Notes on the Congress of the European Left in Brussels

What has happened so far

The news broke in the middle of the 2024 European election campaigns: the Party of the European Left (EL) split into two formations. As a result, the political resources of the reform-needing EL and the European Foundation Transform! were reduced. The newly formed ELA (European Left Alliance for the People and the Planet) has a more left-populist and eco-socialist profile, shaped in part by La France Insoumise, some Scandinavian parties, the Portuguese Bloco, and Poland’s Razem party.

The ELA was the proverbial “new broom that sweeps clean,” boldly placing unresolved questions of left-wing European politics in the context of the new global (dis)order at the center of engaging event formats. Questions such as: Should weapons be supplied to Ukraine? Is there such a thing as European security and autonomy from a left perspective beyond austerity constraints and NATO partnerships? However, it must be said clearly that the ELA has not yet provided fundamentally different answers than the European Left. On the open questions of left policy design, the two new formations differ only minimally. In short: both formations face a bottleneck in developing distinct profiles, and there are few reasons not to tackle the key issues cooperatively again—just as their members of the European Parliament already do on a daily basis. After all, they are all part of The Left group.

Exciting congress preparations

Together for a solidarity-based Europe

The split was the result of internal power struggles within the left. For this reason, the EL has accelerated its reform process over at least the past two years. The primary goal: political decisions should be made in a more democratic, collective, and binding way—as is appropriate for a party with more than 40 member, observer, and partner parties.

In fact, there has also been growth. The Swedish party Framtidens Vänster was welcomed as a new member at the congress. Furthermore, the EL aims to increase its campaign capacity and visibility. Since 2006, this has included the EL’s summer universities, which serve as networking meetings for left-wing movements and organizations from across Europe. The European Forum (planned for December 2026 in Berlin) is intended to pave the way for cooperation with green and social democratic forces, refugee or tenants’ initiatives, and local political actors.

Both the forum and the summer university fed back into the internal renewal process and the preparation of the 8th EL Congress, which took place from 17 to 19 April 2026 in Brussels.

The Congress: “Win the Future – Fight Austerity – Stop Militarisation”

With a comprehensive political document—strong and concrete in its demands on social, industrial, ecological, feminist, cultural, youth, and migration policy, but somewhat more cautious (and at times contradictory) in its global political analysis—the delegates entered their two days of deliberations.

What is undeniable is that the EL now wants to actively shape EU-level politics. At the same time, it makes clear that at least a “reset button” must be pressed if one is to truly confront exhausted neoliberalism and the rising neo-fascists. Not coincidentally, in its political “Future Chapter XII,” the EL refers to the anti-fascist Manifesto of Ventotene, which sought to banish any return to nationalist solutions from Europe’s future—by all means necessary. Even if today we must find our own answers to many specific questions, especially in light of the global spiral of rearmament.

The fact is: with its 8th Congress, the EL is on its way to becoming more European. This was long overdue, given the unfulfilled founding promise to be more than a coalition of national left-wing parties. If it succeeds, first, in appearing as a political subject rather than a collection of left identity claims, and second, in putting forward political proposals and mobilizing around them—such as a citizens’ initiative for housing as a human right—then the move toward majority decision-making and a more streamlined yet collective leadership will have been worthwhile. The position of Vice-President, alongside the re-elected President Walter Baier, remains vacant for now.

Encouraging steps in Brussels

These encouraging developments in Brussels are also thanks to many comrades from Die Linke who have been deeply involved in the renewal process in recent years. Both the statute and the political document were adopted by an overwhelming majority.

At key positions in the executive board and political secretariat, long-time Member of the European Parliament Helmut Scholz and Marika Tändler-Walenta played a leading role, together with delegates and other comrades who carried much of the workload within the Europe working group. They did so with the awareness that young people are already working together across borders—for democratic education and universities, organizing to push speculators out of European cities, participating in energy councils, fighting for clean water for all worldwide, and ensuring the protection of personal data.

Europeans bear enormous responsibility to address these pressing problems in an open, civil, and internationally way showing solidarity. It is clear to us that these problems will worsen if the EU’s course of competition and rearmament continues unchecked.

“Win the Future – Fight Austerity – Stop Militarisation” was the congress motto, which was brought to life on the second day in two large public panels. The congress also aimed to encourage as many people as possible to become politically active for a better Europe. This will be reinforced on 14 June with a demonstration in Brussels, where the impressive campaigning capacity of our Belgian comrades from the PTB is more than welcome.

Change of perspective and outlook

However, one thing should be kept in mind: on the same weekend as the EL Congress, the “Meeting in Defence of Democracy” took place in Barcelona under the banner of the so-called “Global Progressive Mobilisation,” to which Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (PSOE) had invited many international guests. From Tagesschau to Die Zeit to taz, this meeting was also described as a gathering of European left-wing politicians. Yet when it comes to participants such as Lars Klingbeil, it is difficult to detect even a trace of social democratic policy.

But even the sharpest analyses are of little use if the visibility, capacity for dialogue, and distinct profile of socialist and communist forces do not increase dramatically. At least ND, taz, and Junge Welt reported on the EL Congress in Brussels.

Those of us present were naturally proud that our members in the national parliament Bundestag Janina Böttger, our Member of the European Parliament Martin Günther, and also our young delegates—such as Natalie Maurer and Markus Pohle—contributed to a debate in Brussels that was open, critical, and cooperative. In upcoming program debates, we will also work with the KPÖ, among others. In this way, our politics will from the outset be shaped more strongly by a European perspective—whether on municipalities, disarmament steps, climate, or the culture war driven by the right.

All delegates representing Die Linke in Brussels agree that more concrete European policy is urgently needed. Ultimately, we were united by the hope that the two European left formations, EL and ELA, will once again fight together before the next European elections in 2029.

The delegation of the party Die Linke:
Malte Fiedler, Kathrin Flach-Gomez, Martin Günther, Claudia Haydt, Cornelia Hildebrandt, Martina van Holst, Konstanze Kriese, Natalie Maurer, Alexandra Mehdi, Markus Pohle, Helmut Scholz, Marika Tändler-Walenta, Ulrich Thoden, Tobias Wölki, plus the Europe working group at the party executive board.

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