Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats

The Socialist Group was one of the first three groups to be created when it was founded on 23 June 1953[3][17] in the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community. The Common Assembly was the predecessor of the European Parliament. A group bureau and secretariat was established in Luxembourg. 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 MEPs. It has ever since remained the largest or second-largest Group.

In 1987, the Single European Act came into force and the group began co-operating with the European People's Party (EPP) to secure the majorities needed under the cooperation procedure.[18] The left–right coalition between the Socialists and EPP has dominated the Parliament since then[19] and the post of President of the Parliament has alternated between the two groups ever since, with some exceptions.[20]

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.[4][5][21] The Confederation was succeeded by the Party of European Socialists (PES), in 1992.[4][21] As a result, the parliamentary group was renamed the Group of the Party of European Socialists on 21 April 1993.[3]

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. The group initially supported the Commission but later withdrew their support, forcing the Commission to resign.[22]

The group was renamed again to the Socialist Group in the European Parliament[7] on 20 July 2004[3] 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.[23] 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 of Italy, which was not affiliated to the PES in 2009.[24][25] 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 centre-left party, strongly influenced by social democracy and the Christian left, and had MEPs who were former Christian Democrats or had other political views.[26] 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 (ALDE).[27] The name Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats was suggested on 18 June by group president Martin Schulz[28] and it was renamed on 23 June 2009.[15] The English abbreviation was initially unclear, being variously reported as PASD,[29] S&D Group[30] or PASDE.[31][32] 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.[33] 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[1] and the abbreviation was S&D.[1]

The S&D Group joined the Progressive Alliance upon its official foundation on 22 May 2013[34] and is a member of the organisation's board.[35] The group was formerly an associated organisation of the Socialist International.[36]

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

The group is led by a President and a Bureau of vice-presidents. There is also a Treasurer and a Secretary General.[37]

Presidents of the group

Presidents of the group include:[38]

Chairperson		Took office	Left office	Country (Constituency)	Party
Guy Mollet		1953	1956	France	French Section of the Workers' International
Hendrik Fayat		1956	1958	Belgium	Belgian Socialist Party
Pierre-Olivier Lapie		1958	1959	France	French Section of the Workers' International
Willi Birkelbach		1959	1964	Germany	Social Democratic Party
Käte Strobel		1964	1967	Germany	Social Democratic Party
Francis Vals		1967	1974	France	French Section of the Workers' International
Georges Spénale		1974	1975	France	Socialist Party
Ludwig Fellermaier		1975	1979	Germany	Social Democratic Party
Ernest Glinne		1979	1984	Belgium (French)	Socialist Party
Rudi Arndt		1984	1989	Germany	Social Democratic Party
Jean-Pierre Cot		1989	1994	France	Socialist Party
Pauline Green		1994	1999	United Kingdom (London North)	Labour Party
Enrique Barón Crespo		1999	2004	Spain	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
Martin Schulz		2004	2012	Germany	Social Democratic Party
Hannes Swoboda		2012	2014	Austria	Social Democratic Party
Martin Schulz		2014 (May)	2014 (June)	Germany	Social Democratic Party
Gianni Pittella		2014	2018	Italy (Southern)	Democratic Party
Udo Bullmann		2018 (March)	2019	Germany	Social Democratic Party
Iratxe García		2019	present	Spain	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats.

• Socialists & Democrats Group website