The Romanian Member of the European Parliament took the decision to retire from the Party of the European Socialists after the British newspaper The Sunday Times accused him and two other MPs of corruption.

MP Adrian Severin. Photo: Agerpres.

  

Adrian Severin is retiring from the Party of the European Socialists until the investigation the authorities in Brussels launched after the MP together with two fellow colleagues were accused of corruption. 

Adrian Severin made the announcement on Monday, after having a discussion with the leader of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, Martin Schultz.

According to the Radio România reporter, Claudia Marcu, Adrian Severin would not resign but retire from the Socialist Party.  

Adrian Severin stated that "you cannot present your resignation unless you approve that the allegations are true. And the fact that some people are influenced to believe that these allegations are true, is not a good reason either to resign but to start an investigation."

Adrian Severin became a Member of the European Parliament as a PSD representative in 2007. 

Investigation in the European Parliament 

Diana Wallis, the Vice-President of the institution in which transparency is the main responsibility stated for Radio România that Adrian Severin, Ernst Strasse and Zoran Thaler would be investigated by the European Parliament based on the documents put at their disposal by the daily The Sunday Times. 

Diana Wallis stated that they would not only investigate the separate cases, but especially "the wider consequences upon the institution". 

Diana Wallis added that on Wednesday the case of the three MPs would be discussed within the European Parliament.

MP Marian Jean Marinescu(the Liberal Democratic Party) stated that the incident would tarnish the image of the Parliament.  

Marian Jean Marinescu underlined that "the repercussions that this image will have upon our activity and us as a people’ were the worst side of the whole situation.  

NAD starts an investigation 

Meanwhile, in Bucharest, the leader of the Democratic Socialist Party, Victor Ponta, stated that the party was waiting for the result of the investigation conducted by the European Parliament regarding Adrian Severin.

Victor Ponta pointed out that PSD would immediately apply the decision of European Parliament, whatever that may be.  

Adrian Severin announced that he was retiring from the PSD National Permanent Bureau until the investigation was concluded. 

The NAD attorneys decided to start their own investigation on the possibility of Adrian Severin being involved in corruption. 

Adrian Severin is also being investigated by the National Integrity Agency for anomalies in his wealth statement.

About the PES

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 parties, the national parliamentary groups, the Parliamentary Group of the PES, PES Women, ECOSY, and other socialist and social democratic organisations;

the definition of common policies for the European Union; and

the adoption of a common manifesto for elections to the European Parliament.

There are 33 full member parties from the 27 EU member States and Norway. In addition, there are twelve associate and five 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.

PES leaflet (BG) (ES) (FR), December 2007 PES activity report 2007-2009, December 2009Download the History of the PES from 1957 to 2002Statutes adopted by the 8th PES Congress, December 2009

English French German Spanish

Accountancy

2009 Accounts 2009 auditor's report2009 annual balance

2008 Accounts  2008 auditor's report 2008 balance

2007 Accounts 2006 Accounts

How does the PES work?

The Congress, which meets twice every five years, decides on the political orientation of the PES and elects the President and the Vice-President(s), who lead and represent the PES on a daily basis. Every year without a Congress, the Councilcontributes to the shaping of PES policy.The Leaders’ Conference gathers Prime Ministers and Party Leaders from PES Member parties 3 to 4 times a year to define the strategy and adopt common resolutions.The Presidency, elected by the Congress, is the highest organ for the management of the day-to-day business of the PES. The Secretary General also convenes theCo-ordination Team to discuss the planning, preparation, follow-up and financing of PES activities. The Secretariat, based in Brussels, ensures the daily running of the PES.ECOSY and PES Women are respectively the Youth and the Women’s organization of the PES.

The President

Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, PES PresidentFirst of all, I would like to welcome you to the PES!

The PES is the Party of socialists and social democrats in Europe. I am proud and honoured to be its President since 2004. Since I started, the PES has been modernising, changing and innovating to become a more open, democratic, influential and effective Party for socialists and social democrats in Europe and for the benefit of all Europe’s citizens.

We are facing tough times. The real economy has been hit by the crisis of the global financial markets. People in Europe are uncertain about their jobs, pensions and mortgages. We are uncertain about our future. But this crisis is not a law of nature. Together, we can do something about it.

The PES has another vision for the future:

1.    Relaunching the economy and preventing new financial crises 2.    Giving people a fairer deal in a New Social Europe3.    Transforming Europe into the leading global force against climate change 4.    Championing gender equality in Europe5.    Developing an effective European migration policy   6.    Enhancing Europe’s role as a partner for peace, security and developmentTogether we can make a difference.

The Congress

The Congress of the PES meets twice every five years. The responsibilities of the Congress include: electing the President, adopting changes to the statutes and to the membership status of parties. When the Congress takes place before European elections, it adopts a common manifesto for those elections.

There have been seven Congresses to date: The Hague (1992), Barcelona (1995), Malmö (1997), Milan (1999), Berlin (2001), Brussels (2004), Porto (2006) and Prague(2009).

PES Congress, Prague, 7-8 December 2009

The PES Congress is a major gathering of European socialist, social-democrats and labour members. It meets twice every five years and brings together over 330 delegates from the PES member parties and numerous guests and PES activists. The responsibilities of the Congress include: deciding on the political orientation of the PES, electing the President and adopting changes to the statutes and to the membership status of parties.

In 2009 the Congress took place in Prague, Czech Republic on 7-8 December and it was be the starting point of a broad debate on the European Left for the 21st century.

Putting in practice its approach towards limiting climate change, the PES decided tooffset its staff's CO2 emissions.Following the success of the PES Councils in 2008 and 2007 and PES Congress in 2006, where PES activists were a lively presence that marked a new way of integrating grassroots into European politics, activists were invited to take part to this important socialist gathering.

The Council

The Council meets every year without a Congress to debate issues. Its composition is one fourth of the Congress.

Council in Warsaw, 2-3 December 2010Council in Madrid, 1-2 December 2008Council in Sofia, 22-23 November 2007Council in Vienna, 24-25 June 2005Council in Warsaw, 15 November 2002 (Resolution from the Council)

the Leaders' Conference

The leaders of the member parties meet on the eve of each European Summit to discuss important issues on the Summit's agenda.

