Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party

This article is about European political party. For the European Parliament Group, see Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group. For the transnational political alliance, see Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party
President Sir Graham Watson (GB)
Founded March 1976 (as "Federation of Liberal and Democrat Parties in Europe")
30 April 2004 (as "European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party")
Headquarters Rue Montoyer 31,
1000 Brussels, Belgium
Youth wing European Liberal Youth
Ideology Liberalism[1]
Political position Centre
International affiliation Liberal International
European Parliament group Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
Colours Gold and Blue
Political foundation European Liberal Forum
Website
www.aldeparty.eu
Politics of the European Union
Political parties
Elections

The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE Party) is a European political party mainly active in the European Union, composed of 60 national-level liberal parties from across Europe. Until 10 November 2012, the party was known as European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR).[2] The ALDE Party is affiliated with the Liberal International.[3]

Having developed from a loose confederation of national political parties in the 1970s, the ALDE Party is a recognised European political party incorporated as a non-profit association under Belgian law.

As of 2010, ALDE is the fourth largest European-wide political party represented in European Union institutions, with 67 MEPs and 5 members of the European Commission. Of the 28 EU member states, there are five with ALDE-affiliated Prime Ministers: Xavier Bettel (DP) in Luxembourg, Charles Michel (MR) in Belgium, Taavi Rõivas (RE) in Estonia, Miro Cerar (SMC) in Slovenia and Mark Rutte (VVD) in the Netherlands. Furthermore, Nick Clegg (LD) serves as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Liberals are also in government in five other EU member states: Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland and Lithuania.

Since 20 July 2004, the ALDE Party is politically represented in the European Parliament by the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) parliamentary group, formed in conjunction with the European Democratic Party (EDP). The ALDE parliamentary group is led by Guy Verhofstadt, a former Prime Minister of Belgium. Prior to the 2004 European election the party was attached to the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR) Group.

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 Jeroen Diepemaat (VVD, Netherlands), who was elected for a two-year term as LYMEC President in May 2012, and counts 200,000 members.

Leadership

Graham Watson.

The leader of the ALDE Party is Sir Graham Watson MEP.

Structure

Bureau

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

President

Vice-Presidents

Treasurer

ALDE Group leaders

Other party officials

Leaders

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. In March 1976, the Federation of Liberal and Democrat Parties in Europe was established, which gradually evolved into the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR) with a matching group in the European Parliament, the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party Group.

At an extraordinary Congress in Brussels held on 30 April 2004 the day before the enlargement of the European Union, the ELDR Party incorporated itself under Belgian law and became a European political party.

The ELDR Party allied with the European Democratic Party in 2004 to form the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), with a matching ALDE Group in the European Parliament. The ELDR Party adopted its current name on 10 November 2012 in order to match the pan-European alliance and parliamentary group.

European Council and Council of Ministers

European Commissioners

ALDE Member Parties contribute 5 out of the 28 members of the European Commission:

State Commissioner Portfolio Political party Photo
Estonia
Estonia
 Andrus Ansip Vice-President, European Commissioner for Digital Single Market RE
Sweden
Sweden
 Cecilia Malmström European Commissioner for Trade FP
Slovenia
Slovenia
 Violeta Bulc Vice-President, European Commissioner for the Energy Union Modern Centre Party
Czech Republic
Czech Republic
 Věra Jourová European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality ANO 2011
Denmark
Denmark
 Margrethe Vestager European Commissioner for Competition Danish Social Liberal Party

Elected Representatives of Member Parties

European institutions

Guy Verhofstadt.
Organisation Institution Number of seats
 European Union European Commission
5 / 28
 European Union European Council
(Heads of Government)
5 / 28
 European Union Council of the EU
(Participation in Government)
11 / 28
 European Union European Parliament
51 / 736
 Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly
28 / 318

National Parliaments of European Union member states

Mark Rutte.
Taavi Rõivas.
Margrethe Vestager.
Nick Clegg.
Country Institution Number of seats Member parties
 Austria National Council
9 / 183
 NEOS
 Belgium Chamber of Representatives
Lower house
34 / 150
 MR, Open Vld
Senate
Upper house
13 / 60
 MR, Open Vld
 Bulgaria National Assembly
38 / 240
 MRF
 Croatia Sabor
16 / 151
 HNS, IDS-DDI
 Czech Republic Chamber of Deputies
47 / 200
 ANO 2011
 Denmark Folketing
64 / 175
 V, RV
 Estonia State Council
54 / 101
 ER, EK
 Finland Parliament
45 / 200
 Kesk., SFP
 Germany Bundestag
0 / 631
 FDP
 Ireland Dáil
Lower house
20 / 166
 FF
Seanad
Upper house
14 / 60
 FF
 Italy Chamber of Deputies
Lower house
0 / 630
 IdV, Radicali
Senate of the Republic
Upper house
0 / 315
 IdV, Radicali
 Lithuania Seimas
39 / 141
 LRLS, DP
 Luxembourg Chamber of Deputies
13 / 60
 DP
 Netherlands House of Representatives
Lower house
53 / 150
 VVD, D66
Senate
Upper house
21 / 75
 VVD, D66
 Romania Chamber of Deputies
Lower house
22 / 412
 PLR
Senate
Upper house
6 / 176
 PLR
 Slovenia National Assembly
40 / 90
 SMC, ZaAB
 Spain Congress of Deputies
Lower house
15 / 350
 UPyD, CDC
Senate
Upper house
10 / 266
 UPyD, CDC
 Sweden Riksdag
41 / 349
 C, FP
 United Kingdom House of Commons
Lower house
57 / 650
 Lib Dems
House of Lords
Upper house
105 / 793
 Lib Dems

