The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) is the political group in the European Parliament of the Party of European Socialists (PES). The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats was officially founded as a Socialist Group on 29 June 1953 which makes it the second oldest political group in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

after

Renew Europe Renew Europe (Renew) is a liberal, pro-European political group of the European Parliament founded for the ninth European Parliament term. The group is the successor to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) group which exist ...

(Renew). It adopted its present-day name on 23 June 2009.

Centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The c ...

in orientation, the group mostly comprises

social-democratic Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

parties and is affiliated with the Progressive Alliance and

Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism. It consists mostly of socialist and labour-oriented political parties and organisations. ...

. Until the

1999 European Parliament election The 1999 European Parliament election was a European election for all 626 members of the European Parliament held across the 15 European Union member states on 10, 11 and 13 June 1999. The voter turn-out was generally low, except in Belgium and ...

s, it was the largest group in the Parliament, but since then it has always been the second-largest group. During the eighth EU Parliament Assembly, the S&D was the only Parliament group with representation from all 27

EU member states The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

. In the current EU Parliament the S&D is currently composed of 146 members from 25 member states. In the

European Council The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body that defines the overall political direction and priorities of the European Union. It is composed of the heads of state or government of the EU member states, the President of the E ...

, 8 out of 27 heads of state and government belong to PES parties and in the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

, 8 out of 27 Commissioners come from PES parties.

History

The Socialist Group was one of the first three groups to be created when it was founded on 23 June 1953 in the Common Assembly of the

European Coal and Steel Community The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was a European organization created after World War II to regulate the coal and steel industries. It was formally established in 1951 by the Treaty of Paris, signed by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembo ...

. The Common Assembly was the predecessor of the European Parliament. A group bureau and secretariat was established in

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

. The group continued through the creation of the appointed Parliament in 1958 and, when the Parliament became an elected body in 1979 following the first European election, the group became the largest in terms of returned

MEP MEP may refer to: Organisations and politics * Mahajana Eksath Peramuna, a political party in Sri Lanka * Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (1956), a former political alliance in Sri Lanka * Maison européenne de la photographie, a photography centre ...

s. It has ever since remained the largest or second-largest Group. In 1987, the

Single European Act The Single European Act (SEA) was the first major revision of the 1957 Treaty of Rome. The Act set the European Community an objective of establishing a single market by 31 December 1992, and a forerunner of the European Union's Common Foreign ...

came into force and the group began co-operating with the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Ch ...

(EPP) to secure the majorities needed under the cooperation procedure. The left–right coalition between the Socialists and EPP has dominated the Parliament since then and the post of President of the Parliament has alternated between the two groups ever since, with some exceptions. Meanwhile, the national parties making up the group were also organising themselves on a European level ''outside'' the Parliament, creating the ''Confederation of Socialist Parties of the European Community'' in 1974.How does the PES work?
The Confederation was succeeded by the Party of European Socialists (PES), in 1992. As a result, the parliamentary group was renamed the ''Group of the Party of European Socialists'' on 21 April 1993. In 1999, the Parliament refused to approve the Santer Commission's handling of the EU budget. Allegations of corruption centred on two PES Commissioners, Édith Cresson and

Manuel Marín Manuel Marín González (21 October 1949 – 4 December 2017) was a politics of Spain, Spanish politician, former President of the Spanish Congress of Deputies, Congress of Deputies of Spain. He was a long-time member of the European Commission ...

. The group initially supported the Commission but later withdrew their support, forcing the Commission to resign. The group was renamed again to the ''Socialist Group in the European Parliament'' on 20 July 2004 and was given a different logo, to further distinguish the PES group organisation from the PES European political party. In 2007, the Socialist Group was the second largest group in Parliament, with MEPs from all but two member states, Latvia and Cyprus. However, the 2009 European election saw a reduction in the number of PES MEPs returned from 2004. The group sought additional members in the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

of Italy, which was not affiliated to the PES in 2009. By the conclusion of the 2004–2009 parliamentary term, the Democratic Party had 8 MEPs in the Socialist Group (coming from the Democrats of the Left), but also had 8 MEPs in ALDE Group (coming from the Daisy). The Democratic Party is a

big tent A big tent party, or catch-all party, is a term used in reference to a political party's policy of permitting or encouraging a broad spectrum of views among its members. This is in contrast to other kinds of parties, which defend a determined i ...

centre-left party, strongly influenced by

social democracy Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

and the

Christian left The Christian left is a range of left-wing Christian political and social movements that largely embrace social justice principles and uphold a social doctrine or social gospel. Given the inherent diversity in international political thoug ...