Ex PES leaders call on European Council to ‘Get Europe Working Again’

17/06/2010

The Conservative majority of the EU, decided last week in the European Council to keep running their austerity-only way out of the crisis. The PES opposition to this policy found fresh allies in the European business community and the US Administration, who fear

Merkel’s recessionary vision could strangle the way to recovery. Against such a conservative approach, the PES calls for aEuropean Debt Agency to be 'seriously explored') by the EU. The mechanism is based on the simple principle that this agency would buy national debt in the form of bonds and then sell them as Euro-bonds on the financial markets.The leaders of social democratic and socialist parties around Europe last night agreed a political statement which calls on the European Council to ‘Get Europe Working Again’. The text critisizes the direction that Europe has taken stating that; “Under Conservative direction, there has been a misguided response, largely based on public budget cuts and austerity measures that threaten long term recovery, employment and social cohesion. It is an attempt to strangle our way back to good economic health”.PES Prime Ministers’ and Leaders’ Declaration adopted on 16th June 2010:

“Let’s get Europe Working Again”

The European Union has, over the last six months, undergone a sustained period of crisis. Under Conservative direction, there has been a misguided response, largely based on public budget cuts and austerity measures that threaten long term recovery, employment and social cohesion. It is an attempt to ‘strangle our way back to good economic health’. It will not work. Indeed, when austerity measures begin also to be implemented by countries in good economic health, one must ask if these measures are nothing less than a conservative assault on the welfare state.

Having practically all EU member states simultaneously implementing austerity measures, is simply a guarantee for a slump in growth and a return to recession. It will lead to an extra 4.5 million job lost by 2013. Europe is the only major trading area pursuing an imbalanced ‘austerity only’ approach.

There is another way. The Party of European Socialists (PES) proposes a more balanced approach. Our way would result in a more effective consolidation of public finances than the ideologically driven conservative approach. Our approach prioritizes job creation, which is the most important indicator of recovery and sustainable growth. It is an approach based on recognizing the need for budget consolidation, but also the role of public investment.Unemployment in Europe is heading for the 25 million mark. The EU is at risk of losing a generation of young people to long-term unemployment. As a consequence, European society is at risk of losing this generation to political apathy or, worse, to political extremism.

The European Council has the opportunity to take far reaching decisions on economic governance, financial regulation and climate change. It also has an opportunity to make poverty reduction, social inclusion and decent work a central pillar of the EU’s long-term strategy. It is unclear if the Conservative dominated Council has the political courage to make real progress on any of these subjects.

Political leaders in Europe must illustrate that they can react to crisis in ways that actually create more job opportunities, as have been done in other parts of the world also hit by the global financial crisis. It is time to revitalise the European decision-making process. It is time for the European Union Governments to develop a real economic union, to rediscover solidarity and to identify a collective way out of the crisis.The PES, supported by the hard work of the Spanish EU Presidency, has a proven track record on concrete actions for the Euro-zone crisis. The PES has first identified and promoted the Financial Transaction Tax and a bank levy as new sources for much needed tax revenue, but also a balanced and fair measure to make those that caused the crisis contribute to its handling. The PES also was first to call for the European Financial Stability Facility and the emergency stability mechanism.

We, PES leaders, also believe that there is a need for budget consolidation. But itmust be combined with economic recovery and structural reform. Both revenue measures and

expenditure measures need to be socially balanced. In particular, cuts in welfare systems, with its dire consequences on social cohesion and gender equality should be avoided. What we need is an alternative way, in which a tax on financial transactions and a bank levy play a complementary and central part. In this context, a collective European debt mechanism, otherwise known as “Eurobonds”, should also be put on the political agenda.The European Union now needs to move from crisis management to long term recovery and sustainable development. On the basis of the declarations on a Progressive Way out of the Crisis and on priorities for the Europe 2020 Strategy, as adopted by the PES Presidency and the Group in the European Parliament, and the annexed PES policy paper, we, the Prime Ministers and Leaders of the PES, call for:

a coordinated economic policy that recognises that the EU is a single trading area, not a disparate collection of competing member states;

a long-term ‘Europe 2020’ strategy that puts social justice, poverty reduction, green growth and jobs at the centre, reinforcing a sustainable way out of the crisis;

effective and urgent financial regulation, including strengthening European supervisory authorities; more transparent and tighter control of derivatives products and speculative actors, such as hedge funds and private equity; regulating private rating agencies; and the creation of a European independent rating agency;

a clear response to the EU sovereign debt crisis, in which a system of Eurobonds, , managed by a European debt agency, for handling existing debt, facilitating future debt management and protecting against speculative attacks, should be seriously explored. This could provide relief to national budgets and be combined with clear political conditionalities to ensure sound economic and sustainable growth. Furthermore, the capacity for the EU to issue Eurobonds could fund investment projects managed at the European level;

a European Employment and Social Progress Pact, including concrete measures to create new, decent jobs; promote active labour market policies; increase quality of work; fight precarious jobs; overcome social inequalities such as the gender pay gap; and improve the quality of and access to public services.Ordinary people did not cause this crisis. Condemning people to unemployment is unjust. Putting people back to work is the true path out of the crisis. Let’s defend our welfare states. Alone, no country can defend itself against speculative attacks. By acting together we guarantee our strength. To the people of Europe, the Party of European Socialists says; ‘Let’s get Europe Working Again’.

Additional adopted documents

A Progressive way out of the Crisis, Recovery vs. Austerity: PES strategy to resolve the dilemma - PES Policy Paper, annexed to the political statement adopted by the PES Prime Ministers’ and Leaders’ conference on 16th June 2010

PES Leaders welcome Estonia’s accession to the Euro area , PES PMs’ and Leaders’ Conference declaration adopted on 16th June 2010

The Presidency

The Presidency meets regularly (every two to four months) in between Congresses and takes decisions on the daily management of the work of the PES.The Presidency consists of the President (who chairs the meetings), one representative of each full member party, one representattive of each full member organisation, the Secretary General and the President of the Parliamentary Group of the PES. The President of the European Parliament (if s/he is a member of the Socialist & Democrats Group) and one representative per associate party/organization also take part in Presidency meetings.

