The
Party of the European Left has just elected a new Presidency in the third Congress,
hold in Paris, from the 3-5 December. Pierre Laurent, secretary general of French
Communist Party is the new President and the vice-presidency will now be constituted
by four vice-chairs – Alexis Tsipras (President of Synaspismos, Greece), Marisa
Matias (MEP, Left Bloc, Portugal), Grigori Petrenco (Member of the Executive Committee
of the Communist Party of the Republic of Moldova) and Maite Mola (International
Relations of Spanish Communist Party) and a new treasurer, Diether Dehm (Die Linke,
Germany).
The decision of changing the statutes to comply a presidency with more than one
vice-chairman/woman was taken to assure a geographical representation of different
parts of Europe and a more active and dynamic management in a time that Europe needs
a strong Left, capable to proportionate a real alternative to neoliberalism and
capitalism that rule the current European governments and plunged into the present
crisis.
In
order to build a platform of resistance and combat the austerity measures and the
attack to social rights, the European Left has drawn a political plan of action
for the next years, the European Social Agenda, which was approved by the
Congress by unanimity.
It is time to pass to action, and only strong European initiatives can provide
a systematic alternative to an economy based in the markets. We need, therefore,
to show our compliance to react to the challenges that take place in the current
system. The European Left decided to be the first party to use the "citizens initiative",
recently launched by the European Union, to take action against the "European Fund
for financial stabilization" and the austerity plans implemented in several countries.
This initiative is the creation – contrary to the "European fund of financial
stabilization" – of a EUROPEAN FUND FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT. This fund aims to finance
public investments that create jobs, expand training, research, useful infrastructures,
and reach achievements in the field of the environment. Funding this fund should
not depend on financial markets because we want to reduce the omnipotence of the
markets, which is at the heart of the crisis, but money should be created by the
ECB. The taxation of transactions is necessary, but not enough to accomplish our
objectives for a more just world.
To meet this challenge, European Left will initiate a grassroots campaign, very
large, well-prepared, reasoned, organized at European level, in all the languages
and with events in the different capitals.
It's about using the instrument of "citizens' initiative" to promote the mobilization
of citizens against the logic of European treaties and as a mean to shake the balance
of powers and achieve the most concrete results.
The European Left comes out from this Congress enforced with the entry of new
parties, which were formally accepted on the first day of the congress: Belarusian
Party of the Left "Just World", Bulgarian Left, Red-Green Alliance (Denmark), Communist
Party of Finland, the Left Party (France) and United Left (France). With thirty
one effective members, and seven observers, from thirty different countries, the
EL shows that is a plural left with a common face and with a strong plan of action
based on an alternative for Europe and a way to resist to the crisis.
Besides the new presidency, a new Executive Board was also elected by consensus
and will hold its first meeting on the 15th January.
In the congress, several motions on very important issues to EL were adopted
and can be consulted soon.
EL elects new President and vice-chairpersons 
