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European parliamentarians have a new acronym to learn : PASD. On Tuesday, June 24, the Party of European Socialists changed its name to become the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. Longer and less snappy certainly, but it was the price to pay to get Italy's PD (Democratic Party) on board, reports the [Coulisses de Bruxelles](http://bruxelles.blogs.liberation.fr/coulisses/2009/06/parlement-europ%C3%A9en-le-groupe-pse-dispara%C3%AEt.html) blog (Brussels Backstage). Indeed, the Italians no longer wanted to hear another word about "party" and expressly "asked to include the word "democrat" in order to please the members of the former Margherita Party (the centrist movement that is now part of PD) which until then had sat with the French Modems with the Alliance of Liberal and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) group". When parliament reconvenes, a working group will be entrusted with the mission to find a sexier appellation, as well as a new symbol. Italy's PD would also like to jetisson the red rose of socialism surrounded by a dozen stars of the same colour.
