Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party
AbbreviationALDE Party
President
Secretary-GeneralDidrik de Schaetzen
Founded26 March 1976 (1976-03-26)
HeadquartersRue d'Idalie 11,
Brussels, Belgium
Think tankEuropean Liberal Forum
Youth wingEuropean Liberal Youth
IdeologyLiberalism[1]
Pro-Europeanism
Political positionCentre
International affiliationLiberal International
European Parliament group
Colours
  •    Blue, magenta
  •   Yellow (customary)
European Parliament
68 / 705
European Council
5 / 27
European Commission
5 / 27
European Lower Houses
754 / 9,874
European Upper Houses
248 / 2,714
Website
aldeparty.eu

The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE Party) is a European political party composed of 60 national-level parties from across Europe, mainly active in the European Union. The ALDE Party is affiliated with Liberal International and a recognised European political party, incorporated as a non-profit association under Belgian law.[2]

It was founded on 26 March 1976 in Stuttgart as a confederation of national political parties under the name "Federation of Liberal and Democrat Parties in Europe" and renamed "European Liberals and Democrats" (ELD) in 1977 and "European Liberal Democrats and Reformists" (ELDR) in 1986. On 30 April 2004, the ELDR was reformed as an official European party, the "European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party" (ELDR Party).[3]

On 10 November 2012, the party chose its current name ALDE Party, taken from its then-European Parliament group, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), which had been formed on 20 July 2004 in conjunction with the European Democratic Party (EDP). Prior to the 2004 European election, the European party had been represented through its own group, the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party Group (ELDR) Group. In June 2019, the ALDE group was succeeded by Renew Europe.

As of 2020, ALDE is represented in European Union institutions, with 70 MEPs and five members of the European Commission. Of the 27 EU member states, there are four with ALDE-affiliated Prime Ministers: Mark Rutte (VVD) in the Netherlands, Xavier Bettel (DP) in Luxembourg, Kaja Kallas (Estonian Reform Party) in Estonia and Alexander De Croo (Open VLD) in Belgium. ALDE member parties are also in governments in seven other EU member states: Croatia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Slovenia, Lithuania and Germany. Some other ALDE member parties offer parliamentary support to governments in Croatia, Denmark, Italy, Romania and Sweden. Charles Michel, former Belgian Prime Minister, is the current President of the European Council.

ALDE's think tank is the European Liberal Forum, led by Hilde Vautmans, MEP, and gathers 46 member organisations. The youth wing of ALDE is the European Liberal Youth (LYMEC), which is predominantly based upon youth and student liberal organisations but contains also a small number of individual members. LYMEC is led by Dan-Aria Sucuri.

In 2011, the ALDE Party became the first pan-European party to create the status of individual membership. Since then, between 1000 and close to 3000 members (the numbers fluctuate annually) have maintained direct membership in the ALDE Party from several EU countries. Over 40 coordinators mobilise liberal ideas, initiatives and expertise across the continent under the leadership of the Steering Committee, which was first chaired by Julie Cantalou. The ALDE Party took a step further in the direction of becoming a truly pan-European party when granting voting rights to individual members’ delegates at the Party Congress.

Structure

Bureau

The day-to-day management of the ALDE Party is handled by the Bureau, the members of which are:[4]

Office Name State member Party member
Co-Presidents Senator Timmy Dooley  Ireland FF
Ilhan Kyuchyuk MEP  Bulgaria MRF
Vice-Presidents Henrik Bach Mortensen  Denmark Venstre
Dita Charanzová MEP  Czech Republic ANO
Baroness Sal Brinton  United Kingdom LibDem
Daniel Berg  Hungary M
Annelou van Egmond  Netherlands D66
Svenja Hahn MEP  Germany FDP
Kira Rudik MP  Ukraine Holos
Treasurer David Burke  Ireland FF
Ex officio members
ALDE Party Secretary-General Didrik de Schaetzen
President of Liberal International Hakima El Haite  Morocco / (MP)
Group Chair in the PACE Iulian Bulai  Romania / (USR)
Leader in the European Parliament Stéphane Séjourné MEP  France LREM
Leader in the European Committee of the Regions François Decoster  France /
President of the European Liberal Forum Hilde Vautmans  Belgium Open VLD
President of the European Liberal Youth Dan-Aria Sucuri  Sweden Liberalerna

Presidents

History of pan-European liberalism

ELDR Party logo (2009–2012).

Pan-European liberalism has a long history dating back to the foundation of Liberal International in April 1947. On 26 March 1976, the Federation of Liberal and Democrat Parties in Europe was established in Stuttgart. The founding parties of the federation were the Free Democratic Party of Germany, Radical Party of France, Venstre of Denmark, Italian Liberal Party, Dutch People's Party for Freedom and Democracy and Democratic Party of Luxembourg.[5] Observer members joining later in 1976 were the Danish Social Liberal Party, French Radical Party of the Left and Independent Republicans, British Liberal Party, and Italian Republican Party.[5] In 1977, the federation was renamed European Liberals and Democrats, in 1986, European Liberal Democrats and Reformists.

