Socialist group needs urgent shake-up, says reforming MEP

Date: 11/07/02

By Martin Banks

THE second biggest political group in the European Parliament is in urgent need of a 'fundamental' shake-up, according to Dutch reformer Michiel van Hulten.

The MEP says the 180-strong Group of European Socialists (PES) lacks openness and too much power is concentrated within an elite group of senior members.

In a letter to fellow deputies, the 33-year-old, tipped as a future PES leader, says: 'Many of us agree that the PES group is in need of fundamental reform. Group decision-making procedures lack transparency. Group meetings lack focus and there is a tendency to over-centralise.

'Too much power is concentrated with a small number of members wearing different hats.' The letter goes on: 'In Parliament as a whole we are perceived as out of touch at best and arrogant at worst.'

Van Hulten, a member of the Campaign for Parliamentary Reform group, says this was most obvious three years ago when the group put forward a candidate for the assembly's presidency without first building an alliance with other groups.

'It was apparent again at the start of this year when unforced errors, tactical mistakes and group in-fighting caused the transfer of the chairmanship of the employment and social affairs committee to the Greens.

'The 'battle of the Titans' which ensued caused members to feel alienated and frustrated.'

While welcoming recently announced proposals for internal reform, van Hulten says the PES should foster 'open' debate, both within the group and with the rest of Parliament.

The second biggest political group in the European Parliament, the Group of European Socialists (PES), is in urgent need of a 'fundamental' shake-up, according to MEP Michiel van Hulten.