Party of the European Left

Party of the European Left Partei der Europäischen Linken Parti de la Gauche Européenne Partito della Sinistra Europea Partido de la Izquierda Europea Partido da Esquerda Europeia Κόμμα Ευρωπαϊκής Αριστεράς Avrupa Sol Partisi Il-Partit Ewropew tax-Xellug
Abbreviation	PEL[a]
President	Walter Baier (AT)
Founded	8–9 May 2004 (2004-05-08 – 2004-05-09); 21 years ago
Headquarters	Square de Meeûs 25, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Think tank	Transform Europe
Women's wing	EL-Fem
Membership (26 January 2025)	447
Ideology	Democratic socialism Communism Left-wing populism Anti-capitalism[1] Soft Euroscepticism
Political position	Left-wing to far-left
European Parliament group	The Left in the European Parliament (majority)
Colours	Dark red
European Parliament	16 / 720
European Commission	0 / 27
European Council	0 / 27
European Lower Houses	116 / 6,215
European Upper Houses	17 / 1,457
Website
european-left.org
Politics of the European Union Political parties Elections

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.

Several member and observer parties participate also in the more radical European Anti-Capitalist Left. Before the PEL was founded, most of its members already held annual meetings together, as part of the New European Left Forum (NELF).^[2] The current president is the Austrian politician Walter Baier.

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