Ad Personam

Poul Nyrup Rasmussen - President Philip Cordery - Secretary General

Full Members of the Presidency

Werner Faymann - SPÖ AustriaElio Di Rupo - PS BelgiumSaid El Khadraoui - SP.A BelgiumKristian Vigenin - BSP BulgariaKyriakos Mavronikolas - EDEK CyprusVladimir Spidla - CSSD Czech RepublicNicolai Wammen - SD DenmarkIvari Padar - SDE EstoniaJohannes Koskinen - SDP FinlandAlain Richard - PS FranceMartin Schulz - SPD GermanyStavros Lambrinidis - PASOK GreeceAgnes Vadai - MSZP HungaryAlexandra Dobolyi - MSZDP HungaryRuairi Quinn - Treasurer ; LP IrelandTo be nominated - DS ItalyLuca Cefisi - PS ItalyAtis Lejins - LSDSP LatviaJustas Paleckis - LSDP LithuaniaAlex Bodry - LSAP LuxembourgGeorge Vella - PL MaltaMarije Laffeber - PvdA NetherlandsEspen Barth Eide - DNA NorwayBoguslaw Liberadzki - SLD PolandKatarzyna Matuszewska - UP PolandJosé Lello - PS PortugalTo be nominated - PSD RomaniaVladimir Manka - SMER SlovakiaBorut Pahor - SD SloveniaJuan Fernando Lopez Aguilar - PSOE SpainUrban Ahlin - SAP SwedenWayne David - LP Great Britain, United KingdomTo be nominated - SDLP Northern Ireland

Full Member Organizations

Martin Schulz - S&D Group in the European ParliamentKarl-Heinz Klär - PES Group in the Committee of the RegionsZita Gurmai - PES WomenPetroula   Nteledimou  - ECOSYErnst Stetter - FEPS

Associate parties

Edi Rama - PSS AlbaniaZlatko Lagumdzija - SDP Bosnia HerzegovinaIglika Ivanova - PBS BulgariaNeven Mimica - SDP CroatiaZoran Popov - SDUM FYR Macedonia

Dagur B Eggertsson - Samylkingin IcelandPredrag Sekulic - DPS MontenegroRanko Krivokapic - SDP MontenegroMilos Jevtic - DS SerbiaWalter Suter - SP SwitzerlandFayik Yagiyaz - DTP TurkeyKader Sevinç - CHP Turkey

Associate Organisations

To be nominated - Socialist InternationalTo be nominated - Socialist Group in the Council of EuropeTo be nominated - Socialist Group in the OSCE

Werner Faymann, SPÖ, Austria

Werner Faymann was born in Vienna on 4 May 1960. He studied law and started his political career as chair of the Vienna branch of the socialist youth. He was a member of the Vienna provincial parliament from 1985-1994. During a part of his mandate he was also the managing director and regional chairman of the Viennese Tenant Organization. Member of the Viennese local government from 1994 - 2007, he was the responsible councilor for living, housing and urban redevelopment, president of the Apartment Fund Vienna – fund for housing and urban redevelopment – and vice-president of the Viennese promotion of economy development fund. In January 2007 Werner Faymann was nominated Federal Minister for traffic, innovation and technology and since August 2008 he has been the Chairman of the social-democratic party of Austria (SPÖ).

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Elio Di Rupo, PS, Belgium

Elio Di Rupo was born in Belgium on 18 July 1951. He graduated as Doctor of Sciences at the University of Mons-Hainaut (highest distinction). He started his professional activities in the scientific domain: Lecture Member of Staff, University of Leeds (Great Britain) (1977-1978); Assistant at the Service of General Chemistry and Material Sciences, University of Mons (UMH) (1978); Researcher at the Institute for Scientific Research in Industry and Agriculture (I.R.S.I.A.) (1979); Head of the Research Department at the University of Mons (1982). Elio Di Rupo started his political career as a Member of the city council of Mons (1982-2000); Alderman of the city of Mons (1986-1987); National representative (1987-1989); Representative of the European Parliament (1989-1991); Senator (1991-1995); National representative (1995 - re-elected in 1999-2000); Mayor of Mons (as from 2001); National

representative (as from 2003). His governmental functions were: Minister of Education (1992-1994) and Audio-visual Media (1993-1994); Deputy Prime Minister of the federal Government (1994-1999); Minister-President of the Walloon Government (1999-2000). Today, Elio Di Rupo is Minister of State; President of the Socialist Party (PS); Professor at the University of Mons-Hainaut and Vice-President of the Socialist International Party.

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Said El Khadraoui, SP.A, Belgium

CV coming up soon.

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Kristian Vigenin, BSP, Bulgaria

CV coming up soon

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Iglika Ivanova, PBS Bulgaria

Iglika Ivanova was born on April, 25th, 1957 in the city of Sofia. She graduated from the Law Faculty of Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski in 1980. Until 1993 she worked as a legal advisor and since then she has been working as a barrister. She is a member of the Organization of Barristers in Sofia. Since 1993 Iglika Ivanova has been a member of the Bulgarian Socialdemocrats' Party. In 2001 she was appointed a member of the Party's National Committee and its legal affairs secretary. Since 2005 she has been vice-president and international secretary of the Party. She is also president of Women's Social Democratic Confederation. Since June 2005, Iglika Ivanova has been a deputy at the Bulgarian Parliament. She is a member of the Legal Issues Comission and Citizen's Complaints and Petitions Comission. In 2005 and 2006 she was an observer at the European Parliament.

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Neven Mimica, SDP, Croatia

CV coming up soon

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Kyriakos Mavronikolas, EDEK, Cyprus

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Vladimir Spidla, CSSD, Czech Republic

Born on April 22, 1951 in Prague, Mr Špidla completed his secondary education in 1970 to enrolin the Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague where he read history and prehistory. Without party affiliation before 1989, Mr.Spidla is one of the founding members of the CSSD, the Czech Social Democratic Party. In 1990, Mr Špidla became Vice-Chairman of the Jindřichùv Hradec District National Committee responsible for education, health care, social affairs and culture. In 1991 - 1996, he served as director of the local job centre. In 1992, he became a member of the Presidium of the Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD), in March 1997 its statutory Vice-Chairman, and in April 2001 Chairman of the CSSD. In the Chamber of Deputies, to which he was elected in 1996, he served as Chairman of the Parliamentary Social Policy and Health Care Committee. From July 22, 1998 to July 12 2002, he held the post of the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labour and Social Affairs authorised by the Government to co-ordinate the departments of labour and social affairs, health care, education, youth and physical training, the environment, and culture. He was appointed as Prime Minister on July 12, 2002. Between 2004-2009 Mr Spidla was European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities.

