After some discussions (not least here on the euroblogosphere) whether the PES group in the European Parliament would rebrand itself into ASDE, there seems to be some movement.
The acronym ASDE as well as the final name of the group do not seem to be final by now and decisions have been postponed.
Tony Robinson, the head of Communications of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament has tweeted the following (highlights by me):
"Centre left leaders agree to form Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats in the European Parliament. Meet Tues 3pm" (Source)
"New name provisional. Working group to decide on logo and acronym after summer recess." (Source)
"@kosmopolit The acronym and logo will be decided on by a working group after the summer recess. The name could be fine-tuned then too." (Source)
Sounds like the Socialist do not want to be confused with the Liberals (ALDE) or a large supermarket chain (ASDA)...
------------------------------------------------- Update (17 June 2009): See new developments that indicate "ASDE" might not be the final word. -------------------------------------------------
In a strange move that is just done to please the Italian Partito Democratico, the PES group in the European Parliament will be re-branded into ASDE, the Alliance of Socialists and Democrats.
I think this will ruin any move to brand the term "PES" which until now was both, the name of the party and of the political group. It will make future campaigning more difficult, and it will also make it more difficult for people in the member states to recognise the differences between the parties and the politics.
Having the "Alliance" and "Democrats" in ALDE and ASDE will for sure lead to confusions and to misunderstandings, not to mention that the EPP also has an "-ED" in its parliamentary group.
This will blur the lines and the concepts, and this can only be bad for the European democracy that is already in bad shape today.
So I think the re-branding as ASDE is wrong, even if it will bring 21 additional seats to the Socialist group, wrong for the socialist group and wrong for the European Parliament in general.
Update 2: Since ASDE sounds pretty much like a UK/Ireland-based supermarket chain called ASDA, Jon Worth was again able to prove his marvellous graphical skills by bringing ASDE and ASDA together.
Update 1: Interview with PES/ASDE member Robert Goebbels on EuroparlTV
