The Party of the European Left (EL) prepares for its 5th Congress, a Congress that will start a new stage in the European party, said its President Pierre Laurent, on July 1st in Paris, at the Council of Chairperson of the parties which compose the EL. If the first step was the creation of the party, in 2004, and the second was when in 2010 these parties decided to convert the EL into a player with a voice and weight in the European political scene, the 5th Congress, which will be held in Berlin in December, will mark a third phase in the history of the EL: the phase of "going onto the offensive".

Pierre Laurent explained it in the following way: "We must act on the offensive to create a stronger relationship of forces in Europe". Stronger and "as wide as possible, which will allow creating a majority to change the relationship of forces at European level in order to refound Europe on the principles of solidarity and shared social progress" he added, “setting the example of the Alliance against the Austerity (AAA)”. And the way to achieve it, according to Laurent, is building a permanent annual forum with all progressive forces in Europe with the aim of building common battles capable of changing Europe.

The EL´s aim is to develop "a new social contract for the sovereignty and solidarity among all the peoples of Europe, a union of nations and peoples whose sovereignty is respected. It will be built on the basis of the solidarity and the fight against inequalities and fiscal and social dumping, in favour of the values of ecology, peace and everything that we develop in the political document".

He said that it is a question of going further and of working with political forces that there are not part of the EL, with the parliamentary group GUE/NGL, with trade unions, social movements, NGOs, social democrats – that do not renounce the principles of the left – and with ecologists.

It was time to validate the draft document on which the EL has been working for six months and which lays the foundations to the offensive. This meeting of chairpersons held in Ivry, red municipality adjacent to Paris where the communists take part in the government, supposes a firm step forward, not only in the strategy of the EL but in the most effective adaptation of its structure for the work that the party has ahead.

The Presidents and delegates from more than 14 Parties that attended, among them Die Linke, the Portuguese Bloco, the Red-Green Alliance of Denmark, the Communist Party of Spain, the Left Alliance as well as the Communist Party (both) of Finland...., shared - with one voice - the urgency of giving more dynamism to the work of the EL and the need to be able to give quick answers to a European reality that changes very rapidly. All agreed that the new stage of the EL needs to adopt more agile decision-making bodies. The way of doing so would give the Secretariat a capacity of decision-making that it does not have now, always including the maximum transparency.

Pierre also proposed the celebration of an annual EL-Assembly, which would not affect the Congress that would continue be carried out every three years, but it would allow to improve the work rhythm adapting it to the rapidity with which the events develop in Europe because “today nobody can know what may be of the European Union within two years".

The President of the Party also pointed out that the time has come to renew the presidency and to strengthen the collective work. He also announced that its responsibility in France, with the presidential elections, is going to absorb him a lot of time, "since that what happens here will be important not only for France but for Europe as well. In fact,” he warned, “Le Pen is very active is to create a common front on the extreme right at European level”.

Returning to the EL Presidency, he said, that if was necessary he would be able to participate in a collective Presidency. He also took the opportunity to praise the "outstanding role" exerted by Maite Mola in the coordination of the Executive Board, suggesting that "she must continue to do so".

It is not yet defined if there would be a change from a collegiate Presidency to a collective one but the need was clear for greater representation within and outside of Europe in order to be more active with all progressive forces, making reference to the need to continue the relations with other forums such as the Sao Paolo Forum - with which we keep increasing the collaboration – as well as the progressive forces of Africa.

In any case, the debate will remain open until upcoming October when the Executive Board, to be held in Budapest, will finalize the proposals.