Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group

Alliance of Liberals and
Democrats for Europe
European parliamentary group
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]
Conservative liberalism[3]
Social liberalism[3]
Pro-Europeanism
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[4]
Preceded by ELDR Group
Chaired by Belgium Guy Verhofstadt
MEP(s)
68 / 751
Website http://www.alde.eu/

The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group (ALDE) is the liberal–centrist[5][6] 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 of the European Coal and Steel Community. 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.[7]

History

Guy Verhofstadt

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,[8] but the Group was officially founded as the Group of Liberals and Allies[4] on 23 June 1953.[4]

As the Assembly grew into the Parliament, the French Gaullists split from the Group on 21 January 1965[9] 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[4][10] in 1976,[4] then to the Liberal and Democratic Reformist Group[11] on 13 December 1985,[4] then to the Group of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party[4][10][12] on 19 July 1994[4] 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[4] (ALDE) on 20 July 2004,[4] 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 14 with more than one MEP (in yellow) and six 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 Dutch: Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten ALDE
3 / 24
3 / 14
3 / 22
3 / 13
3 / 21
3 / 12
Reformist Movement French: Mouvement Réformateur ALDE
2 / 24
2 / 9
2 / 22
2 / 8
2 / 21
2 / 8
EDP[lower-alpha 1]
1 / 24
1 / 9
 –
1 / 21
1 / 8
 Bulgaria National Movement for Stability and Progress Национално движение за стабилност и възход
(Nacionalno Dviženie za Stabilnost i Văzhod)		 ALDE
2 / 18
2 / 18
 –
Movement for Rights and Freedoms Движение за права и свободи
(Dvizhenie za Prava i Svobodi)		 ALDE
3 / 18
3 / 18
4 / 17
 Croatia Civic-Liberal Alliance Građansko-liberalni savez ALDE – –
1 / 11
Istrian Democratic Assembly Istarski demokratski sabor - Dieta democratica istriana ALDE – –
1 / 11
 Cyprus Democratic Party Greek: Δημοκρατικό Κόμμα
(Dimokratikó Kómma)
Turkish: Demokrat Parti		 ALDE [lower-alpha 2]
1 / 6
 – –
 Czech Republic ANO 2011 ANO 2011 ALDE – –
2 / 21
Petr Ježek and Pavel Telička (Independent)[lower-alpha 3] – – –
2 / 21
 Denmark Venstre - Denmark's Liberal Party Venstre - Danmarks Liberale Parti ALDE
3 / 14
3 / 13
1 / 13
[lower-alpha 4]
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
2 / 74
[lower-alpha 5]
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
 – –
Génération citoyens – none – –
1 / 74
Parti Radical – ALDE – –
1 / 74
Union of Democrats and Independents Union des démocrates et indépendants ALDE – –
3 / 74
 Germany Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei ALDE
7 / 99
12 / 99
3 / 96
Free Voters Freie Wähler EDP – –
1 / 96
 Greece Drassi Δράση
Drassi		 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 6]
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
[lower-alpha 7]
1 / 12
2 / 11
Liberal and Centre Union Liberalų ir Centro Sąjunga ALDE
2 / 13
 – –
Liberal Movement Liberalų Saįūdis ALDE –
1 / 12
1 / 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
 Romania National Liberal Party Partidul Național Liberal ALDE[lower-alpha 8]
6 / 35
5 / 33
 –
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (formerly PNL and Independent ) Alianța Liberalilor și Democraților ALDE – –
1 / 32
Renate Weber (formerly PNL) – ALDE[lower-alpha 8] – –
1 / 32
Mircea Diaconu (Independent) – ALDE – –
1 / 32
 Slovakia People's Party – Movement for a Democratic Slovakia Ľudová Strana - Hnutie Za Demokratické Slovensko EDP –
1 / 13
 –
 SloveniaLiberal 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 EDP[lower-alpha 9] – –
1 / 8
 Spain Basque Nationalist Party Basque: Euzko Alderdi Jeltzalea EDP
1 / 54
1 / 54
1 / 54
Citizens – Party of the Citizenry Spanish: Ciudadanos – Partido de la Ciudadanía ALDE – –
2 / 54
Union, Progress and Democracy Spanish: Unión, Progreso y Democracia ALDE[lower-alpha 10] – –
1 / 54
Beatriz Becerra Basterrechea and María Teresa Gimenez Barbat (Independent)[lower-alpha 11] – ALDE – –
2 / 54
Enrique Calvet Chambon (Independent)[lower-alpha 12] – – –
1 / 54
 Sweden The Liberals Liberalerna ALDE
1 / 19
3 / 20
2 / 20
Centre Party Centerpartiet ALDE
1 / 19
1 / 20
1 / 20
 United KingdomLiberal Democrats - ALDE
11 / 78
12 / 73
1 / 73
Total ALDE Party 70 74 57
Total EDP 26 10 8
Total Other 4 1 3
Total 100 85 68
  1. ↑ Gérard Deprez as EDP individual member
  2. ↑ The Democratic Party left the ALDE for S&D in 2009.
  3. ↑ They were elected as ANO 2011
  4. ↑ Jens Rhode was originally also elected for Ventre, but left to join Danish Social Liberal Party in December 2015.
  5. ↑ 4 MoDem MEPs were elected in 2014
  6. ↑ The sole Fianna Fáil member sits with the European Conservatives and Reformists group.
  7. ↑ EDP member until 2012
  8. 1 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.
  9. ↑ Ivo Vajgl as individual member
  10. ↑ Maïte Pagazaurtundúa Ruiz as individual member
  11. ↑ Elected as Union, Progress and Democracy
  12. ↑ Elected as Union, Progress and Democracy

