Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party

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The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE Party) is a European political party composed of 76 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.[1]

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).[2]

On 10 November 2012, under the leadership of Sir Graham Watson MEP, 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.

Template:As of, ALDE Party is represented in European Union institutions, with 51 MEPs and five members of the European Commission. Of the 27 EU member states, there are two with ALDE-affiliated Prime Ministers: Kristen Michal (Estonian Reform Party) in Estonia and Alexander De Croo (Open VLD) in Belgium. ALDE Party members are also in governments in ten other EU member states: Cyprus, France, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Ireland, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Germany and the Netherlands. Charles Michel, former Belgian prime minister, was the president of the European Council until December 2024.

ALDE's think tank is the European Liberal Forum, led by Jan-Christoph Oetjen 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 Ines Holzegger.

In 2011, 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) maintained direct membership in the ALDE Party from several EU countries. Over 40 coordinators mobilised 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. Individual membership was eventually discontinued in 2023.

In 2025, the Alliance was declared an undesirable organization in Russia.[3]

Structure

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Bureau

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

Office Name State member Party member
President Svenja Hahn MEP Template:Country data Germany FDP
Vice-presidents
Yoko Alender Template:Country data Estonia Reform
Malik Azmani MEP Template:Country data Netherlands VVD
Dan Barna MEP Template:Country data Romania USR
Baroness Sal Brinton Template:Country data United Kingdom LibDem
Rik Daems Template:Country data Belgium Open VLD
Eva Kjer Hansen Template:Country data Denmark Venstre
Yevheniia Kravchuk MP Template:Country data Ukraine Servant of the People
Jouni Ovaska MP Template:Country data Finland Keskusta
Lucia Plaváková MP Template:Country data Slovakia Progressive Slovakia
Treasurer David Burke Template:Country data Ireland FF
Ex officio members
Office Name State member Party member
ALDE Party Secretary-General Didrik de Schaetzen Template:Country data Belgium MR- Open VLD - DP
President of Liberal International Karl-Heinz Paqué Template:Country data Germany FDP
ALDE Group Chair in the PACE Iulian Bulai Template:Country data Romania USR
President of the Renew Europe Group in the European Parliament Valérie Hayer MEP Template:Country data France Renaissance
Leader of the Renew Europe Group in the European Committee of the Regions François Decoster Template:Country data France Renaissance
President of the European Liberal Forum Jan-Christoph Oetjen Template:Country data Germany FDP
President of the European Liberal Youth Ines Holzegger Template:Country data Austria NEOS

Presidents

History of pan-European liberalism

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File:ELDR logo.svg
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.[5] 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.[5] 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).[6]

Funding

As a registered European political party, ALDE is entitled to European public funding, which it has received continuously since 2004.[7]

Below is the evolution of European public funding received by ALDE. {{#chart:Evolution_of_public_funding_of_European_political_parties.Line.chart |arg:where=party |arg:eq=ALDE |arg:cols=year,maximum_allocated,amount_received }}

In line with the Regulation on European political parties and European political foundations, ALDE also raises private funds to co-finance its activities. As of 2025, European parties must raise at least 10% of their reimbursable expenditure from private sources, while the rest can be covered using European public funding.Template:Efn

Below is the evolution of contributions and donations received by the ALDE.[8][9] {{#chart:Contributions raised by European political parties.Line.chart |arg:cols=year,ALDE }} {{#chart:Donations raised by European political parties.Line.chart |arg:cols=year,ALDE }}

European Commissioners

Members from ALDE Party political family contribute five out of the 27 members of the European Commission:

State Commissioner Portfolio Political party Portrait
Template:Flagicon Estonia Kaja Kallas High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,

Vice President

ER File:Kaja Kallas, High Representative of the Union, and Vice-President of the European Commission - P064583-775481 (cropped).jpg
Template:Flagicon Ireland Michael McGrath Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection

Commissioner

FF File:McGrath EC Portrait 2024 (cropped).jpg
Template:Flagicon Slovenia Marta Kos Enlargement,

