The Progressives (''Les Progressistes'') is a

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 ...

French political party associated to the centre-right

Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement (french: link=no, Union pour un mouvement populaire, ; UMP, ) was a centre-right political party in France that was one of the two major contemporary political parties in France along with the centre-left Social ...

. It was founded in September 2007 by

Éric Besson Éric Besson (born 2 April 1958 in Marrakesh) is a French politician and businessman. From 2009 to 2010, he was the Minister of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Co-Development in the government of François Fillon. He left the So ...

, Secretary of State in

François Fillon François Charles Armand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a retired French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of the Republicans (previously known as the Union ...

's government and former member of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

, Emmanuel Dupuy, President of the Union of Radical Republicans and Marc d'Héré, President of European and Social Initiative, aiming at creating a left wing for the presidential majority within the framework of the 'ouverture'.(AFP)
Nicolas Sarkozy plaide pour l'ouverture devant les Progressistes d'Eric Besson
, 9 November 2007 Thus, The Progressives along with the

Modern Left The Modern Left (french: La Gauche moderne, LGM), is a centrist political party in France founded in 2007. The party was founded following the nomination of the former Socialist Party (PS) Senator and Mayor of Mulhouse, Jean-Marie Bockel to the ...

Jean-Marie Bockel Jean-Marie Bockel (born 22 June 1950) is a French politician who served as Secretary of State for Defence and Veterans in the government of Prime Minister François Fillon appointed on 18 March 2008, having previously been Secretary of State ...

represent the left wing of the coalition supporting ex-President

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...

. In the

2009 European Parliament election The 2009 European Parliament election was held in the 27 member states of the European Union (EU) between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were elected to represent some 500 million Europeans, making th ...

, the party obtained a few non-eligible spots on the lists of the Presidential Majority. Since Besson is a member of the UMP's national leadership, the party is considered associated to the UMP. It is also a member of the

Liaison Committee for the Presidential Majority The Liaison Committee for the Presidential Majority (french: Comité de liaison de la majorité présidentielle, also called the Committee of the Presidential Majority or Committee of the Majority) was a structure initiated by Nicolas Sarkozy to ...

Sources

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Progressives 2007 establishments in France Political parties established in 2007 Social democratic parties in France