20/02/2019 (Agence Europe) – The Party of European Socialists (PES) will meet on 22 and 23 February in Madrid (Spain) to formally elect its Spitzenkandidate, the Dutchman Frans Timmermans, and to unveil its election manifesto entitled 'A new social contract for Europe'. A few days before the event, S&D Group Chairman Udo Bullmann reaffirmed his support for the Spitzenkandidate process, stressing that the time when "decision-makers agreed in secret" was over and that "no one would govern from the outside". Asked to comment on the projections unveiled on February 18 (see EUROPE 12196), he said it was clear that his group would suffer if the British left. However, he pointed out that these projections were incomplete since the campaign had not yet officially started. (SPj)