Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party

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
Pro-Europeanism
Political positionCentre
International affiliationLiberal International
European Parliament group
Colours
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.

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).

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:

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. 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. 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).

European Commissioners

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

State Commissioner Portfolio Political party Photo
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

Organisation Institution Number of seats
 European Union European 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 Europe Parliamentary Assembly
28 / 318

European Council

Member Representative Political party Member since Photo
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

Country Institution Number of seats Member parties Status
 Austria National Council
Lower house
15 / 183
NEOS Opposition
Federal Council
Upper house
1 / 61
NEOS Opposition
 Belgium Chamber 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
 Bulgaria National Assembly
34 / 240
MRF Opposition
 Croatia Sabor
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
 Cyprus House of Representatives
4 / 56
Democratic Alignment Opposition
 Czech Republic Chamber 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
 Estonia Riigikogu
53 / 101
EK
16 / 59
Opposition
ER
37 / 59
Government
 Finland Parliament
41 / 200
Kesk
31 / 41
Opposition
SFP
10 / 41
Government
 France National 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
 Germany Bundestag
92 / 735
FDP Government
 Hungary Országgyűlés
10 / 199
Momentum Opposition
 Ireland Dáil
Lower house
37 / 160
FF Government
Seanad
Upper house
21 / 60
FF Government
 Italy Chamber 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
 Lithuania Seimas
23 / 141
LRLS
12 / 33
Government
LP
11 / 33
Government
 Latvia Saeima
0 / 100
A/Par! Extra-parliamentary
 Luxembourg Chamber of Deputies
12 / 60
DP Government
 Netherlands House 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
 Poland Sejm
Lower house
39 / 460
PL2050
33 / 39
Government
.N
6 / 39
Government
Senate
Upper house
5 / 100
PL2050
5 / 5
Government
.N
0 / 5
Extra-Parliamentary
 Portugal Assembly of the Republic
8 / 230
IL Opposition
 Romania Chamber of Deputies
Lower house
55 / 330
USR Opposition
Senate
Upper house
25 / 136
USR Opposition
 Slovakia National Council
32 / 150
PS Opposition
 Spain Congress of Deputies
Lower house
0 / 350
Cs Opposition
Senate
Upper house
0 / 266
Cs Opposition
 Sweden Riksdag
40 / 349
C
24 / 40
Opposition
L
16 / 40
Government

National parliaments outside the European Union

Country Institution Number of seats Member parties
 Andorra General Council
4 / 28
PLA
 Armenia National Assembly
0 / 107
ANC, Bright Armenia
 Azerbaijan National Assembly
0 / 125
Musavat
 Bosnia and Herzegovina House of Representatives
2 / 42
Our Party
 Georgia Parliament
6 / 150
Republican, FD, SA, Lelo, Girchi MF
 Iceland Althing
4 / 63
Viðreisn
 Moldova Parliament
0 / 101
PL
 Montenegro Assembly
1 / 81
LPCG
 Norway Storting
8 / 169
Venstre
 Switzerland National Council
Lower house
45 / 200
FDP, GLP
Council of States
Upper house
12 / 46
FDP
 Ukraine Verkhovna Rada
261 / 450
Servant of the People, Voice
 United Kingdom House 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
 Austria NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum
1 / 18
 Belgium Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats
3 / 12
Reformist Movement
2 / 8
 Bulgaria Movement for Rights and Freedoms
3 / 17
 Croatia Croatian 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
 Cyprus Democratic Alignment
0 / 6
United Democrats
0 / 6
 Czech Republic ANO 2011
6 / 21
 Denmark Social Liberal Party
2 / 13
Venstre
3 / 13
 Estonia Estonian Centre Party
1 / 6
Estonian Reform Party
2 / 6
 Finland Centre Party
2 / 13
Swedish People's Party of Finland
1 / 13
 France Radical Party
1 / 79
Union of Democrats and Independents
0 / 79
 Germany Free Democratic Party
5 / 96
 Hungary Hungarian Liberal Party
0 / 21
Momentum Movement
2 / 21
 Ireland Fianna Fáil
2 / 13
 Italy Action
1 / 73
European Liberal Democrats
0 / 73
Italian Radicals
0 / 73
More Europe
0 / 73
Team K
0 / 73
 Latvia For Latvia's Development
1 / 8
Movement For!
0 / 8
 Lithuania Freedom Party
0 / 11
Liberals' Movement
1 / 11
 Luxembourg Democratic Party
1 / 6
 Netherlands Democrats 66
2 / 26
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
4 / 26
 Poland .Nowoczesna
0 / 51
PL2050
1 / 51
 Portugal Liberal Initiative
0 / 21
 Romania Save Romania Union
8 / 33
 Slovakia Progressive Slovakia
3 / 14
 Spain Citizens
6 / 54
 Sweden Centre Party
2 / 20
Liberals
1 / 20

Outside the EU

See also


This page was last updated at 2024-03-08 01:05 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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