[Individual-members-EL] EL Individual Members

[Francis King]

Hello all

I think we have to ask ourselves: what is the purpose of individual
membership of the ELP? So far as I can see, its main useful purpose
could be to bring European-oriented socialists and leftists from
different countries together to work on specifically pan-European
political questions. It could also help give the ELP a life of its own
as a party, rather than simply as an umbrella for a collection of
national parties. On the other hand, individual membership cannot
substitute for engagement in national political organisations, nor can
it form the basis for new national political parties. From this point of
view, the idea of dividing the individual members off into
self-contained national units is completely self-defeating - if we want
to work in national units, we don't need to do it under the ELP banner.

Ultimately, this is a matter for the ELP leadership to decide: if it is
serious about the ELP having individual membership alongside national
party affiliations, it will need to provide structures through which we
can work together. Otherwise, it should simply do away with the category
altogether, and we can all go off and do something else.

Cheers

Francis

В Сбт, 02/05/2009 в 18:00 +0000, pablo sanchez centellas пишет:
> Dear comrades,
>  
> Well, the point is that the different parties that run for the
> coming European elections do not even take individual members into
> account.
>  
> It is a pity that there is not a website or a blog but I think that
> the hard reality does not encourage people to work towards something
> that you do not even know if it is going to be acknowledged.
> The Cercle in Brussels has gone trhough a similar period, people do
> wonder what is the point of meeting if we are a talking shop.
> Apparently the italians are going together with the communist list but
> I wonder how much life does Sinistra Europea does have?
> I am very pessimistic about the future of the individual members, on
> the other hand there have been some changes such as the depart of the
> hungarian partner if the ELP had had a hungarian group of individual
> members they could establish a base to the left of the current
> government so there is some room for us to exist.
>  
> Just some thoughts.
>  
> About the No2EU campaign in the UK, i think this is the same people
> that tried to create RESPECT, the Socialist Alliance, the old CPB and
> some trade unionists that have attempted to build a left alternative
> for the last 10 years. I fear that this will be another fiasco. The
> ELP should debate the situation in the UK as far as the left is
> concerned.
>  
> I would like to see the ELP taking more seriously both the individual
> members and people who are trying to build a left alternative in
> difficult conditions. I hope that after the elections they realise the
> need to develop a wider base of support.
>  
> Yours
> 
> Pablo
>  
> 
> ______________________________________________________________________
> From: stephen_spence at btinternet.com
> To: individual-members-el at listi.jpberlin.de
> Date: Fri, 24 Apr 2009 15:27:56 +0100
> Subject: [Individual-members-EL] EL Individual Members
> 
> Dear Comrades,
> 
>  
> 
> I have not seen any discussion between individual members on this list
> for many months.
> 
>  
> 
> In the UK individual members still do not have any status within EL
> despite asking Helmut Scholz on several occasions to ask the Executive
> Board to grant observer status to our network.  The network here has
> now taken down its website and its blog as the lack of status within
> EL has resulted in very little activity from the members we do have.
> So far we have built the network up twice only to see it dwindle
> again.
> 
>  
> 
> The majority of the UK Left remains anti-EU as demonstrated by an
> electoral platform ‘No to EU, Yes to Democracy’ being run in the
> European Elections by the RMT union, Communist Party of Britain and
> the Socialist Party of England and Wales, which I certainly do not
> support.  I am not part of the anti-Europe left.
> 
>  
> 
> Those of us who support EU solidarity within the Left do not have a UK
> party and the EL appears to have little interest in us.  I think all
> of us are considering what future we have with the EL.
> 
>  
> 
> In solidarity
> 
>  
> 
> Stephen Spence
> 
> 
> 
> 
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