The Party of the European Left (EL) embraces socialist, communist, red-green and other democratlc left-wing parties that established their cooperation in June 1998. Also individuals may belong to the EL. Membership to the EL is open to any left party and political organization in Europe that agrees with the aims and principles of the EL Manifesto and accepts the EL statutes.

To the EL belong as members 25 parties from 21 EU Member States and associated to the EU States and as observers 11 parties from 8 EU Member States and associated to the EU States. The EL also acts through the Permanent Forum of the European Left of Regions (PFER) and Forum Alpe-Adria.

The EL was established in 1994 under the name Confederal Group of the European United Left (GUE), as a political group, to which group belonged parties from Spain, France, Italy, Portugal and Greece. After the 1995 enlargement of the EU to the Nordic Countries and Austria the EL embraces also parties from Sweden, Finland and Denmark, the three latter formed in the EL the Coalition of Nordic Green Left (NGL) that was later renamed as Confederal Group of the European United Left / Nordic Green Left (GUE / NGL). Under this name is the EL represented in the European Parliament where it has 32 seats (Borchardt 2010, 51).

Other Member States' parties have joined the EL later.

About the aims and activities of the EL see http://www.european-left.org/english/home/home