Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group

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Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
European parliamentary group
ALDE logo.svg
Name Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
English abbr. ALDE
French abbr. ADLE
Formal name Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe[1]
Ideology Liberalism[2]
Centrism[2]
European parties Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party,
European Democratic Party
Associated organisations Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe,
Liberal International
From 20 July 2004[3]
Preceded by ELDR Group
Chaired by Belgium Guy Verhofstadt
MEP(s)
70 / 751
Website http://www.alde.eu/

The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group (ALDE/ADLE) is the liberalcentrist[4][5] political group of the European Parliament. It is made up of MEPs from two European political parties, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (formerly the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party) and the European Democratic Party, which collectively form the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.

ALDE is one of the three oldest Groups, dating its unofficial origin back to September 1952 and the first meeting of the Parliament's predecessor, the Common Assembly. Founded as an explicitly Liberal Group, it has expanded its remit to cover the different centrist traditions of each new Member State as they acceded to the Union, progressively changing its name in the process.

It is the fourth-largest Group in the Parliament and did participate in the Grand Coalition (the coalition designed to provide a majority) for the Sixth Parliament (2004–2009).

The pro-European platform of ALDE espouses neoliberal economics and support for European integration and the European single market.[6]

History

The ALDE Group can trace its unofficial ancestry back to the Liberal members present at the first meeting of the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community (the Parliament's predecessor) on 10 September 1952,[7] but the Group was officially founded as the Group of Liberals and Allies[3] on 23 June 1953.[3]

As the Assembly grew into the Parliament, the French Gaullists split from the Group on 21 January 1965[8] and the Group started the process of changing its name to match the liberal/centrist traditions of the new member states, firstly to the Liberal and Democratic Group[3][9] in 1976,[3] then to the Liberal and Democratic Reformist Group[10] on 13 December 1985,[3] then to the Group of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party[3][9][11] on 19 July 1994[3] to match the European political party of the same name.

In 1999, the Group partnered with European People's Party–European Democrats (EPP-ED) group to form the Grand Coalition for the Fifth Parliament. The customary split of the Presidency of the European Parliament between Groups in the Coalition meant that the Group achieved its first President of the European Parliament on 15 January 2002, when Pat Cox was elected to the post to serve the latter half of the five-year term. The Group lost its Grand Coalition status after the 2004 elections.

On 13 July 2004 the Group approved a recommendation to unite with MEPs from the centrist and social-liberal political party at the European level called the European Democratic Party (EDP) founded by François Bayrou's Union for French Democracy, the Labour Party of Lithuania and Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy of Italy.

The Group accordingly became the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe[3] (ALDE) on 20 July 2004,[3] to match the eponymous transnational political alliance, although the two European-level parties remained separate outside the European Parliament. The MEP Graham Watson of the British Liberal Democrats became the first chair of ALDE.

Membership

The ALDE has MEPs from 20 countries, including 15 with more than one MEP (in yellow) and five with one MEP each (light yellow).

Membership by party in Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Parliaments

The national parties that are members of ALDE are as follows:


Country

National party

National party in national language

European party

MEPs 2004-2009

MEPs 2009-2014

MEPs 2014-2019
 Austria NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum Neos – Das Neue Österreich und Liberales Forum ALDE
1 / 18
-
1 / 18
 Belgium Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten ALDE
3 / 24
3 / 14
3 / 22
3 / 13
3 / 21
3 / 12
Reformist Movement Mouvement Réformateur ALDE
3 / 24
3 / 9
2 / 22
2 / 8
3 / 21
3 / 8
 Bulgaria National Movement for Stability and Progress Latin: Nacionalno Dviženie Za Stabilnost I Văzhod

Cyrillic: Национално движение за стабилност и възход
ALDE
2 / 18
2 / 18
-
Movement for Rights and Freedoms Latin: Dvizhenie Za Prava I Svobodi