Membership at formation

In September 1952, the third-largest grouping in the Common Assembly was the Liberal grouping with 11 members.[13] The Group of Liberals and Allies was officially founded on 23 June 1953.[4] By mid-September 1953, it was again the third-largest Group with 10 members.[14]

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.[15] 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:[15]


Member
Position
Nation
Guy VerhofstadtPresidentBelgium
Sophia in 't VeldVice-PresidentNetherlands
Pavel TeličkaVice-PresidentCzech Republic
Maite Pagazaurtundúa RuizVice-PresidentSpain
Andrus AnsipVice-PresidentEstonia
Filiz HyusmenovaVice-PresidentBulgaria
Marielle de SarnezVice-PresidentFrance
Izaskun Bilbao BarandicaVice-PresidentSpain
Norica NicolaiVice-PresidentRomania
Petras AuštrevičiusMemberLithuania
Catherine BearderMemberUnited Kingdom
Philippe De BackerMemberBelgium
Mircea DiaconuMemberRomania
José Inácio FariaMemberPortugal
Fredrick FederleyMemberSweden
Charles GoerensMemberLuxembourg
Marian HarkinMemberIreland
Ivan JakovčićMemberCroatia
Alexander Graf LambsdorffMemberGermany
António Marinho e PintoMemberPortugal
Louis MichelMemberBelgium
Angelika MlinarMemberAustria
Ulrike MüllerMemberGermany
Javier NartMemberSpain
Maite PagazaurtundúaMemberSpain
Morten Helveg PetersenMemberDenmark
Jozo RadošMemberCroatia
Olli RehnMemberFinland
Yana ToomMemberEstonia
Nils TorvaldsMemberFinland
Ramon Tremosa i BalcellsMemberSpain
Ulla TørnæsMemberDenmark
Viktor UspaskichMemberLithuania
Ivo VajglMemberSlovenia
Johannes Cornelis van BaalenMemberNetherlands
Cecilia WikströmMemberSweden

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

Academic analysis

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

  1. ↑ "At your service". Europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 2014-06-28.
  2. ↑ Nordsieck, Wolfram (2015). "European Union". Parties and Elections in Europe. Archived from the original on 2017-06-08. Retrieved 2018-09-22.
  3. 1 2 Slomp, Hans (2011-09-26). Europe, A Political Profile: An American Companion to European Politics. ABC-CLIO. p. 245. ISBN 978-0-313-39182-8. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "ALDE on Europe Politique". Europe-politique.eu. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
  5. ↑ Andreas Staab (2011). The European Union Explained, Second Edition: Institutions, Actors, Global Impact. Indiana University Press. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-253-00164-1. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  6. ↑ Tapio Raunio (2012). "Political Interests: The European Parliament's Party Groups". In John Peterson; Michael Shackleton. The Institutions of the European Union. Oxford University Press. p. 341. ISBN 978-0-19-957498-8.
  7. ↑ David Phinnemore; Lee McGowan (2013). A Dictionary of the European Union. Routledge. p. 277. ISBN 978-1-135-08127-0. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
  8. ↑ "Composition of the Common Assembly (10–13 September 1952)". CVCE. Retrieved 2013-04-28.
  9. ↑ "UFE on Europe Politique". Europe-politique.eu. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
  10. 1 2 "Political Groups of the European Parliament". Kas.de. Archived from the original on 2011-05-17. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
  11. ↑ European Parliament archive entry for Simone Veil (incl. Membership)
  12. ↑ "Group names 1999". Europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
  13. 1 2 "Directorate-General for the Presidency - CARDOC unit and archives - Description of the main holdings and collections" (PDF). Retrieved 2010-06-18.
  14. ↑ "Position of the political groups in mid-September 1953". CVCE. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  15. 1 2 "ALDE website article "Bureau"". Alde.eu. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 Archived article 003730_1 Archived 2008-09-11 at the Wayback Machine. from the Archive of European Integration
  17. ↑ European Parliament archive entry for Cornelis Berkhouwer (incl. Membership)
  18. ↑ European Parliament archive entry for Jean-François Pintat (incl. Membership)
  19. ↑ European Parliament archive entry for Martin Bangemann (incl. Membership)
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "ALDE Group press release "ALDE Group backs Watson to continue as Leader", dated 29 November 2006". Alde.eu. 2006-11-29. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
  21. ↑ European Parliament archive entry for Valery Giscard d'Estaing (incl. Membership)
  22. ↑ European Parliament archive entry for Yves Galland (incl. Membership)
  23. ↑ European Parliament archive entry for Gijs de Vries (incl. Membership)
  24. ↑ European Parliament archive entry for Pat Cox (incl. Membership)
  25. ↑ European Parliament archive entry for Graham Watson (incl. Membership)
  26. ↑ ALDE Group in the European Parliament : Guy Verhofstadt elected unopposed as new ALDE group leader
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