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Nicolai Wammen, SD, Denmark

Nicolai Halby Wammen was born on 7 February 1971. He studied Political Science at the University of Aarhus. He is mayor of the Municipality of Aarhus as of 1 January 2006. As Mayor he is a member of the presidency of the Business Policy Committee of the Municipality of Aarhus, chairman of the board of the Port of Aarhus, chairman of the board of the Aarhus Festival, chairman of the Local Committee concerning Police Activities, and chairman of the License Commission. Since September 2005 he has been vice-president of the Social Democrats. He was also member of Aarhus City Council 1997-2006 (leave of absence whilst serving as Member of Parliament 2001-2005), deputy chairman of the Social Democratic city council group and political spokesman, chairman of the Schools and Cultural Committee, and member of the Financial Committee. He was president of Frit Forum Aarhus between 1996 and1997. He was Member of Parliament for the Aarhus County Constituency (the Skanderborg Constituency) 2001-2005.

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Ivari Padar, SDE, Estonia

Ivari Padar was born on 12 March 1965 in Navi village, Võru Rural Municipality, Estonia. He is married and has a son and a daughter. He completed his studies in 1995 at the University of Tartu, where he graduated in history. His first job was as transportation worker in 1984. From 1988 to 1990, he worked as a carpenter at Võru Department of Repairs and Construction. He then was a teacher at Võru 9 year School No. 2 (1990–1991). Ivari Padar became Assistant Mayor, Võru City Government (1993–1994), then Chairman of Võrumaa Farmers Union (1994–1995). From 1995 to 1997, he was Assistant to the Chancellor at the Ministry of Finance. In 1997–1999 AS HT Hulgi, Director General for Agriculture, then Minister of Agriculture from 1999 to 2002. He was Chairman of the Estonian Social Democratic Party between 1999-2009.

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Johannes Koskinen, SDP, Finland

Johannes Koskinen was born on 10 December 1954 in Janakkala, Finland. He is married with two children. He graduated with a master of Laws. He was a member of Janakkala Municipal Council (1977-1988) and of Hämeenlinna Town Council (since 1989). Johannes Koskinen was presenter in the Administrative Board of Häme (1978-1979), then at the Ministry of the Interior (1980-1982). He worked as a lawyer with the Building Workers' Union (1982-1985) and with the Confederation of Finnish Trade Unions SAK (1985-1987). Johannes Koskinen joined the Minister of Labour as political secretary (1987-1988), where he became ministerial secretary in 1989. He was legislative secretary of the SDP parliamentary group (1989-1991) and has been Member of the Parliament since 1991. Johannes Koskinen was chairman of the Supervisory Board of VR-Group Ltd (1995-1999) and Minister of Justice (5 April 1999 - 23 September 2005). As from October 2005, he is a member of the Presidency of the PES.

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Alain Richard, PS, France

Alain Richard was born on 29 August 1945, in Paris, France. He is a senior member of the Council of state (Conseil d'Etat). Mayor of Saint-Ouen l'Aumône since March 1977, he was a senior advisor during the five years he spent in the government before resuming his mandate as mayor at the end of 2002. He entered the Conseil d'Etat in 1971, while concurrently teaching at the Reims and Paris I universities and at the Institute of political studies from 1971 to 1978. He was elected MP for Val d'Oise in 1978 and was re-elected

until 1993. He was Vice-President of the parliamentary Committee in charge of reviewing legislation from 1981 to 1986, then Vice-President of the National Assembly from 1987 to 1988. He was also General Rapporteur for the Finance Committee in the Parliament (1988-1993); From 1989 to 1997, he was also Chairman of the Cergy-Pontoise New Town association. He then became Senator for Val d'Oise and Secretary of the Senate Finance Committee from September 1995 until June 1997, before being appointed Minister of Defence from June 1997 till May 2002. In this capacity, he carried out a complete re-structuring of the armed forces, and contributed to reorganising all industries related to the defence field (EADS, DCN, etc.). As soon as 1998, he set in motion the first steps towards the creation of a Defence Europe. A member of the national board of the French Parti socialiste, he has now become vice-president of the Party of European Socialists since May 2003.

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Zoran Popov, SDUM, FYR Macedonia

CV coming up soon.

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Martin Schulz, SPD, Germany and S&D Group in the EP

Martin Schulz was born on 20 December 1955. Since 1984 he has been a municipal councilor in Würselen. He became mayor of Würselen between 1987 and 1998. From 1991-1999 he was member of the SPD Party Council. Since 1995 he has been member of the Mittelrhein SPD Executive. He has been chairman of the SPD Aachen District since 1996 and since 1999 he has been member of the SPD Federal Executive. 1994 he has become a Member of the European Parliament. He was the PSE Group coordinator of the Subcommittee on Human Rights (1994 -1996) and PSE Group coordinator of the Committee on Civil Liberties and Home Affairs (1996-2000). He was the first vice-chairman of the PSE Group from 2002 to 2004. Since May 2004 he has been holding the position of President of the Parliamentary Group of the Socialists & Democrats.

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Stavros Lambrinidis, PASOK, Greece

Stavros Lambrinidis was born on 6 February 1962. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics and Political Science/Psychology from Amherst College, USA in 1984 and in 1988 he received his Juris Doctor Degree from Yale Law School. He was elected Member of

the European Parliament in June 2004. He is the Head of the Greek Socialist Delegation to the European Parliament. He is Vice-Chairman of the Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, and the Parliament's Rapporteur on the Integration of Immigrants in Europe and on the Protection of Critical Infrastructures. He is member of the PASOK National Council. Between 1999 and 2004, Mr. Lambrinidis was Ambassador ad personam of the Hellenic Republic. He was member of the Steering Committee on the negotiation and implementation of nine bilateral agreements with Turkey in a wide range of fields. He also served as coordinator of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' participation in the preparations for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. From July 2000 to October 2005, Mr. Lambrinidis was also the Director-General of the International Olympic Truce Centre (IOTC). From October 1996 to August 1999, Mr. Lambrinidis was the Secretary General of the Greek Foreign Ministry responsible for expatriate Greeks. From January to October 1996 he served as Chief of Staff to Minister for Foreign Affairs Theodore Pangalos. Between 1993 and 1995 he was Special Advisor to Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and, subsequently, Minister for National Education George Papandreou.