Cyrillic: Движение за права и свободи
ALDE
3 / 18
3 / 18
4 / 17
 Croatia Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats Hrvatska narodna stranka – liberalni demokrati ALDE - -
1 / 11
Istrian Democratic Assembly Istarski demokratski sabor - Dieta democratica istriana ALDE - -
1 / 11
 Cyprus Democratic Party Greek: Δημοκρατικό Κόμμα
Latin: Dimokratikó Kómma
Turkish: Demokrat Parti
ALDE [lower-alpha 1]
1 / 6
- -
 Czech Republic ANO 2011 ANO 2011 - Akce nespokojených občanů 2011 ALDE - -
4 / 21
 Denmark Venstre - Denmark's Liberal Party Venstre - Danmarks Liberale Parti ALDE
3 / 14
3 / 13
1 / 13
[lower-alpha 2]
Danish Social Liberal Party Det Radikale Venstre ALDE
1 / 14
-
2 / 13
 Estonia Estonian Centre Party Eesti Keskerakond ALDE
1 / 6
2 / 6
1 / 6
Estonian Reform Party Eesti Reformierakond ALDE
1 / 6
1 / 6
2 / 6
 Finland Centre Party Finnish: Suomen Keskusta
Swedish: Centern i Finland
ALDE
4 / 14
3 / 13
3 / 13
Swedish People's Party Finnish: Suomen ruotsalainen kansanpuolue
Swedish: Svenska Folkpartiet i Finland
ALDE
1 / 14
1 / 13
1 / 13
 France Democratic Movement Mouvement Démocrate EDP
7 / 78
5 / 74
4 / 74
CAP21 Citoyenneté Action Participation Pour Le XXIe Siècle none -
1 / 74
-
Civic Alliance for Democracy in Europe Alliance Citoyenne Pour La Démocratie En Europe ALDE
3 / 78
- -
Nous Citoyens Nous Citoyens none - -
1 / 74
Union of Democrats and Independents Union des démocrates et indépendants EDP - -
2 / 74
 Germany Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei ALDE
7 / 99
12 / 99
3 / 96
Free Voters Freie Wähler EDP - -
1 / 96
 Greece Drassi Latin: Drassi
Greek: Δράση
none -
1 / 22
-
 Hungary Alliance of Free Democrats Szabad Demokraták Szövetsége - A Magyar Liberális Párt ALDE
2 / 24
- -
Hungarian Liberal Party Magyar Liberális Párt - Liberálisok ALDE - - -
 Ireland Fianna Fáil - ALDE -
3 / 12
- [lower-alpha 3]
Marian Harkin (Independent) - EDP
1 / 13
1 / 12
1 / 11
 Italy Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy (note: merged into PD in 2007) Democrazia È Libertà - La Margherita EDP
9 / 78
- -
Italy of Values Italia Dei Valori ALDE
1 / 78
5 / 73
-
Alliance for Italy Alleanza Per L'Italia EDP
1 / 78
1 / 73
-
Italian Radicals Radicali Italiani ALDE
2 / 78
- -
 Latvia Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way Latvijas Pirmā Partija / Latvijas Ceļš ALDE
1 / 9
1 / 9
-
Union of Greens and Farmers Zaļo un Zemnieku savienība EGP (LZP) - -
1 / 8
 Lithuania Labour Party Darbo Partija ALDE
5 / 13
1 / 12
2 / 11
Liberal and Centre Union Liberalų Ir Centro Sąjunga ALDE
2 / 13
- -
Liberal Movement Liberalų Saįūdis ALDE -
1 / 12
2 / 11
 Luxembourg Democratic Party Luxembourgish: Demokratesch Partei
French: Parti Démocratique
German: Demokratische Partei
ALDE
1 / 6
1 / 6
1 / 6
 Netherlands People's Party for Freedom and Democracy Volkspartij Voor Vrijheid En Democratie ALDE
4 / 27
3 / 26
3 / 26
Democrats 66 Democraten 66 ALDE
1 / 27
3 / 26
4 / 26
 Poland Democratic Party – demokraci.pl Partia Demokratyczna - Demokraci.pl ALDE
4 / 54
- -
Paweł Piskorski (Independent) - none
1 / 54
- -
Marek Czarnecki (Independent) - none
1 / 54
- -
 Portugal Democratic Republican Party Partido Democrático Republicano EDP - -
1 / 21
Earth Party Partido da Terra ALDE - -
1 / 21
 Romania National Liberal Party Partidul Naţional Liberal ALDE[lower-alpha 4]
6 / 35
5 / 33
Norica Nicolai (formerly PNL) none[lower-alpha 4]
1 / 32
Renate Weber (formerly PNL) none[lower-alpha 4]
1 / 32
Mircea Diaconu (Independent) none - -
1 / 32
 Slovakia People's Party – Movement for a Democratic Slovakia Ľudová Strana - Hnutie Za Demokratické Slovensko EDP -
1 / 13
-
 Slovenia Liberal Democracy of Slovenia Liberalna Demokracija Slovenije ALDE
2 / 7
1 / 8
-
Zares – Social Liberals Zares - Socialno-Liberalni ALDE -
1 / 8
-
Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia Demokratična stranka upokojencev Slovenije none - -
1 / 8
 Spain Democratic Convergence of Catalonia Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya ALDE
1 / 54
1 / 54
1 / 54
Basque Nationalist Party Euzko Alderdi Jeltzalea EDP
1 / 54
1 / 54
1 / 54
Union, Progress and Democracy Unión, Progreso y Democracia none - -
4 / 54
Citizens – Party of the Citizenry Ciudadanos-Partido de la Ciudadanía none - -
2 / 54
 Sweden Liberal People's Party Folkpartiet Liberalerna ALDE
1 / 19
3 / 20
2 / 20
Centre Party Centerpartiet ALDE
1 / 19
1 / 20
1 / 20
 United Kingdom Liberal Democrats - ALDE
11 / 78
12 / 73
1 / 73
Total ALDE Party 70 74 47
Total EDP 26 10 9
Total Other 4 1 14
Total 100 85 70
  1. The Democratic Party left the ALDE for S&D in 2009.
  2. Jens Rhode was originally also elected for Ventre, but left to join Danish Social Liberal Party in December 2015.
  3. The sole Fianna Fáil member sits with the European Conservatives and Reformists group.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Following the 2014 European Parliament election, the National Liberal Party (PNL) left ALDE to join the European People's Party. Reelected MEPs Norica Nicolai and Renate Weber rejoined the ALDE group later and were subsequently expelled from their party.