It evolved into the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR Party) in 2004, when it was founded as an official European party under that name and incorporated under Belgian law at an extraordinary Congress in Brussels, held on 30 April 2004 the day before the enlargement of the European Union. At the same time the matching group in the European Parliament, the European Liberal Democrats and Reformists Group allied with the members of the newly elected European Democratic Party, forming the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) with a matching ALDE Group in the European Parliament.

On 10 November 2012, the ELDR Party adopted the name of the alliance between the two parties, to match the parliamentary group and the alliance.

On 12 June 2019, the ALDE group was succeeded by a new enlarged group, Renew Europe, which primarily consists of ALDE and EDP member parties and France's La République En Marche! (LREM).[6]

European Commissioners

ALDE Member Parties contribute five out of the 27 members of the European Commission:

StateCommissionerPortfolioPolitical partyPhoto
Denmark Denmark Margrethe Vestager A Europe Fit for the Digital Age,

Executive Vice President

Competition,

Commissioner

RV
 Czech Republic Věra Jourová Values and Transparency,

Vice President

ANO
Slovenia Slovenia Janez Lenarčič Crisis Management,

Commissioner

Ind.
 Estonia Kadri Simson Energy,

Commissioner

KESK
 Belgium Didier Reynders Justice,

Commissioner

MR

Elected representatives of member parties

European institutions

OrganisationInstitutionNumber of seats
 European UnionEuropean Commission
5 / 27
European Council
(Heads of Government)
5 / 27
Council of the EU
(Participation in Government)
10 / 27
European Parliament
70 / 705
 Council of EuropeParliamentary Assembly
28 / 318

European Council

MemberRepresentativePolitical partyMember sincePhoto
European Union European Union President

Charles Michel

MR 1 December 2019
Belgium Belgium Prime Minister

Alexander De Croo

Open VLD 27 October 2019
Bulgaria Bulgaria Prime Minister

Nikolay Denkov

PP 6 June 2023
Estonia Estonia Prime Minister

Kaja Kallas

Reform Party 26 January 2021
Netherlands Netherlands Prime Minister

Mark Rutte

VVD 14 October 2010
Slovenia Slovenia Prime Minister

Robert Golob

GS 1 June 2022

National parliaments of European Union member states

CountryInstitutionNumber of seatsMember parties Status
 AustriaNational Council
Lower house
15 / 183
NEOS Opposition
Federal Council
Upper house
1 / 61
NEOS Opposition
 BelgiumChamber of Representatives
Lower house
26 / 150
MR
14 / 26
Government
Open Vld
12 / 26
Government
Senate
Upper house
11 / 60
MR
6 / 11
Government
Open Vld
5 / 11
Government
 BulgariaNational Assembly
34 / 240
MRF Opposition
 CroatiaSabor
9 / 151
HNS
1 / 9
Government
HSLS
2 / 9
Confidence and supply
Glas
1 / 9
Opposition
IDS-DDI
3 / 9
Opposition
Centre
2 / 9
Opposition
 CyprusHouse of Representatives
4 / 56
Democratic Alignment Opposition
 Czech RepublicChamber of Deputies
Lower house
72 / 200
ANO Opposition
Senate
Upper house
5 / 81
ANO Opposition
 Denmark Folketing
30 / 175
RV
7 / 30
Opposition
V
23 / 30
Government
 EstoniaRiigikogu
53 / 101
EK
16 / 59
Opposition
ER
37 / 59
Government
 FinlandParliament
41 / 200
Kesk
31 / 41
Opposition
SFP
10 / 41
Government
 FranceNational Assembly
Lower house
11 / 577
UDI
6 / 11
Opposition
PR
6 / 11
Government
Senate
Upper house
48 / 348
UDI
38 / 48
Opposition
PR
10 / 48
Government
 GermanyBundestag
92 / 735
FDP Government
 HungaryOrszággyűlés
10 / 199
Momentum Opposition
 IrelandDáil
Lower house
37 / 160
FF Government
Seanad
Upper house
21 / 60
FF Government
 ItalyChamber of Deputies
Lower house
12 / 400
A
10 / 12
Opposition
RI, +E
2 / 12
Opposition
Senate of the Republic
Upper house
4 / 205
A Opposition
 LithuaniaSeimas
23 / 141
LRLS
12 / 33
Government
LP
11 / 33
Government
 LatviaSaeima
0 / 100
A/Par! Extra-parliamentary
 LuxembourgChamber of Deputies
12 / 60
DP Government
 NetherlandsHouse of Representatives
Lower house
58 / 150
VVD
34 / 58
Government
D66
24 / 58
Government
Senate
Upper house
19 / 75
VVD
12 / 19
Government
D66
7 / 19
Government
 PolandSejm
Lower house
39 / 460
PL2050
33 / 460
Government
.N
6 / 460
Government
Senate
Upper house
19 / 75
PL2050
5 / 100
Government
.N
0 / 100
Extra-Parliamentary
 PortugalAssembly of the Republic
8 / 230
IL Opposition
 RomaniaChamber of Deputies
Lower house
55 / 330
USR Opposition
Senate
Upper house
25 / 136
USR Opposition
 SlovakiaNational Council
32 / 150
PS Opposition
 SpainCongress of Deputies
Lower house
0 / 350
Cs Opposition
Senate
Upper house
0 / 266
Cs Opposition
 SwedenRiksdag
40 / 349
C
24 / 40
Opposition
L
16 / 40
Government