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Agnes Vadai, MSZP, Hungary

CV coming up soon.

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Alexandra Dobolyi, MSZDP, Hungary

Alexandra Dobolyi was born on 26 September 1971 in Hungary. She studied Social Sciences at Janus Pannonius University from 1994/95 - 1999/2000. In 2000, she started her Ph.d in the University of Pécs than she continued her Ph.d studies at the University Eötvös Loránd. From 1990 to 1998, she worked as an Interpreter (German, English), at the Hungarian Parliament. In 1998-1999, she obtained a scholarship from the Zilk Foundation, and was assigned to the Austrian delegation to the Party of European Socialist. From 1998 to 2002, she was appointed expert on foreign affairs, at the Hungarian Parliament, Hungarian Socialist Party. In 2000, she got a scholarship from Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, followed in 2001 by another one from Karl Renner Institute: both scholarships led her to work at the European Parliament, Brussels. In 2001-2002, she obtained a scholarship from the Party of European Socialists and was assigned to the PES group. From 2002 to 2004, she was the International Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Party. As from 2004, she is Member of the European Parliament. In 2007 she was appointed as the Foreign Policy Director of the MSZP.

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Ruairi Quinn T.D., LP, Ireland

Ruairi Quinn was born on 2 April 1946. He is married and has three children. He studied Architecture and was also a Lecturer in Architecture, Housing and Urban Design at University College, Dublin. He spent all his professional career as an Architect and published numerous articles on housing, urban design, planning and environmental issues. His political career started in 1974 when he became Member of Dublin City Council, which he remained until 1977. He was then Member of Seanad Éireann (1976-1977) and again in 1981-1982. Ruairi Quinn was elected Dáil Éireann in 1977-1981 and in 1982. He was then appointed Minister of State, Department of the Environment (1982-1983), Minister for Labour (1984-1987), Minister for the Public Service (1986-1987), Minister for Enterprise and Employment (1993-1994) and Minister for Finance (1994-1997). Ruairi Quinn was also Chairman Social Affairs Committee, Dáil Éireann (1984), Member of EU Council of Ministers for Social Affairs (1983-1987) and Leader of Civic Alliance and Labour Group (1991-1993). He was Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1990 to 1997 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1997 to 2002. Ruairi Quinn is Member of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland and Member of Amnesty International.

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To be nominated, DS, Italy

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Luca Cefisi, PS, Italy

Luca Cefisi was born on 22 november 1964. He has been a Socialist youth leader in Italy and a Vice-President of the International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY), and has been active in the PES framework since its foundation, managing the european activities of Socialisti Democratici Italiani (now Partito socialista). He also publishes regularly on Italian political magazines and news agencies, on European social democracy..

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Atis Lejins - LSDSP Latvia

CV coming up soon.

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Justas Paleckis, LSDP, Lithuania

CV coming up soon.

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Alex Bodry, LSAP, Luxembourg

Alex Bodry was born in Dudelange, Luxembourg, on 3 October 1958. He is married and has two daughters. He got a Masters Degree in Law at the University of Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne) and did complementary studies on Luxembourguese law. He was elected Member of Parliament in 1984, and has been re-elected ever since. Between 1989 and 1999 Alex Bodry was: Minister of the Environment and Planning; Minister of the Police; Minister of Energy, of Youth and Sports and Minister of Communications. He is mayor of Dudelange and a barrister. He is also MP and vice-president of the parliamentary group of Luxembourg's Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP) since 1999. He has been president of the LSAP since October 2004.

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Dr George Vella, PL, Malta

Dr George Vella was born in 1942. He is married and has three children. He has been a doctor by profession since 1964. He was elected as a member of the Maltese parliament in 1978 and headed Malta's delegation at the local and regional authorities conference in the Council of Europe. He was also a substitute member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and of the Council's commission for the relations with the European Parliament. Between 1996 and 1998 Dr George Vella was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs. In April 1997 he was appointed honorary President of the second Euro-Med Conference which was held in Malta. As Malta's Foreign Minister, Dr Vella made official visits to China, Italy, Belgium, Tunisia, Austria, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Greece, Germany and Egypt. He representaed the Malta Labour Party at various meetings of the OSCE, IPU and Socialst International. Dr Vella was also the Malta Labour Party's substitute member at the Convention for the Future of Europe. Today he is the Malta Labour Party's main spokesperson on European Affairs.

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Marije Laffeber, Netherlands

Marije Laffeber was born on 21 June 1974 in Dordrecht, the Netherlands. She studied Dutch Law (University of Groningen) and Journalism and Communication (Windesheim academy Zwolle). She was member of the Young Socialists in the PvdA (1993 - 2001) active as chair of both the international and the feminism and multiculturalism committee. She was member of the presidium of the International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) from 1997 - 2001. She started her professional career as press and Communications officer for the PvdA and she worked for Socialist International Women in London. Marije Laffeber is presently member (since 2003) of the executive committee of the Dutch Labour Party (PvdA), elected by the PvdA congress in the position of International secretary. Furthermore she is member of the board of the Alfred Mozer Foundation, member of the board of the Evert Vermeer Foundation, member of the PvdA election manifesto committee for the European elections, member of the PvdA South North Committee for development as well as member of the Ethics Committee of the Socialist International.

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Espen Barth Eide, DNA, Norway

Espen Barth Eide was born on 1 May 1964. He studied political science at the University of Oslo and Ciencias Políticas, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona. He started his professional career as Project director and acting secretary general of the Norwegian European Movement during the campaign preceding Norway's 1994 referendum on membership in the European Union (1991-1993). From 1993 to 1996, he was Researcher then Director of NUPIs UN Programme (1996-2000). From 2000 to 2001, he was State Secretary (Deputy Foreign Minister) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since 2002, he has been Director of the Department of International Politics at Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. Espen Barth Eide is an active member of the Labour Party since 1979. He has held several positions in the Labour Party Youth (early 1980s), later Labour Party particularly in relation to the international work of the party.

