26/06/2003 (Agence Europe) - The Maltese Labour Party presented the Party of European Socialists (PES) with a formal demand to become a full member. The request was presented by its leader, Alfred Sant to Robin Cook, President of the PES. In a communiqué, the PES presidency indicated that it had asked Vice President, Jan Marinus Wiersma, who is in charge of enlargement issues, to begin meetings with Valeta and the main Maltese leaders. Mr Wiersma will be accompanied at the end of August by another MEP, British Labour Party member, Gary Titley, responsible for enlargement at the socialist group at the European Parliament. In a joint declaration, Jan Marinus Wiersma and Jimmy Magro, Secretary General of the Maltese Labour Party, affirmed that the decision of this party "demonstrated that it was committed to active participation" in the life of the European institutions.