National Parliaments outside the European Union

Country Institution Number of seats Member parties
 Andorra General Council
11 / 28
 PLA
 Azerbaijan National Assembly
5 / 125
 Musavat
 Georgia Parliament
19 / 150
 Republican, FD[5][6]
 Iceland Althing
6 / 63
 BF
 Moldova Parliament
13 / 101
 PL
 Montenegro Assembly
1 / 81
 LPCG
 Norway Storting
9 / 169
 Venstre
  Switzerland National Council
Lower house
31 / 200
 FDP.The Liberals
Council of States
Upper house
12 / 46
 FDP.The Liberals

Member parties

Proportion of ALDE Party MEPs per country as of 2004
Country or Region Party MEPs
 AustriaNEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum
1 / 18
 Belgium (Dutch) Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats
3 / 12
 Belgium (French) Reformist Movement
3 / 8
 BulgariaMovement for Rights and Freedoms
4 / 17
 BulgariaNational Movement for Stability and Progress
0 / 17
 CroatiaCroatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats
1 / 11
 CroatiaCroatian Social Liberal Party
0 / 11
 CroatiaIstrian Democratic Assembly
1 / 11
 CyprusUnited Democrats
0 / 6
 Czech RepublicANO 2011
4 / 21
 DenmarkDanish Social Liberal Party
1 / 13
 DenmarkVenstre – Liberal Party of Denmark
2 / 13
 EstoniaEstonian Centre Party
1 / 6
 EstoniaEstonian Reform Party
2 / 6
 FinlandCentre Party
3 / 13
 FinlandSwedish People's Party of Finland
1 / 13
 Finland
 Åland Islands		Åland Centre
0 / 13
 GermanyFree Democratic Party
3 / 96
 GreeceDrassi
0 / 21
 IrelandFianna Fáil
1 / 11
 ItalyItalian Radicals
0 / 73
 ItalyItaly of Values
0 / 73
 LatviaLatvian Development
0 / 8
 LithuaniaLabour Party
1 / 11
 LithuaniaLithuanian Liberty Union
0 / 11
 LithuaniaLiberals' Movement of the Republic of Lithuania
2 / 11
 LuxembourgDemocratic Party
1 / 6
 NetherlandsDemocrats 66
4 / 26
 NetherlandsPeople's Party for Freedom and Democracy
3 / 26
 PolandDemocratic Party – demokraci.pl
0 / 51
 PortugalEarth Party
2 / 21
 SloveniaModern Centre Party
0 / 8
 SloveniaAlliance of Alenka Bratušek
0 / 8
 SloveniaCivic List
0 / 8
 SloveniaLiberal Democracy of Slovenia
0 / 8
 SloveniaZares – Social Liberals
0 / 8
 SpainDemocratic Convergence of Catalonia
1 / 54
 SwedenCentre Party
1 / 20
 SwedenLiberal People's Party
2 / 20
 United KingdomLiberal Democrats
1 / 73

Outside the EU

 Andorra

 Armenia

 Azerbaijan

 Belarus

 Georgia

 Iceland

Kosovo Kosovo

 Moldova

 Montenegro

 Norway

 Russia

 Serbia

  Switzerland

 Ukraine

See also

References

  1. ↑ Wolfram Nordsieck. "Parties and Elections in Europe: The database about parliamentary elections and political parties in Europe, by Wolfram Nordsieck". Parties-and-elections.eu. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  2. ↑ "European Liberal Democrats change party name to ALDE Party | ALDE Party". Eldr.eu. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  3. ↑ http://www.liberal-international.org/site/Co-operating_Organsisations.html
  4. ↑ "Members of the Bureau | ALDE Party". Aldeparty.eu. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  5. ↑ "Members of Faction". Parliament.ge. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  6. ↑ "Members of Faction". Parliament.ge. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  7. ↑ http://svobodanaroda.org/news/4361/

External links