The Party of European Socialists (PES) brings together the Socialist,
Social Democratic and Labour Parties of the European Union (EU).
Its aims include:
·
the
strengthening of the socialist and social democratic movement
in the Union and throughout Europe;
·
the
development of close working relationships between the national
member parties, their parliamentary groups, the Parliamentary
Group of the PES and the Party;
·
the
definition of common policies for the European Union; and
·
the
adoption of a common manifesto for elections to the European
Parliament.
There are 28 member parties from 25 nations of the new Europe and
Norway. In addition, there are seven associate and six observer
parties. The PES was founded in 1992 following the Treaty on European
Union and the recognition of the importance of political parties
at a European level in Article 191 of the Treaty. It succeeded the
Confederation of Socialist Parties of the European Community, which
had been set up in 1974.
How the PES works
THE PRESIDENT
The President is elected by the PES Congress.
THE PRESIDENCY
The Presidency is a new body set up after the reform of the PES
Statutes by the Berlin Congress. It consists of 33 voting members
from the full member parties and organisations and includes representatives
of the associate parties and the European Commission. The Maltese
member is Dr George Vella. The Presidency manages the day-to-day
work of the PES.
THE PES SECRETARIAT
The Secretariat of the PES is based in Brussels and is headed by
the Secretary General, Antony Beumer (Netherlands).
THE CONGRESS
The Congress is the supreme body of the PES, meeting every 2 years.
There have been five ordinary Congresses so far; The Hague in 1992,
Barcelona in 1995, Malm? in 1997, Milan in 1999 and Berlin in 2001.
In addition an extraordinary congress is held to adopt the manifesto
for the European Parliament elections. This was the case in Brussels
in 1993 before the 1994 elections.
PARTY LEADERS' CONFERENCES
The Leaders of the member parties meet on a regular basis, often
on the eve of a European Summit, to discuss the broad framework
of EU policy.
COUNCIL OF MINISTERS MEETINGS
Since 1996 Socialist members of the Council of Ministers have met
to discuss matters of common interest. Starting with the members
of the ECOFIN Council these meetings now cover most of the Councils
and take place at least once during each Presidency.
ECOSY
ECOSY (European Community Organisation of Socialist Youth) is the
youth wing of the PES. Its current President is Anders Lindberg
and the Secretary General is Ilias Antoniou.
WOMEN
The PES has a Women's Standing Committee, made up of representatives
of member party women's organisations, which represent the views
of women in the party. The current President of the committee is
Fiorella Ghillardotti, an Italian Member of the European Parliament.
CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
The PES works closely with the European Forum for Democracy and
Solidarity which was set up to support social democratic parties
in Central and Eastern Europe.
The PES in the EU institutions
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
With 179 out of 626 MEPs the Parliamentary Group of the PES, led
by Enrique Baron Crespo (Spain) is the second largest political
group in the Parliament.
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION
10 out of the 20 Commissioners come from PES member parties; Philippe
Busquin (Belgium), Anna Diamantopoulou (Greece), Neil Kinnock (UK),
Pascal Lamy (France), Erkki Liikanen (Finland), Poul Nielsen (Denmark),
Pedro Solbes Mira (Spain), G?nter Verheugen (Germany), Antonio Vitorino
(Portugal), Margot Wallstr?m (Sweden).
THE COUNCIL
PES member parties are now in government in six of the 15 member
states of the Union: Belgium, Finland, Germany, Greece, Sweden and
the United Kingdom.
THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL
Four premiers out of the 15 members of the European Council are
from PES member parties: Gerhard Schr?der (Germany), Costas Simitis
(Greece), G?ran Persson (Sweden) and Tony Blair (United Kingdom).
COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
The Group of the PES in the Committee of the Regions has 86 full
members. The President of the Committe of the Regions is Albert
Bore. the President of the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions
is Michel Delebarre.
