Brussels, 21/11/2011 (Agence Europe) - The president of the Party of European Socialists (PES), Poul Nyrup Rasmussen of Denmark, announced on Monday 21 November that he would be stepping down by the end of the week. “I am announcing that, after the PES Council and Convention (24-26 November), I will be stepping down as PES President. Everything has its time. For me, the time has come to start a new chapter of my life”, Rasmussen states in a press release. Although he does not mention it, Rasmussen's announcement comes the day after the Socialists' heavy defeat in Spain, after that of Labour in Great Britain, and of Socialists in Portugal. In Greece, Georges Papandreou, a Socialist, was recently forced to resign to allow the technocrat, Lucas Papademos, to take his place. Rasmussen, who was formerly the prime minister of Denmark, one of the only EU countries where the Socialists have recently regained power to the detriment of the Conservatives, took up the post of PES president in April 2004. The Party of European Socialists groups the Socialist, Social Democrat and Labour parties of Europe. It is the second largest political group at the European Parliament with 185 members. (LC/transl.jl)