The Progressives (''Les Progressistes'') is a

social-democratic Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, socia ...

French political party associated to the centre-right

Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement ( ; UMP ) was a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in France, political party in France, largely inspired by the Gaullism, Gaullist tradition. During its existence, the UMP was o ...

. It was founded in September 2007 by

Éric Besson Éric Besson (born 2 April 1958 in Marrakesh) is a French politician and businessman. From 2009 to 2010, he was the Minister of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Co-Development in the government of François Fillon. He left the Soc ...

, Secretary of State in

François Fillon François Charles Amand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a French retired politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of The Republicans (previously known as the Union ...

's government and former member of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

, Emmanuel Dupuy, President of the Union of Radical Republicans and Marc d'Héré, President of European and Social Initiative, aiming at creating a left wing for the presidential majority within the framework of the 'ouverture'.(AFP)
Nicolas Sarkozy plaide pour l'ouverture devant les Progressistes d'Eric Besson
, 9 November 2007 Thus, The Progressives along with the

Modern Left The Modern Left (, LGM), is a centrist political party in France founded in 2007. The party was founded following the nomination of the former Socialist Party (PS) Senator and Mayor of Mulhouse, Jean-Marie Bockel to the François Fillon gov ...

Jean-Marie Bockel Jean-Marie Bockel (born 22 June 1950) is a French politician who has been serving as President Emmanuel Macron's Personal Envoy for Africa since 2024. Earlier in his political career, Bockel served in several government positions, including as ...

represent the left wing of the coalition supporting ex-President

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa ( ; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

. In the

2009 European Parliament election The 2009 European Parliament election was held in the 27 member states of the European Union (EU) between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Member of the European Parliament, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were elected to represent s ...

, the party obtained a few non-eligible spots on the lists of the Presidential Majority. Since Besson is a member of the UMP's national leadership, the party is considered associated to the UMP. It is also a member of the

Liaison Committee for the Presidential Majority The Liaison Committee for the Presidential Majority (, also called the Committee of the Presidential Majority or Committee of the Majority) was a structure initiated by Nicolas Sarkozy to coordinate the political parties that support his action. ...

Sources

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Progressives 2007 establishments in France Political parties established in 2007 Social democratic parties in France