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The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE Party) is a European political party mainly active in the European Union, composed of 55 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.
The leader of the ALDE Party is Sir Graham Watson MEP.
The day-to-day management of the ALDE Party is handled by the Bureau, the members of which are:[4]
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.
ALDE Member Parties contribute 5 out of the 28 members of the European Commission:
Andorra
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Georgia
Iceland
Kosovo
Macedonia
Moldova
Norway
Russia
Serbia
Switzerland
Ukraine
National groups:
* observer
*associate member **observer
Brussels, Andorra, United Kingdom, Canada, Wallonia
Italy, Austria, Croatia, European Union, Serbia
Isle of Man, India, Canada, European Union, British Overseas Territories
European Parliament, Malta, Estonia, Romania, European Council
Amsterdam, Belgium, Germany, United Kingdom, European Union
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party, Liberal International, Liberalism, Classical liberalism, Libertarianism
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party, European Democratic Party, Belgium, United Kingdom, Fianna Fáil
European People's Party, Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party, Party of European Socialists, European Union, Portugal
European People's Party, Party of European Socialists, Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party, European Union, European Council
European People's Party, Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party, European Union, Slovakia, Bulgaria