, and had MEPs who were former

Christian Democrats __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

or had other political views. So a new and more inclusive group name had to be found. The group was going to be named ''Alliance of Socialists and Democrats for Europe'' (ASDE) but this was seemed too similar to

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE; french: Alliance des Démocrates et des Libéraux pour l'Europe, ADLE) is a transnational alliance between two European political parties, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Euro ...

(ALDE). The name ''Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats'' was suggested on 18 June by group president Martin Schulz and it was renamed on 23 June 2009. The English abbreviation was initially unclear, being variously reported as PASD, S&D Group or PASDE. Dissatisfaction by Socialist MEPs towards the new name led Martin Schulz to admit that the name was still under consideration and that the group was to be referred to as the "Socialists and Democrats" until a final title was chosen. On 14 July 2009, the first day of the constitutive session of the 2009–2014 term, the full formal group name was ''Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament'' and the abbreviation was ''S&D''. The S&D Group joined the Progressive Alliance upon its official foundation on 22 May 2013 and is a member of the organisation's board. The group was formerly an associated organisation of the

Presidents of the European Parliament

For presidents of the European Parliament from the group, see President of the European Parliament.

Organisation

The group is led by a President and a Bureau of vice-presidents. There is also a Treasurer and a Secretary General.

Presidents of the group

Presidents of the group include:

2019–2024 legislature

Vice-presidents

Following the 2019 European elections, S&D Members elected their new political Bureau made up of the President Iratxe García Pérez, nine vice-presidents and the treasurer. As a consequence of Brexit, British S&D Member Claude Moraes had to resign from his position as vice-president. Marek Belka has been appointed the new vice-president. * Pedro Marques (politician) (Portugal), * Elisabetta Gualmini (Italy), * Biljana Borzan (Croatia), *

Alex Agius Saliba Alex Agius Saliba (born 31 January 1988) is a Maltese politician, Member of the European Parliament since 2019 for the Labour Party. Biography Born Alex Saliba, he studied at Tarxien primary school and at St. Augustine's College. At 17 y ...

(Malta), * Gabriele Bischoff (Germany), *

Heléne Fritzon Marie Heléne Elisabeth Fritzon (born 29 September 1960) is a Swedish politician of the Social Democrats. She has been Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and Vice-Chair of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats s ...

(Sweden), * Mohammed Chahim (The Netherlands), *

Rovana Plumb Rovana is an unincorporated community in Inyo County, California. It is located at the western edge of Owens Valley, north-northeast of Mount Tom, at an elevation of 5141 feet (1567 m). History Rovana was established in 1947, when the US Vanad ...

(Romania), * Marek Belka (Poland)

Treasurer

Eero Heinäluoma Eero Olavi Heinäluoma (born 4 July 1955 in Kokkola) is a Finnish politician who has been serving as Member of the European Parliament since 2019. A former chairman of the Finnish Social Democratic Party, he was replaced in the party's leadership ...

(Finland)

2014–2019 legislature

Vice-presidents

Previous vice-presidents of the group appointed at the start of the current legislature in 2014 *

Victor Boștinaru Victor Boştinaru (born 17 May 1952) is a Romanian member of the European Parliament and sits on the Committee for Regional Development (REGI) and Committee on Petitions (PETI). He is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Romania and in the ...

(Romania), *

Tanja Fajon Tanja Fajon (born May 9, 1971) is a Slovenian politician, leader of Social Democrats, part of the Party of European Socialists and former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Slovenia. She has served as the minister of foreign and europ ...

(Slovenia), * Isabelle Thomas (France), *

Enrique Guerrero Salom Enrique Guerrero Salom (born 28 August 1948) is a Spanish politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament from 2009 until 2019, representing Spain for the Spanish Socialist Workers Party. From 2012 until 2014 he served as Vice-Chair ...

(Spain), *

Marju Lauristin Marju Lauristin (born 7 April 1940) is an Estonian politician, and former Member of the European Parliament and Minister of Social Affairs. She is a member of the Social Democratic Party, part of the Party of European Socialists. Lauristin is cu ...

(Estonia), *

Jörg Leichtfried Jörg Leichtfried (born 18 June 1967 in Bruck an der Mur, Styria) is an Politics of Austria, Austrian politician of the Social Democratic Party of Austria, Social Democratic Party who has been serving as a member of the National Council (Austria) ...

(Austria), *

Knut Fleckenstein Knut Fleckenstein (born 20 December 1953) is a German politician and former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Germany. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, part of the Party of European Socialists. He was elec ...

(Germany), * Maria João Rodrigues (Portugal), *

Kathleen Van Brempt Kathleen Van Brempt (; born 18 November 1969 in Wilrijk), is a Belgian social-democratic politician and member of Vooruit. She currently serves as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) as part of the Party of European Socialists and is leader o ...