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Boguslaw Liberadzki, SLD, Poland

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Katarzyna Matuszewska, UP, Poland

Katarzyna Matuszewska was born on 11 March 1974. She has been Member of the Polish Labour Youth since 1995. As from 1999, she has been Member of the international team of the Falcon Educational Center Kurt Loewenstein, Werftpfuhl, Germany; she is a Lecturer and manages international training programs. Between 1999 and 2001, she was International Secretary of Polish Labour Youth. In 2001, she co-founded the Foundation for European Education Stefan Okrzeja, where she does volunteer work on the projects for democratisation of East Europe, especially in Belarus and Ukraine in co-operation with the Forum for Democracy and Solidarity. From 2002 to 2004, she was Political Adviser to the Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Chairperson of Unia Pracy/Union of Labour, Responsible for International Relations. Since 2002, she has been Member of the PES Presidency and International Secretary of Unia Pracy/Union of Labour (UP). As from January 2005, she is President of the Council of the Foundation for European Education Stefan Okrzeja.

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José Manuel Lello Ribeiro de Almeida, PS, Portugal

José Manuel Lello Ribeiro de Almeida was born on 18 May 1944. He is an engineer and Enterprise Manager. He has been Member of the Portuguese National Parliament since 1983. He was Chairman of the National Parliament Administration Minister of Youth and of Sport from 2000 to 2002. He was appointed Secretary of State of the Portuguese Communities from 1995 to 2000. José Manuel Lello Ribeiro de Almeida is International Secretary of the Portuguese Socialist Party. He is also Member of National Parliamentary Defence Committee; Member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly - Vice-President of Science and Technology Committee. He is Vice-President of the Luso-Arabic Institute for Cooperation.

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To be nominated, PSD, Romaniatop

Borut Pahor, SD, Slovenia

Borut Pahor was born on 2 November 1963 in Postojna. He is married and has one child. In 1987 he graduated in International Relations from FSPN with highest award (Faculty of Social Sciences in Ljubljana). In 1990 he was elected as a delegate to the Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia. From the year 1992 until 2004 he was four times elected as a member

of Slovenian National Assembly. In the time frame 2000-2004 he was President of the Slovenian National Assembly. Among many , he was Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee (1990-1992), member of the European Affairs Committee (1992-1996), Chairman of the Foreign Policy Committee (1995), Vice-President of the National Assembly (1996-1997), member of the Foreign Relations Committee and the Constitutional Commission (2000-2004). From the very beginning he participated in, and subsequently headed, the Slovenian Parliamentary Delegation to the Council of Europe (1993-2000). In 1996 he was appointed one of the Delegation´s Deputy Chairman. He was member of the Assembly of the Western European Union (1993-1997) and member of the Executive Committee of the Interparliamentary Union (1995-1996). Since 1997 he is the President of the Political Party United List of Social Democrats who renamed in April 2005 to Social Democrats (SD). In June 2004 he was elected as a member of the European Parliament. Since then he is member of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament, Member of the Committee on Budgetary Control, Committee on Constitutional Affairs, and substitute member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Vice-Chairman of the Delegation to EU-Croatia Joint Parliamentary Committee.

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Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar, PSOE, Spain

CV coming up soon.

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Urban Ahlin, SAP, Sweden

CV coming up soon

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Walter Suter, SP, Switzerland

Walter Suter was born 1943 in Zurich, Switzerland. He graduated from the School for Public Administration of the Canton of Zurich, joined the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1964 and after his training he was successively transferred to Paris, Beijing, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Santiago de Chile, Madrid, Palma de Mallorca, Mumbai and Freiburg in Breisgau. From 1989 onwards, Walter Suter served as Head of the Swiss Diplomatic Missions in Paraguay and Lebanon, and as well as Consul General in Vancouver. In 1999 he becomes a member of the Socialist Party of Switzerland (SPS). He is then one of the co-founders of the International section of the party and the next year, he integrates the SPS Group of Experts for Foreign and Security Policy. In 2003, Walter Suter is nominated Ambassador of Switzerland to Venezuela, as well as to Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, Saint Lucia, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda and Saint Kitts and Nevis. In August 2007 Walter Suter ends his mission in Venezuela, retires from the diplomatic career and becomes the President of the International Section of the SPS. He is the permanent representative of the SPS to the PES.

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Deniy Baykal, CHP Turkey

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Fayik Yagiyaz, DTP, Turkey

CV coming p soon.

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Kader Sevinç, CHP, Turkey

An honors graduate from the Akdeniz University and Jean Monnet European Integration Program, Kader Sevinc pursued “business communication” training at the Harvard University, USA, and various training programs on quality improvement, standardization, human resources, advanced management applications and European affairs. Ms Sevinç obtained her MA on International Relations from CERIS-Brussels/Univ. Paris XI with “grand distinction” (Thesis: Theories of International Negotiation, European Union’s Enlargement and the Turkish Case”). She published on these issues and was awarded by the Turkish Industrialists’ and Business Association for her entrepreneurship project and by the European Commission for her project entitled “Turkey’s transformation and human capital in the EU accession process”. Kader Sevinç worked as an MEP adviser at the European Parliament (2005-2008) and served as vice-president of TOSED (Turkish Business Association-Brussels), member of the EU advisory board of Kagider (Women Entrepreneurs Association). Ms Sevinç is currently a European board member of TEMA, member of Ka-Der (Association to Support the Women in Politics) and EU adviser for Forum Istanbul. Her comments and interviews are published in the European and Turkish press and in the specialised news web sites of abhaber.com, euractiv.com.tr, CafeBabel.com. She is the co-author of a political poetry book “The European Constitution in Verse” (2009, Brussels). Since 1 September 2008, Ms Sevinç is the representative for the European Union of the Turkish social democratic party, the CHP, in Brussels and PES (Party European Socialists) Presidency Member.

