The
Socialist Group was one of the first three groups to be created when it was founded on 23 June 1953 in the Common Assembly of the
European Coal and Steel Community. The Common Assembly was the predecessor of the European Parliament. A group bureau and secretariat was established in
Luxembourg. The group continued through the creation of the appointed Parliament in 1958 and, when the Parliament became an elected body in 1979 following the
first European election, the group became the largest in terms of returned
MEPs. It has ever since remained the largest or second-largest Group. In 1987, the
Single European Act came into force and the group began co-operating with the
European People's Party (EPP) to secure the majorities needed under the
cooperation procedure. The left–right coalition between the Socialists and EPP has dominated the Parliament since then. Further, with some exceptions, the post of President of the Parliament has alternated between the two groups ever since. Meanwhile, the national parties making up the group were also organising themselves on a European level
outside the Parliament, creating the
Confederation of Socialist Parties of the European Community in 1974. The Confederation was succeeded by the
Party of European Socialists (PES), in 1992. The group was renamed again to the
Socialist Group in the European Parliament However, the
2009 European election saw a reduction in the number of PES MEPs returned from 2004. The group sought additional members in the
Democratic Party of Italy, which was not affiliated to the PES in 2009. By the conclusion of the 2004–2009 parliamentary term, the Democratic Party had 8 MEPs in the Socialist Group (coming from the
Democrats of the Left), but also had eight MEPs in
ALDE Group (coming from the
Daisy). The Democratic Party is a
big tent centre-left party, strongly influenced by
social democracy and the
Christian left, and had MEPs who were former
Christian Democrats or had other political views. As such, a new and more inclusive group name had to be found. The group was going to be named
Alliance of Socialists and Democrats for Europe (ASDE) but this was seemed too similar to
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE). The name
Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats was suggested on 18 June by group president
Martin Schulz and it was renamed on 23 June 2009. S&D Group or PASDE. Dissatisfaction by Socialist MEPs towards the new name led Martin Schulz to admit that the name was still under consideration and that the group was to be referred to as the "Socialists and Democrats" until a final title was chosen. On 14 July 2009, the first day of the constitutive session of the 2009–2014 term, the full formal group name was
Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament and is a member of the organisation's board. The group was formerly an associated organisation of the
Socialist International. ==Presidents of the European Parliament==