The Party of the European Left (PEL), or European Left (EL), is a European political party that operates as an association of democratic socialist and communist political parties in the European Union and other European countries. It was formed in January 2004 for the purposes of running in the 2004 European Parliament elections. The PEL was founded on 8–9 May 2004 in Rome. The elected MEPs from member parties of the PEL sit in The Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL group in the European Parliament, though not all PEL members are also members of GUE/NGL. The current president is the Austrian politician Walter Baier.
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👉 Party of the European Left in the context of 2014 European Parliament election
The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 22 and 25 May 2014. It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candidates for President of the Commission.
The candidates, sometimes referred to by the German term Spitzenkandidaten (English: top candidates), were Jean-Claude Juncker for the European People's Party, Martin Schulz for the Party of European Socialists, Guy Verhofstadt for the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party, Ska Keller and José Bové jointly for the European Green Party and Alexis Tsipras for the Party of the European Left. The Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists and the European Alliance for Freedom declined to nominate candidates.
In this Dossier
- ⭐ Core Definition: Party of the European Left
- 👉 Party of the European Left in the context of 2014 European Parliament election
- Party of the European Left in the context of French Communist Party
- Party of the European Left in the context of Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova
- Party of the European Left in the context of The Left (Germany)
Party of the European Left in the context of French Communist Party
The French Communist Party (French: Parti communiste français, pronounced [paʁti kɔmynist fʁɑ̃sɛ], PCF) is a communist party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left.
The PCF was founded in 1920 by Marxist–Leninist members of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) who supported the Bolsheviks in the 1917 Russian Revolution. It became a member of the Communist International, and followed a Marxist-Leninist line under the leadership of Maurice Thorez. In response to the threat of fascism, the PCF joined the socialist Popular Front which won the 1936 election, but it did not participate in government. During World War II, it was outlawed by the occupying Germans and became a key element of the Resistance. The PCF participated in the provisional government of the Liberation from 1944 to 1947, but for the next 30 years was excluded from government despite consistently winning more than 20 percent of the vote in elections. It fell behind the Socialist Party in the 1970s, though entered government early in François Mitterrand's presidency (1981–1984) and participated in the Plural Left cabinet led by Lionel Jospin (1997–2002).
Party of the European Left in the context of Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova
The Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (Romanian: Partidul Comuniștilor din Republica Moldova, PCRM) is a communist party in Moldova led by Vladimir Voronin. It is the only communist party to have held a majority government in a post-Soviet state. It has been variously described as communist, Moldovenist, populist, Russophile, and pro-Soviet.
Affiliated with the Union of Communist Parties – Communist Party of the Soviet Union, it is also a member of the Party of the European Left and the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties.
Party of the European Left in the context of The Left (Germany)
Die Linke ([diː ˈlɪŋkə]; lit. 'The Left'), also known as the Left Party (German: Linkspartei, pronounced [ˈlɪŋkspaʁˌtaɪ] ), is a democratic socialist political party in Germany. The party was founded in 2007 as the result of the merger of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) and Labour and Social Justice – The Electoral Alternative. Through the PDS, the party is the direct descendant of the Marxist–Leninist ruling party of former East Germany, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). Since October 2024, Die Linke's co-chairpersons have been Ines Schwerdtner and Jan van Aken. The party holds 64 seats out of 630 in the German federal parliament (the Bundestag), having won 8.8% of votes cast in the 2025 German federal election. Its parliamentary group is the smallest of five in the Bundestag, and is headed by parliamentary co-leaders Heidi Reichinnek and Sören Pellmann.
Die Linke is represented in seven of Germany's sixteen state legislatures, including four of the five eastern states. As of 2025, the party participates in governments in the states of Bremen and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as a junior partner. From 2014 to 2024 the party led a coalition in Thuringia with the Social Democratic Party and The Greens headed by Minister-President Bodo Ramelow. Die Linke is a founding member of the Party of the European Left, and is the fifth-largest party in The Left group in the European Parliament. In September 2025, Die Linke had more than 120,000 registered members. Die Linke promotes left-wing populism and antimilitarism.