National parliaments outside the European Union

CountryInstitutionNumber of seatsMember parties
 AndorraGeneral Council
4 / 28
PLA
 ArmeniaNational Assembly
0 / 107
ANC, Bright Armenia
 AzerbaijanNational Assembly
0 / 125
Musavat
 Bosnia and HerzegovinaHouse of Representatives
2 / 42
Our Party
 GeorgiaParliament
6 / 150
Republican, FD, SA, Lelo, Girchi MF
 IcelandAlthing
4 / 63
Viðreisn
 MoldovaParliament
0 / 101
PL
 MontenegroAssembly
1 / 81
LPCG
 NorwayStorting
8 / 169
Venstre
  SwitzerlandNational Council
Lower house
45 / 200
FDP, GLP
Council of States
Upper house
12 / 46
FDP
 UkraineVerkhovna Rada
261 / 450
Servant of the People, Voice
 United KingdomHouse of Commons
Lower house
15 / 650
Liberal Democrats, Alliance
House of Lords
Upper house
94 / 775
Liberal Democrats
Gibraltar Parliament
unicameral
3 / 17
Libs

Member parties

  States with full and/or associate member parties
Country or Region Party MEPs
 AustriaNEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum
1 / 18
 BelgiumOpen Flemish Liberals and Democrats
3 / 12
Reformist Movement
2 / 8
 BulgariaMovement for Rights and Freedoms
3 / 17
 CroatiaCroatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats
0 / 12
Centre
0 / 12
Civic Liberal Alliance
0 / 12
Croatian Social Liberal Party
0 / 12
Focus
0 / 12
Istrian Democratic Assembly
1 / 12
 CyprusDemocratic Alignment
0 / 6
United Democrats
0 / 6
 Czech RepublicANO 2011
6 / 21
 DenmarkSocial Liberal Party
2 / 13
Venstre
3 / 13
 EstoniaEstonian Centre Party
1 / 6
Estonian Reform Party
2 / 6
 FinlandCentre Party
2 / 13
Swedish People's Party of Finland
1 / 13
 FranceRadical Party
1 / 79
Union of Democrats and Independents
0 / 79
 GermanyFree Democratic Party
5 / 96
 HungaryHungarian Liberal Party
0 / 21
Momentum Movement
2 / 21
 IrelandFianna Fáil
2 / 13
 ItalyAction
1 / 73
European Liberal Democrats
0 / 73
Italian Radicals
0 / 73
More Europe
0 / 73
Team K
0 / 73
 LatviaFor Latvia's Development
1 / 8
Movement For!
0 / 8
 LithuaniaFreedom Party
0 / 11
Liberals' Movement
1 / 11
 LuxembourgDemocratic Party
1 / 6
 NetherlandsDemocrats 66
2 / 26
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
4 / 26
 Poland.Nowoczesna
0 / 51
 PortugalLiberal Initiative
0 / 21
 RomaniaSave Romania Union[7]
8 / 33
 SlovakiaProgressive Slovakia
3 / 14
 SpainCitizens
6 / 54
 SwedenCentre Party
2 / 20
Liberals
1 / 20

Outside the EU

See also

References

  1. Nordsieck, Wolfram (2019). "European Union". Parties and Elections in Europe. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "European Liberal Democrats change party name to ALDE Party | ALDE Party". Eldr.eu. Archived from the original on 13 February 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  4. "ALDE-party Bureau". Archived from the original on 26 May 2019. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  5. 1 2 Dimitri Almeida (2012). The Impact of European Integration on Political Parties: Beyond the Permissive Consensus. Taylor & Francis. pp. 102–103. ISBN 978-1-136-34039-0.
  6. "Macron-Liberal alliance to be named Renew Europe". Politico. 12 June 2019.
  7. 1 2 "ALDE Party Council meets in Zürich". ALDE. 28 June 2019.
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