The time is ripe for a European Left Party. We want to  found it before the 2004 European elections take place.

The other Europe

• After the end of the Cold War,  hot war returned. The European Union is being militarised  alongside NATO. In Europe there are strong forces aspiring  to take their share in the imperial repartition of  the world. The USA is trying to integrate Europe into  its plans for world domination. That is not our path.  We want a Europe free of weapons of mass destruction  from the Atlantic to the Urals; a Europe of collective security without NATO and without the EU as a military  alliance. A Europe distinguishing itself with initiatives  for disarmament, development, partnership and the reinforcement  of international law.
• The gap between rich and poor is  deepening on our continent as well. Millions of people  are jobless or in precarious employment. Social security  is being destroyed, welfare services privatised. That  is not our path. We want solidarity, social rights  and a redistribution of social wealth from top to bottom  of society, from the rich to the poor. Faced with recession  and the growth of unemployment, the "stability pact" and  the ECB orientations must be challenged so as to work  towards another economic and social policy and social  priorities in favour of full employment and training,  public services and a bold investment policy, for the  environment. The taxation of capital flows must be imposed. Priorities must be changed - in favour of  human beings, not money.
• In the EU, the Council of Ministers  and the Commission have a great deal of power. They  make their decisions behind close doors, influenced  by lobbyists and private interests. Ordinary men and women have less of a say. The political system is drifting  towards a crisis of authority. That is not our path.  We want transparency, new forms of democracy and a  share in shaping events with ordinary men and women,  more power to the national parliaments and to the European  Parliament.
• Europe is becoming a fortress.  In the name of the "struggle against terrorism", human  and civil rights are restricted and threatened. That is not our path. We want a Europe open to the world,  a Europe with strong human and civil rights. Where  the persecuted are granted asylum.
• Europe is striving for economic  dominance. It is waging trade wars. Its monetary, financial  and trade policies have a particularly negative effect  on the threshold and developing countries. That is  not our path. Mindful of the bloody history of colonization,  we want to undertake bold initiatives to develop an  equitable economic and political cooperation.
• The diversity of its cultures and  ways of life makes Europe a vigorous continent. However,  they are in danger of being flattened out. The concentration  of the mass media in the hands of a few endangers the plurality of opinions. Information, culture and education  are being turned into commodities. That is not our  path. We want cultural diversity, education, knowledge,  information for all men and women.
• Europe is one of the main perpetrators  of global environmental problems - with its high CO2  emissions, exporting of waste, world-wide exploitation  of energy reserves and forests. That is not our path. We want to live and work as ecologically responsible  people.
• Progress has been made in the last  decades in terms of gender equality and non-discrimination.  Nowadays they are especially jeopardised by the neo-liberal  policy of deregulation of labour markets. That is not  our path. We want to overcome discrimination, we want  real and lasting gender democracy.

The European Left Party

The European Left Party  wants to be not only an outward but also an inward alternative  to the dominant policy in Europe. Together we want to act  transparently, democratically and on terms of equality.  Together we want to be more convincing and politically  more assertive. We know that we can only acquire that wealth  if we preserve and renew our own social and historical  experiences, perceptions, traditions and cultures and pool them in common.

Respecting the full independence, sovereignty  and individual responsibility of all participating partners, our relationship  and co-operation are marked by openness, respect, acceptance and tolerance. At the centre of our thought and action is not profit or  power, but the human being. Europe is our common field  of action.

We  want to put into question profit dominance and overcome the power of capitalism.  We want a different culture of living, working, producing and distributing.  Our points of reference are the struggle for peace, anti-fascism,  anti-racism, democracy, social justice, feminism, ecology.

We are starting now, and we extend an invitation  to take this first step together. We shall remain open to those who do not  decide yet or decide otherwise. We have profound esteem  for manifold forms of cooperation. We shall practice them,  to make our continent a democratic, social, sustainable  and peaceful one.