Commissioner

Ind.Template:Efn File:Kos EC Portrait 2024 (cropped).jpg
Template:Flagicon Belgium Hadja Lahbib Equality,Preparedness and Crisis Management

Commissioner

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Elected representatives of member parties

European institutions

Organisation Institution Number of seats
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European Commission Template:EUPP data
European Council
(Heads of Government)
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Council of the European Union
(Participation in Government)
Committee of the Regions Template:EUPP data
Template:Country data Council of Europe (as part of Template:Wikidata) Parliamentary Assembly Template:Composition barTemplate:Wikidata

European Council

Member State Title Representative Political party Member of the Council since Portrait
Template:Flagicon Estonia Prime Minister Kristen Michal Estonian Reform Party Template:Dts File:Kristen Michal in 2024 (cropped).jpg
Template:Flagicon Ireland Taoiseach Micheál Martin Fianna Fáil Template:Dts File:Micheál Martin TD (cropped).jpg
Template:Flagicon Slovenia Prime Minister Robert Golob Freedom Movement Template:Dts File:Novinarska konferenca po sestanku o energetski samooskrbi - 30.1.2024 - Robert Golob (cropped).jpg

In third countries

Through its associate and observer parties ALDE has two heads of state or government in non-EU countries:

State Title Representative Political party In power since Portrait
Template:Country data Switzerland President Karin Keller-Sutter FDP.The Liberals Template:Dts File:Karin Keller-Sutter (2024, cropped).jpg
Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis Template:Dts File:Ignazio Cassis 2024 (3x4 cropped).jpg

National parliaments of European Union member states

Country Institution Number of seats Member parties Status
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Centre Template:Composition bar Opposition
Focus Template:Composition bar Extra-parliamentary
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V Template:Composition bar Government
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National parliaments outside the European Union

Country Institution Number of seats Member parties
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Gibraltar Parliament
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Membership

File:Map of the membership of ALDE party in 2021.svg
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  States with full and/or associate member parties

The ALDE party has 73 member parties from EU and non-EU countries.[10]

Only delegates from full members of the ALDE Party and its youth wing LYMEC, together with the delegates of the ALDE Party Supporters and ALDE Party Bureau members, are permitted to vote at the ALDE Congress and Council. Affiliated member parties have non-voting delegates.[11]

Full members

Country or Region Party MEPsTemplate:Efn
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Liberals of Andorra
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Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats
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Focus
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Istrian Democratic Assembly
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United Democrats
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Venstre
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Swedish People's Party of Finland
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Union of Democrats and Independents
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Not in EU
Strategy Aghmashenebeli
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Girchi — More Freedom
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Momentum Movement
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European Liberal Democrats
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Italian Radicals
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More Europe
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Team K
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Template:KOS Democratic Party of Kosovo
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Not in EU
New Kosovo Alliance
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Movement For!
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Liberals' Movement
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Not in EU
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Not in EU
Template:NMK Liberal Democratic Party
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People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
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Not in EU
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Not in EU
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Liberals
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Not in EU
Green Liberal Party of Switzerland
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Not in EU
Voice
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European Party of Ukraine
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Script error: No such module "flag". Liberal Democrats Not in EU

Affiliated members

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Former members

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Individual members

ALDE also includes a number of individual members. For many years, ALDE had the largest number of individual members of all European parties; however, this membership was discontinued with only one individual member remaining as of 2024. As most other European parties, it has not sought to develop mass individual membership.[12]

Below is the evolution of individual membership of ALDE since 2019.[13] {{#chart:Individual members of European political parties.Line.chart |arg:cols=year,ALDE }}

Election results

European Parliament

Year Lead Candidate % Seats Seats Status Ref
2024 Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann 7.2 (#4) Template:Composition bar Coalition [14][15]

See also

Notes

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References

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External links

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Template:Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party Template:Renew Europe Template:European political parties Template:Political organisations at European Union level Template:ELDR member parties Template:Authority control

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