Membership at formation

In September 1952, the third-largest grouping in the Common Assembly was the Liberal grouping with 11 members.[12] The Group of Liberals and Allies was officially founded on 23 June 1953.[3] By mid-September 1953, it was again the third-largest Group with 10 members.[13]

Pending for membership

Structure

Subgroups

ALDE is a coalition of liberal and centrist MEPs. It does not have formal subgroups, although the MEPs fall naturally into two informal subgroups, depending on whether they associate with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party or the European Democratic Party.

Organisation

The Bureau is the main decision making body of the ALDE Group and is composed of the leaders of the delegations from each member state that elects ALDE MEPs.[14] The Bureau oversees the ALDE Group's main strategy and policies and is headed by a chair (referred to as the Leader). The day-to-day running of the Group is performed by its secretariat, led by its Secretary-General.

The senior staff of ALDE as of July 2012 are as follows:[14]


Member

Position

Nation
Guy Verhofstadt President Belgium
Sophia in 't Veld Vice-President Netherlands
Pavel Telička Vice-President Czech Republic
Maite Pagazaurtundúa Ruiz Vice-President Spain
Andrus Ansip Vice-President Estonia
Filiz Hyusmenova Vice-President Bulgaria
Marielle de Sarnez Vice-President France
Izaskun Bilbao Barandica Vice-President Spain
Norica Nicolai Vice-President Romania
Petras Auštrevičius Member Lithuania
Catherine Bearder Member United Kingdom
Philippe De Backer Member Belgium
Mircea Diaconu Member Romania
José Inácio Faria Member Portugal
Fredrick Federley Member Sweden
Charles Goerens Member Luxembourg
Marian Harkin Member Ireland
Ivan Jakovčić Member Croatia
Alexander Graf Lambsdorff Member Germany
António Marinho e Pinto Member Portugal
Louis Michel Member Belgium
Angelika Mlinar Member Austria
Ulrike Müller Member Germany
Javier Nart Member Spain
Maite Pagazaurtundúa Member Spain
Morten Helveg Petersen Member Denmark
Jozo Radoš Member Croatia
Olli Rehn Member Finland
Yana Toom Member Estonia
Nils Torvalds Member Finland
Ramon Tremosa i Balcells Member Spain
Ulla Tørnæs Member Denmark
Viktor Uspaskich Member Lithuania
Ivo Vajgl Member Slovenia
Johannes Cornelis van Baalen Member Netherlands
Cecilia Wikström Member Sweden

The chairs of ALDE and its predecessors from 1953 to the present are as follows:

Academic analysis

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Along with the other political groups, ALDE has been analysed by academics on its positions regarding various issues. Those positions are summarized in this article. That article characterizes ALDE as cohesive, gender-balanced centrist Euroneutrals that cooperate most closely with the EPP, are ambiguous on hypothetical EU taxes and supportive of eventual full Turkish accession to the European Union.

References

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  10. European Parliament archive entry for Simone Veil (incl. Membership)
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  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 Archived article 003730_1 from the Archive of European Integration
  16. European Parliament archive entry for Cornelis Berkhouwer (incl. Membership)
  17. European Parliament archive entry for Jean-François Pintat (incl. Membership)
  18. European Parliament archive entry for Martin Bangemann (incl. Membership)
  19. 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 19.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. European Parliament archive entry for Valery Giscard d'Estaing (incl. Membership)
  21. European Parliament archive entry for Yves Galland (incl. Membership)
  22. European Parliament archive entry for Gijs de Vries (incl. Membership)
  23. European Parliament archive entry for Pat Cox (incl. Membership)
  24. European Parliament archive entry for Graham Watson (incl. Membership)
  25. ALDE Group in the European Parliament : Guy Verhofstadt elected unopposed as new ALDE group leader[dead link]

External links