[Individual-members-EL] EL Congress

[Mike Nagler]

Hi Steven, dear comrades,

i agree in that points. Its the same for me... there is no real structur to  get active inside the EL... and this is of course demotivating. I do some things on regional level, ... all the time i try to do it also in connection with the EL. I have now contacts to people from the "young socialists" in czech, .. so they want to distribute that flyer we made in cz to support indiv. membership there. (But that needs a while, cause we need to translate and revise that flyer.) The biggest problem we have --> there is no infrastructure and no support of that idea of 1 european party,... and we dont have any money to push forward campaigns with focus on the EL. I also planning to take part at the congress in november. But anyway it will depends on support of the national party. And i dont want to take part just as an visitor without influence of the direction of my party. I was thinking about, that it could give a posive sign to bring some positions, coming from individuals, to start an european champaign, in that congress. We have to show that there are individual members and they want do do something.... also in the view that we want to begin to selections in 2009 european-wide as european left party.
For sure we already did some things and we also made suggestions for changing the statute in the sense that individual members can have some influence. But until now i remember there came no positive feedback. I think we should be more offensive and use that congress for that. That means we could bring in some requests for that congress and we need the possibility to speak on that congress to make clear that there are  european members and they want to be participate in this party. I think we have to make them clear that the left has only a chance to have influence on politics in a "left way", if the EL will become also in a practical way an european left.

It think the best way would be to do this with an european-wide campaign... for example against militarization... which we could use in a second step to push forward the individual membership.

Hope some more of you, reading that list, will respond.

Best wishes,

Mike







-------- Original-Nachricht --------
Datum: Sat, 28 Jul 2007 13:08:16 +0100
Von: "Steve Spence" <stephen_spence at btinternet.com>
An: individual-members-el at listi.jpberlin.de
Betreff: [Individual-members-EL] EL Congress

> Dear Comrades,
> 
> The EL Congress is in November.  I am planning to attend.  At this stage
> as an observer because I can't attend any other way.  I have no national
> party.
> 
> This mailing list exists for individual members but most of the time it is
> inactive.  In GB there are too few of us to sustain our own network and
> frankly so far I have failed in my attempts to get a website established. 
> The webmaster is a member but also a trade union organiser and simply runs
> out of time to do anything on a volunteer basis.  I am in a similar boat with
> my trade union work.
> 
> I understand in Germany activity of individual members is minimal despite
> Uli's efforts.
> 
> Only in Italy do I hear there may be more with the formation of an Italian
> Section of the EL.
> 
> The website does not have detailed reports of such initatives, only brief
> news items, there are no minutes of the Executive Board to look at to keep
> up with events, there is a newsletter I have tried to subscribe to but so
> far the system has failed when I tried, I contact the Brussels office every
> so often and catch up when I/they are there or have time which is not very
> often.  I attended one summer university but this year work made it
> impossible to go again.
> 
> In short it is my opinion as an individual member it is very hard for me
> to get a real engagement with EL.  There is little I can input into day to
> day, little real sense of belonging, no real sense of being a left activist
> within a Party, little to offer other people as a reason for joining.  I am
> not much more now than I have been for a number of years, an independent
> left activist with a loose association with EL.  This is different to being
> a 'member'.  
> 
> I attend the trade unionists network twice a year and whilst this can only
> work at a minimal level at least I feel there is something to organise
> around.  There are two yearly meetings and in time you get to know the
> individuals.
> 
> Maybe for individual members elsewhere it is different.  I'd like to hear
> because what I thought we should do is forget national boundaries and
> request that a Europe wide individual member Branch of the EL is established at
> the November Congress.  The Branch would have a Chair, Vice Chairs, a
> Secretary and a small committee with the individual member subscriptions going
> into a Individual Member Branch account.  There should be an Annual General
> Meeting that the members can attend with at least one from each country
> paid for by the Party.  That's what happens with the trade union network
> although on both occassions I have attended I have paid my own airfare as I
> believe I should contribute something.  If I had to pay for accomodation as
> well I couldn't afford to expense. 
> 
>  The Individual member Branch should have delegates to the Congress, the
> Chair on the Council of Chairs, and a seat on the Executive Board.  Reports
> of meetings could be posted on this list and debate stimulated >from having
> to deal with real issues rather than just trying to keep motivating
> ourselves.
> 
> What do you think?  Should we push this agenda forward to the Executive
> Board.
> 
> Best wishes
> 
> Stephen Spence   

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