[Individual-members-EL] EL Summer University, Paris

[Steve Spence]

Dear All,

At the Summer Uiniversity in Paris earlier this month there was a lot of discussion of the fact that the Executive Board has not moved forward with proposals to involve individual members more with the life of the Party.  Very much the idea that the Party is a Party of Parties prevails although at the grassroots level there is a lot more support for the idea of the EL as a European wide Party.

A number of individual members discussed and thought that we had to start making the move towards broadening and deepening our networks both with other individual members and individual members of the member parties.

We discussed with a number of activists including younger comrades and about ten of us met together in the Political Bureau Room in the French Communist Party HQ and decided that we wanted to extend and broaden our email contacts and our ability to talk to each other.

As this individual member list remains inactive for most of the year we decided we might as well add members who were interested in direct contact with each other to this mailing list so effectively this list will become indivdual members plus individual members of member parties who particluarly have an interest in 'Action' or a 'Democratic Voice' within EL.  Who knows maybe even 'Democratic Action' can be generated from the grassroots as we discuss with each other!

Mike from Germany has been adding names to this list over the last few weeks.  He and Franzi from Germany had distributed a list at the Summer University seeking the email addresses of comrades.  Three pieces of paper went round, which some of the organisers of the Summer University did not seem to be very happy about.  Strangely only one list came back, but it represented a start.

The European Left Party seems to have been quite slow in organising across Europe actions.  One however is planned for October against 'precariousness'.  This broadened email list might help us co-ordinate actions and give us ideas of how we can support each other.

The term individual member may just have evolved into a method of organising rather than the description of a form of membership.  Individual members talking to other individual members both of EL and the member parties across Europe.  This contribution is designed to kick off a discussion, which in turn may launch a new grassroots way of doing things.

Anything on this list should remain confidential to those on it unless it is agreed that any comments may be repeated elsewhere.  For some of us it is important that political work is seperate from other work.  The trade union I work for is non-party political but I am personally able to have my own views.  I must be careful though what views I express publicly.  However I believe it is important for us to have a way of talking to each other.

What do you think?

In solidarity,

Stephen Spence
Individual Member
European Left Party
England
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