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David Wayne, LP, Great Britain, United Kingdom

Wayne David has been the Member of Parliament for Caerphilly since June 2001. He is currently the Shadow Minister for Europe. Prior to this he was the Shadow Minister for Wales, having been the Wales Office Minister between October 2008 and May 2010. Between June 2007 and his appointment to the Wales Office he was a Government Whip. Previously, Wayne was a Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Team and then to

the Minister for the Armed Forces. Before entering Government Wayne was a member of the European Scrutiny Committee. He was the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Poland and established an All Party Parliamentary European Union Group, which he chaired. Before being elected to Westminster, Wayne worked for the Youth Service. For 10 years he was a Member of the European Parliament for South Wales and was Leader of the Labour Group. He also played a key role in securing Objective 1 funding for West Wales and the Valleys. Before being elected to the European Parliament, Wayne worked in the Rhymney Valley as a lecturer and organiser for the Workers' Educational Association. He lectured on Trade Union Health and Safety and shop steward courses, and taught classes on a range of political and economic subjects. Born and brought up in a former mining community, Wayne comes from a mining family. He has lived in the South Wales Valleys all his life.

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To be nominated, SDLP Northern Ireland

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Zita Gurmai, President of PES Women

Zita Gurmai was elected as President of PES Women on 21 October 2004. Her ambition is to work with PES Women members to strengthen PES Women's activities within a reinvigorated PES. Zita has been active in Hungarian and international women's movements since the early 1990s. In 1995, she became involved in the women's section of the Hungarian Socialist Party, after which she was elected President of the organisation in 2001. One of her first major initiatives as President was to launch the “Women for Change†movement, often referred to as “yellow scarf movementâ€, which was successful in advocating the introduction of gender quotas in the Hungarian Socialist Party. Zita was instrumental in establishing and directing three foundations (Women in Public, Our Future, the Europe of the new Millennium Foundation and the Real Equal Opportunities Foundation) in Hungary which seek to improve gender equality in different areas. Zita plays an important role in the activities of the Central and Eastern European Network for Gender Issues which was set up in1998. The mission of the network is to assist progressive women from socialist and social democratic parties and NGOs in organising and promoting gender equality campaigns and initiatives. Elected as an MP in April 2002, Zita worked on the Hungarian Parliament's Committees on European Integration and Foreign Affairs. In the first European elections of the EU of 25 member states (June 2004), Zita was elected Member of the European Parliament. She is currently Vice-President of the Parliament's Women's Rights and Gender Equality Committee and a member of Regional Development Committee. In the period preceding Hungary's accession to the EU, Zita was an observer to the European Parliament. Zita is also active on a global level. She is vice-president of Socialist International Women (elected in 1999). Amongst other activities, Pia Locatelli, President of Socialist International Women, and Zita are currently working on a Global Progressive Forum project on women and globalisation.

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Petroula Nteledimou, President of ECOSY

Coming up soon.

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Karl-Heinz Klär, PES Group in the Committee of the Regions

Karl-Heinz KLÄR was born on 16 January 1947 in Bildstock (Saar), Germany, in a working class family. Between 1969 and 1973, he studied modern and medieval history, sociology, political science, romance languages and literature at the universities of Saarbrücken and Bonn. During that period, he got a scholarship from the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. In 1979, he obtained his PhD (Dr. phil.) in modern and medieval history from the university of Bonn. Between 1980 and 1983, he worked as a Lecturer at the Department for Social Sciences at the University of Kassel (Germany). From 1983 to 1987, he was Head of Cabinet and speechwriter of Willy Brandt, Chair of the German Social Democratic Party. In 1987-1991, he was political director for domestic affairs and campaigning at the Executive Committee of the German Social Democratic Party. In 1991, he became State Secretary and Head of the Chancellery of Rhineland-Palatinate State Government, a position he held until 1994. Since 1994, he has been State Secretary and Head of the Authority for Federal and European Affairs of Rhineland-Palatinate State Government. He has been a member of the Committee of the Regions (CoR) since 1995. In 2000-2002, he was Chair of the CoR's COTER commission and in 2002-2004, Chair of the Joint Consultative Committee on Cyprus. Since 2003, he has been a member of the CoR Bureau. In 2003-2006, he headed the German delegation in the CoR. Before becoming the President of the PES Group in February 2010, Karl-Heinz was the Group's First Vice-President (2006-2010). In 2007-2010, he was Chair of the CoR Working Group on Relations with Turkey. He has been a member of the PES Presidency since 2006 and participates to PES Leaders meetings as President of the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions since 2010

The Co-ordination team

Chaired by PES Secretary General, the Co-ordination team is composed of the Heads of the International departments of all PES member parties and organisations members of the Presidency.

It meets four or five times a year to discuss the planning, preparation, follow-up and financing of PES activities.

The Secretariat

The PES Secretariat is based in Brussels. The Secretary General is responsible for the day-to-day functioning of the Party, carrying out its decisions and preparing its meetings.

ECOSY

The ECOSY "Young European Socialists" gathers Socialist youth movements of the European Union, Central and Eastern Europe and of the Mediterranean countries. It was founded in November 1992 in The Hague with the following objectives:

to promote and support the values of democratic socialism to defend the interests of young people towards the European institutions to promote European citizenship and the emergence of a common identity in order to

achieve mutual understanding.

ECOSY is the youth organisation of the Party of European Socialists (PES), works in close co-operation with the International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) and is a member of the European Youth Forum.

PES Women

PES Women brings together women - MPs, MEPs and activists - from PES member parties to discuss and promote gender equality within and outside the PES.

Zita Gurmai MEP was reelected President of PES Women on 5 December 2009. Under Zita’s leadership, PES Women has entered a new period of reinforced cooperation amongst its members and is developing a stronger role within a stronger PES.PES Women seeks to promote gender equality on two different levels. Firstly, PES Women is permanently strengthening the external dimension of its work, in terms of formulating and advocating policy recommendations on various issues.

Secondly, PES Women pushes for equal representation in PES bodies (such as working groups and high level groups) and supports the increase of women in decision-making in PES member parties. The PES Women President is a full member of the PES Presidency.

PES Women has its own executive bureau, formed by its President, the three Vice-Presidents and the Bureau members. PES statutory meetings gather all members in representation of PES member parties and associated member parties.PES Women members, who are nominated by PES member parties, meet three times a year to:

Discuss strategic initiatives and specific policy themes.

Agree on campaigns and resolutions.

Share information on relevant European and national policies.

Since October 2004, PES Women has held six yearly conferences which gathered aver 80 representatives from all PES member parties, NGOs, trade unions and the media.Consult the latest publication from PES Women: "Europe through women's eyes"PES Women Activity Report   January 2007 – December 2009  gives an overview of all PES

Women events, involvements and commitments during this period.

