PES member parties are representated in ten governments; PES parties lead seven governments in the European Union – Austria, Greece, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, the United Kingdom – and are coalition partners in three countries – Belgium, Hungary and Luxembourg.
Austria
Werner Faymann
Werner Faymann was born in Vienna on 4 May 1960. He studied law and started his political career as chair of the Vienna branch of the socialist youth. He was a member of the Vienna provincial parliament from 1985-1994. During a part of his mandate he was also the managing director and regional chairman of the Viennese Tenant Organization. Member of the Viennese local government from 1994 - 2007, he was the responsible councilor for living, housing and urban redevelopment, president of the Apartment Fund Vienna – fund for housing and urban redevelopment – and vice-president of the Viennese promotion of economy development fund. In January 2007 Werner Faymann was nominated Federal Minister for traffic, innovation and technology and since August 2008 he has been the Chairman of the social-democratic party of Austria (SPÖ).
Greece
George A. Papandreou
George A. Papandreou was born on 16 June 1952. He holds an M.Sc. in Sociology and Development from LSE, and is a fellow at Harvard University’s Center for International Affairs. An MP since 1981, he served in several government posts before becoming Foreign Minister from 1999-2004. An active supporter of the Information Society and the driving force behind the Greek EU Presidency’s e-Vote, in 2003 he was placed among the “25 Who are Changing the World of Internet Politics”. He has received several honours for his commitment to promote peace and democracy, notably his successful campaign to engineer a rapprochement between Greece and Turkey. As President of PASOK (Pan-Hellenic Socialist Movement) since February 2004, George Papandreou is leading radical reforms of the Greek party political system. He was elected SI President on 30 January 2006.
Portugal
José Sócrates
José Sócrates Carvalho Pinto de Sousa was born in Vilar de Macada in 1957. After graduating as a Civil Engineer, he concluded a post-graduate degree in Health engineering, at the National School for Public Health. He became a member of the Partido Socialista in1981 and was first elected Member of the Portuguese Asssembly in 1987, at the age of 30. In 1991 he became a member of the National Secretariat of the Socialist Party and was spokesman in the area of environment. With the return of the Socialists to power in 1995, under the leadership of Antonio Guterres, José Sócrates continued his rise in the party and held a diversity of portfolios within the government. First he became the Secretary of State in the Environment Ministry (1995-1997), then Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister (1997-1999) and between October 1999 and April 2002 Sócrates was Minister for the Environment. José has been a member of the Portuguese Parliament since 2002. In September 2004 José Sócrates was elected Secretary General of the Socialist Party. He won the internal election in the Portuguese Socialist Party in the first round with a categorical 80% of the vote.
Slovak Republic
Robert Fico
Robert Fico was born on 15 September 1964 in Topolcany, Slovak Republic. He is married, with one child. He studied Law and specialised in Criminal Law; he has also passed the professional judiciary examination and acquired qualification to act as a judge. From 1986 to 1995, he was researcher in the sphere of criminal law at the Law Institute of the Ministry of Justice (1992-1995 Deputy Director). From 1994 to 2000, he was appointed governmental agent for representing of the SR in cases at the European Commission for Human Rights and European Court of Human Rights. He has been a Member of the Slovak Parliament since 1992. From 1992 to 2002, he was Member of the Constitutional Committee of the Slovak Parliament. Since 1994, he has been Member of the Slovak delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (1999 –Head of the Delegation). He was President of the Correctional Facilities’ Committee of the Constitutional Committee of the Slovak Parliament (1995 - 2003). From 1996 to 1999, he was vice-president of the Party of Democratic Left. From 2002 to 2004, he was observer at the European Parliament on behalf of the Slovak Parliament. In 2002, he was member of the Slovak Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights, Nationalities and Equality Issues. As from 2000, he is member of the Slovak Bar Association, representation of crime victims. As from 1999, Robert Fico is president of the political party SMER. Since 2002, he has been president of the Members of Parliament Club on behalf of theSMER and an observer at the European Parliament in the fraction of Party of European Socialists.
Slovenia
Borut Pahor
Borut Pahor was born on 2 November 1963 in Postojna. He is married and has one child. In 1987 he graduated in International Relations from FSPN with highest award (Faculty of Social Sciences in Ljubljana). In 1990 he was elected as a delegate to the Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia. From the year 1992 until 2004 he was four times elected as a member of Slovenian National Assembly. In the time frame 2000-2004 he was President of the Slovenian National Assembly. Among many , he was Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee (1990-1992), member of the European Affairs Committee (1992-1996), Chairman of the Foreign Policy Committee (1995), Vice-President of the National Assembly (1996-1997), member of the Foreign Relations Committee and the Constitutional Commission (2000-2004). From the very beginning he participated in, and subsequently headed, the Slovenian Parliamentary Delegation to the Council of Europe (1993-2000). In 1996 he was appointed one of the Delegation´s Deputy Chairman. He was member of the Assembly of the Western European Union (1993-1997) and member of the Executive Committee of the Interparliamentary Union (1995-1996). Since 1997 he is the President of the Political Party United List of Social Democrats who renamed in April 2005 to Social Democrats (SD). In June 2004 he was elected as a member of the European Parliament. Since then he is member of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament, Member of the Committee on Budgetary Control, Committee on Constitutional Affairs, and substitute member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Vice-Chairman of the Delegation to EU-Croatia Joint Parliamentary Committee. In September 2008 he is elected Prime Minister of Slovenia.
Spain
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was born in Valladolid on 4 August 1960. He is married and has two daughters. He graduated in Law at the Universidad de León. He has been a Member of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) since 1979. He was Secretary General of the Socialist Federation of León (1988-2000). In 2000 he was elected Secretary General of the PSOE and President of the Socialist Parliamentary Group at the Chamber of Deputies. E was elected national representative of the PSOE for León in 1986, 1989, 1993, 1996 and 2000. After the general elections of 14 March 2004 he was sworn in as President of the Government before HM The King on 17 April 2004. José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has been Vice-President of the Socialist International since 2003. He has been a member of the Constitutional, Ombudsman and Justice and Home Affairs Committees of the Chamber of Deputies; Spokesman of the Socialist Parliamentary Group in the Justice and Home Affairs and Public Administrations Committees of the Chamber of Deputies. José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was elected Representative of the Chamber of Deputies at the General Elections of 14 March 2004.
United Kingdom
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown was born in Govan, Scotland, on 20 February 1951. He has a PhD in History from the University of Edinburgh and he started his career as a TV journalist and academic. He stood as Labour Party candidate in 1983 and he was elected MP for Dunfermline East. In 1985 he became opposition spokesman on Trade and Industry. In 2005 general elections, he was elected MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath. During Tony Blair’s government, Gordon Brown served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from May 1997 to June 2007, which made him the longest-serving Chancellor in modern history. In June 2007 he became leader of the Labour Party and three days later, after Tony Blair’s resignation, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Since he assumed office, Gordon Brown also serves as the First Lord of the Treasury and the Minister for the Civil Service, and is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom and, hence, also a Privy Counsellor.
