original on 13 December 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
9. Approved as a full member by the Executive Board of the PEL in Barcelona in June 2010. It had an observer status before. The decision was ratified by PEL's 3rd congress in December 2010. "EL elects new President and vice-chairpersons!". Party of the European Left. 6 October 2009. Archived from the original on 13 December 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
10. The Communist Party of Finland changed its status from observer to full member party in October 2009. The decision was ratified by PEL's 3rd congress in December 2010. "EL elects new President and vice-chairpersons!". Party of the European Left. 6 October 2009. Archived from the original on 13 December 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
11. The Left Party.PDS was a founding party of PEL. Labour and Social Justice – The Electoral Alternative had been approved as a full member by the Executive Board of the PEL by May 2007. After the unification of the two parties in The Left (Die Linke) in June 2007, the new party became full member of the PEL
12. "We will be part of the Party of the European Left group, which includes SYRIZA in Greece and Die Linke in Germany, and calls for a radically different type of European integration." Betzien, Jody (28 April 2014). "Britain: Left Unity spokesperson on challenges in building a new party". Green Left Weekly. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
13. Approved in observer status by the Executive Board of the PEL in Geneva in October 2009. "Welcome to four new Members!". Party of the European Left. 25 October 2009. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
14. Approved in observer status by the Executive Board of the PEL in Luxembourg in September 2010. "Executive board met in Luxembourg: Countdown to the Congress". Party of the European Left. 15 September 2010. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
15. "EL statute, article six". european-left.org. Archived from the original on 8 September 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
16. Pourquoi le PCB a quitté le Parti de la Gauche Européenne (PGE) — Official statement on the party website.
17. ELP-Beobachterstatus beendet – Bericht vom 3. Tag des XXI. Parteitag der DKP. Newswebsite of the Deutschen Kommunistischen Partei (DKP).
18. Press release of the EL Executive Board meeting in Tallinn, May 2007 Archived 1 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine
19. "European Left convenes third congress in Paris". Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
20. "Executive board met in Luxembourg: Countdown to the Congress". Party of the European Left. 15 September 2010. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
21. "EL elects new President and vice-chairpersons!". Party of the European Left. 6 December 2010. Archived from the original on 13 December 2010. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
22. "Convention of the 4th Congress of the Party of the European Left". Party of the European Left. 12 January 2013. Archived from the original on 14 April 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
23. "5th Congress – Berlin 2016". Party of the European Left. Retrieved 25 December 2019.

External links

• Official website
• Italian website