ProDG (Belgium)
ProDG (Pro German -speaking Community) is a regional party in the German-speaking area of Belgium. The free citizens list ProDG.be (short ProDG ) was founded on 13 June 2008 at the initiative of Oliver Paasch in Eupen (Belgium ). In their ranks there are both many new faces as well as members of the former PJU -PDB (Party of the German-speaking Belgians ). The so-called ProDG profile is based on the principle of openness - free of ideological constraints and independent of a Walloon mother party and other pressure groups. ProDG aims at an equal German speaking region in Belgium, the four sub- states which cooperates both with the various Belgian and European partners on finding precise solutions for the German -speaking Community of Belgium (DG) and brings targeted in networks.
History
The party of the German-speaking Belgians ( PDB ) was established in December 1971 as a regional party of the Christian social tradition. Their main concern was to defend the identity of the population of the German language area in Belgium. The PDB saw itself as democratic and pluralistic, federal and social. They sought full equality of the German -language area of Belgium in federalized Belgium on political, social, economic, administrative and cultural level. They did not provide the membership of the German language area to the Belgian state structure in question, but looked at the association of the German language area to the Walloon Region and Province of Liège only as a legal fact, for the amendment she entered.
The PDB saw himself as a pro-European, but called for more democratic structures on the European Union and a Europe of the regions level, as opposed to a Europe of nation states. The PDB was a member of the European Free Alliance (EFA ) and the Federal Union of European Nationalities ( FUEN).
After the PDB suffer a heavy defeat after the municipal elections in 2006 and since then had only a single local council representatives in the German-speaking community had ( in Eupen ), a new foundation of the party under the leadership of Community Minister Oliver Paasch was proposed. The successor party sees itself as independent regional party and representative of German interests, which is why the name " ProDG " was chosen.
On 14 November 2009, the PDB was officially dissolved at an academic meeting at the Hotel Ambassador Bosten Eupen.
The political movement ProDG met for the first time on 7 June 2009 in elections to the Parliament of the German-speaking Community of Belgium (PDG ) and became instantly four of the 25 seats in Parliament: Alfons Velz ( Group Chairman ), Lydia Klinkenberg, Petra Schmitz and Freddy Cremer ( to 2010 Gerhard Palm) represented as deputies ProDG the Group in the PDG. Because of their participation in government in a coalition with the SP and the PFF sent ProDG in the legislative period 2009-2014 also the leading candidate of the PDG- 2009 elections Oliver Paasch as education and employment ministers and Harald Moller as a health and social affairs ministers in the government.
On February 1, 2013 handed Oliver Paasch (Vice-Chair: Harald Moller until 2010 Marco battlements ) ProDG the Presidency to Clemens Scholzen (Deputy Chairman: Freddy Cremer ).