(Belgium),

Treasurer

Péter Niedermüller Péter Niedermüller (born 3 September 1952) is a Hungarian politician. From July 2014 to July 2019, he served as a Member of the European Parliament, representing Hungary (European Parliament constituency), Hungary for the Democratic Coalition ...

(Hungary)

2009–2014 legislature

Vice-presidents

Previous vice-presidents of the group appointed at the start of the 2009 legislature: * María Badía i Cutchet (PSOE, Spain) – Communication Policy and Public Relations *

Monika Beňová Monika Beňová (born 15 August 1968) is a Slovak politician who has been a member of the European Parliament since 2004. She is a member of the centre-left Direction-Social Democracy party SMER-SD. SMER-SD is a member of the Party of European ...

(Smer, Slovakia) – Europe of the Citizens *

Véronique De Keyser Véronique Marie Alice Henriette De Keyser (born 23 March 1945 in Brussels) is a Politics of Belgium, Belgian politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament from 2001 until 2014. She is a member of the Parti Socialiste (Belgium), ...

(PS, Belgium) – Human Rights, Development and International Trade * Stephen Hughes (Labour, United Kingdom) – Economy and Social Policy *

Stéphane Le Foll Stéphane Le Foll (; born 3 February 1960) is a French politician serving as Mayor of Le Mans since 2018. A member of the Socialist Party, he was Minister of Agriculture under President François Hollande from 2012 to 2017. Biography Early p ...

(PS, France) – Budget and Territorial Cohesion *

Adrian Severin Adrian Severin (born 28 March 1954) is a Romanian politician and former Member of the European Parliament. Adrian Severin started his politics career under the Communist rule, as Instructor (''lector'') at Ștefan Gheorghiu Academy, the univer ...

(PSD, Romania) – Foreign Policy and Defence * Gianluca Susta (PD, Italy) – Agriculture and Fisheries * Hannes Swoboda (SPÖ, Austria) – Parliamentary Affairs and Relations with International Organisations *

Marita Ulvskog Marita Helena Ulvskog (born 4 September 1951) is a Swedish politician who served as Member of the European Parliament from 2009 until 2019. She is a member of the Social Democrats, part of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. Ear ...

(SAP, Sweden) – Sustainable Development and Competition

2004–2009 legislature

Vice-presidents

Previous vice-presidents of the group for the 2004–2009 term were as follows: * Harlem Désir (PS, France) * Bárbara Dührkop Dührkop (PSOE, Spain) * Robert Goebbels (LSAP, Luxembourg) *

Linda McAvan Linda McAvan (born 2 December 1962) is a British Labour Party politician, who was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Yorkshire and the Humber from 1998, when she was first elected in a by-election following the resignation of Norma ...

(Labour Party, UK) * Pasqualina Napolitano (Sinistra Democratica, Italy) * Hannes Swoboda (SPÖ, Austria) *

Kristian Vigenin Kristian Ivanov Vigenin ( bg, Кристиан Иванов Вигенин; born 12 June 1975) is a Bulgarian politician, member of the Bulgarian Parliament, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, and a former Member of the European Parli ...

(BSP, Bulgaria) * Jan Marinus Wiersma (PvdA, Netherlands)

Treasurers

Current/previous Treasurers of the group are as follows: *

Magda Kósáné Kovács Magda Kósáné Kovács (4 November 1940 – 27 July 2020) was a Hungarian politician who was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Hungarian Socialist Party, part of the Party of European Socialists. She left the Socialist Party an ...

(Hungary, MSZP)

Secretaries General

Current/previous Secretaries General of the group are as follows: * Manfred Michel (West Germany) c. 1970 – c. 1985 * Paolo Falcone (Italy) c. 1986 – 1989 * Julian Priestley (UK) 1989–1994 * Joan Prat (Spain) 1994–1999 (Deputy Sec Gen Richard Corbett UK) * Christine Verger (France) 1999–2004 * David Harley (UK) 2004–2006 * Anna Colombo (Italy) 2006–2014 *

Javier Moreno Sanchez Javier Moreno Sánchez (; born 12 March 1965 in Switzerland) is a Spanish politician who has served as Member of the European Parliament for the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party from 2004 until 2009 and since 2019, part of the Party of European S ...

(Spain) 2014–2019 * Michael Hoppe (Germany) 2019–2021

MEPs

9th European Parliament

From 6th to 8th European Parliament

References

External links

Socialists & Democrats Group website
{{European Parliament groups European Parliament party groups Progressive Alliance Political parties established in 1953 1953 establishments in Europe