Meeting of transform! in Athens, December 2007

Annual Meeting of transform! europe On December 15, 2007, transform! europe assembled for its 2007 annual meeting in Athens. At the same time, the Greek member organisation, the Nicos Poulantzas Institute, celebrated it ten-year anniversary by a series of public events. Nine member organisations from nine European countries took part in the transform! meeting: transform.at

Annual Meeting of transform! europe

On December 15, 2007, transform! europe assembled for its 2007 annual meeting in Athens. At the same time, the Greek member organisation, the Nicos Poulantzas Institute, celebrated it ten-year anniversary by a series of public events.
Nine member organisations from nine European countries took part in the transform! meeting: transform.at (Austria), Left Forum (Finland), Rosa Luxemburg Foundation (Germany), Nicos Poulantzas Institute (Greece), transform.italia (Italy), Espaces Marx (France), Cultures of Work and of Socialism (Portugal), Foundation for Marxist Research (Spain) and the Centre for Marxist Studies (Sweden).

As observers, there took part in the session the coordinator of the network “PRESOM – Privatisation and the European Social Model, Jörg Huffschmid, as well as Anastasia Theodorakopoulou for the executive of the Party of the European Left.
As far as the project submitted together with the European Left to the EU Commission “European Social Model and Left Actors” (approved in the meantime by the commission) is concerned, the next steps were defined:

  • a first meeting of the coordinating group at the end of January,
  • coordination of the work with PRESOM,
  • conduct of a seminar in Stockholm in June,
  • presentation of first results of the research at the European Social Forum,
  • a proposal to the GUE/NGL to conduct a joint European conference in the fall.

Several applications for membership in the network were submitted to the network. These will be treated at the next meeting (summer 2008) in the context of an “enlargement strategy” for transform! europe.

Uta Tackenberg was elected treasurer and Walter Baier coordinator of transform!
As common projects for the common year, there were defined:

  • participation in the organisation of the summer course of the Popular University of Malmö,
  • organisation of a day at the summer university of the EL,
  • continued participation in the project on participative democracy and its presentation at the European Social Forum,
  • cooperation in the preparation of the ESF,
  • public events on the year 1968,
  • cooperation in a conference of the Nicos Poulantzas Institute on theory of the state.