ES Women call for the EU to address mainstream issues like gender pension gap and not just ‘women in the boardroom’

07/03/2011

PES Women launch pension campaign video; “It’s different for women”Speaking before the launch of the Party of European Socialists (PES) campaign, ‘It’s different for Women’, the President of PES Women, and Hungarian Member of the European Parliament, Zita Gurmai MEP stated that; “On International Women's Day, the European Union must send a signal that the lives of ordinary women are central in our concerns. On the fundamental issue of pensions, the European Commission should be leading the charge in closing the structural gaps between men and women. It is all very well to look at the gender gap in the boardroom, but outside those windows there are gender gaps that continue long into old age”.Women are being disadvantaged for contributing to society. For reasons that are often beyond their power such as the pay-gap, taking care of children and the elderly and because of work in precarious and undervalued sectors, women are all too often in receipt of pensions barely above the minimum subsistence level. Their pension income as a proportion of men’s is difficult to calculate but could be about 66% in Italy, 60% in Britain, and 56% in France, 42% in Germany.

The OECD’s ‘Pensions at a Glance’ for 2009 and Romanian MEP Rovana Plumb’sreport on female poverty provide substance to these claims.All European societies are facing aging populations and pension systems all over Europe are being reformed. These reforms are now mostly led by conservative governments that don’t specifically take into account a gender dimension. They should, because pension issues are gendered. Women aged over 65 years are at a much higher risk of poverty than men: on average the poverty risk for women is 22% versus 16% for men.

Ms. Gurmai added that; “Investing in gender equality rather than going down the road of the Annual Growth Survey is essential. We believe in investing in child care facilities, in the equal sharing of domestic work, in a renewed effort of tackling the pay gap, in fair parental leave and in designing equality and redistribution into pension schemes, such as generous carer credits. Some of these factors we have illustrated with the animation, but all of them majorly impact on women’s wellbeing in retirement”.

PES Women priorities

Priorities 2010-2011

Activities are centered around the theme My Body, My Rights, a commitment with three windows of action: calling for universal maternal health (New York, March 2010), combating violence against women (Madrid, June 2010) and an Annual Conference focusing on sexual and reproductive rights (Warsaw, December 2010). Priorities 2005-2009

Gender equality has always been a priority of the PES and of MEP Zita Gurmai, President of PES Women, full member of the PES Presidency and Vice-Chairwoman of the European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality between 2004 and 2009.

PES Women seeks to promote gender equality on two different levels. Firstly, PES Women is permanently strengthening the external dimension of its work, in terms of formulating and advocating policy recommendations on various issues. Secondly, PES Women pushes for equal representation in PES bodies (such as working Groups and high level Groups) and supports the increase of women in decision-making in PES member parties.

On 2008, PES Women made strong inputs in the drafting of PES Manifesto and included a whole chapter on gender equality, “Championing Gender Equality” showing PES’ commitments towards women’s empowerment. LGBT activists fromPES Rainbow Rose Network share gender equality activists’ fights for equality and diversity.

In December 2006, PES Women agreed on four working priorities: equal pay, reconciliation of professional, private and family life, migration, women and decision-making.

On 2005 International Women’s Day, PES Women launched its first pledge card. It served as a communication tool to raise awareness of the work of PES Women and to convey its priorities: more and better jobs for women, equal opportunities and equal pay, better childcare, an end to all forms of violence against women, women’s rights and empowerment.Moreover, PES Women initiated or took part into several PES campaigns in 2006-08:

PES celebrates Womens' Day - 2008

Put Children first - 2007

Gender pay gap - 2007

Diversity YES - Intolerance NO - 2006

Trafficking against women - 2006

Priorities 2004-2006

PES Women Activity Report October 2004 – December 2006 gives an overview of all PES Women events, involvements and commitments during this period.At the end of 2004, PES Women had decided unanimously on four equally important priorites that provided the guidelines until the end of 2006:

International(1)Beijing +10 - preparation and follow-up of the meeting to be held under the Luxembourg presidency (early February in Luxembourg) and the UN meeting in New York (late February - early March). To consider in particular the objective of the empowerment of women.

The European Union(2)Mid-term review of the Lisbon strategy due in March 2005 - the preparatory work for and follow-up work of the mid-term review.

(3)A campaign on gender equality in the workplace throughout the year, in particular on the persistent pay gap between men & women and the need to increase the provision of accessible and affordable childcare.

Within the PES and its member parties(4)PES Women will continue to pursue the goal of gender equality within the PES and its member parties. Increasing the empowerment and visibility of women within our own political family is linked to the broader objective of the empowerment of women in society at large.

PES Women structure

PES Women has its own executive bureau, formed by its President, the three Vice-Presidents and the eight Bureau members. PES statutory meetings gather all members in representation of PES member parties and associated member parties

ABOUT THE PES How does the PES work? o The President o The Congress o The Council o The Leaders' Conference o The Presidency o The Co-ordination team o The Secretariat o ECOSY o PES Women PES Women President Blog News Structure Priorities Yearly conference Activities My body, my rights

A Charter for European Women’s rights

Statements Links PES Members PES in the EU

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PES Women activities

PES Women organizes several events, be it with its members or with public audience to raise awareness on gender issues. It is also very active in organizing or initiating PES campaigns.

Currently (2010-2011) activities are centered around the theme My Body, My Rights, a commitment with three windows of action: calling for universal maternal health (New York, March 2010), combating violence against women (Madrid, June 2010) and an Annual Conference focusing on sexual and reproductive rights (Warsaw, December 2010).Earlier Activities: 

A Charter for European Women's Rights , December 2009 European Day of Action – Celebrating International Women’s Day   – 7-8 March 2009

The Party of European Socialists and its member parties are highlighting their commitment to women’s equality by celebrating International Women’s Day. The PES has designated the weekend March 7-8 as its first ‘European Day of Action’ for the 2009 European elections.

Conference on International Women’s Day , Brussels, 4 March 2009 PES Women Statutory meeting , Brussels, 19 February 2009 Fringe meeting on HIV/AIDS , PES Council, Madrid, 1 December 2008 PES Women Statutory meeting , Paris, 10 October 2008