Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party

This article is about the European political party. For related organisations with similar names, see Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (disambiguation).

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.^[12]

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party
Abbreviation	ALDE Party
President	Svenja Hahn (DE)[1]
Secretary-General	Didrik de Schaetzen (BE)
Founded	26 March 1976; 49 years ago (1976-03-26)
Headquarters	Rue d'Idalie 11 - box 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
Think tank	European Liberal Forum
Youth wing	European Liberal Youth
Membership (26 January 2025)	1
Ideology	Liberalism[2] Pro-Europeanism
Political position	Centre[6] to centre-right[11]
European Parliament group	Renew (2019–present) ALDE Group (2004–2019) ELDR Group (1976–2004)
International affiliation	Liberal International
Colours	Blue   Magenta   Yellow (customary)
European Parliament	49 / 720 (7%)
European Commission	5 / 27 (19%)
European Council	3 / 27 (11%)
European Lower Houses	411 / 6,318 (7%)
European Upper Houses	103 / 1,457 (7%)
Website
aldeparty.eu
Politics of the European Union Political parties Elections

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).^[13]

On 10 November 2012, 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.

As of 2024^[update], 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.

Structure

Bureau

The day-to-day management of the ALDE Party is handled by the Bureau, the members of which are:^[14]

Office	Name	State member	Party member
President	Svenja Hahn MEP	Germany	FDP
Vice-presidents
	Yoko Alender	Estonia	Reform
	Malik Azmani MEP	Netherlands	VVD
	Dan Barna MEP	Romania	USR
	Baroness Sal Brinton	United Kingdom	LibDem
	Rik Daems	Belgium	Open VLD
	Eva Kjer Hansen	Denmark	Venstre
	Yevheniia Kravchuk MP	Ukraine	Servant of the People
	Jouni Ovaska MP	Finland	Keskusta
Lucia Plaváková MP	Slovakia	Progressive Slovakia
Treasurer	David Burke	Ireland	FF

Ex officio members

Office	Name	State member	Party member
ALDE Party Secretary-General	Didrik de Schaetzen	Belgium	MR- Open VLD - DP
President of Liberal International	Karl-Heinz Paqué	Germany	FDP
ALDE Group Chair in the PACE	Iulian Bulai	Romania	USR
President of the Renew Europe Group in the European Parliament	Valérie Hayer MEP	France	Renaissance
Leader of the Renew Europe Group in the European Committee of the Regions	François Decoster	France	Renaissance
President of the European Liberal Forum	Jan-Christoph Oetjen	Germany	FDP
President of the European Liberal Youth	Ines Holzegger	Austria	NEOS

Presidents

• 1978–1981: Gaston Thorn
• 1981–1985: Willy De Clercq
• 1985–1990: Colette Flesch
• 1990–1995: Willy De Clercq
• 1995–2000: Uffe Ellemann-Jensen
• 2000–2005: Werner Hoyer
• 2005–2011: Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck
• 2011–2015: Graham Watson
• 2015–2021: Hans van Baalen
• 2021–2024: Timmy Dooley Ilhan Kyuchyuk co-presidents
• 2024–present: Svenja Hahn

History of pan-European liberalism

Main article: 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. 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.^[15] 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.^[15] 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).^[16]

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
Estonia	Kaja Kallas	High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Vice President	ER
Ireland	Michael McGrath	Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection Commissioner	FF
Slovenia	Marta Kos	Enlargement, Commissioner	Ind.[a]
Belgium	Hadja Lahbib	Equality,Preparedness and Crisis Management Commissioner	MR

Elected representatives of member parties

European institutions

Organisation	Institution	Number of seats
European Union	European Parliament	49 / 720 (7%) [17]
	European Commission	5 / 27 (19%) [18]
	European Council (Heads of Government)	3 / 27 (11%) [19]
	Council of the European Union (Participation in Government)
	Committee of the Regions	44 / 329 (13%) [20]
Council of Europe (as part of ALDE)	Parliamentary Assembly	88 / 612 (14%) [21]

European Council

Member State	Title	Representative	Political party	Member of the Council since	Photo
Belgium	Prime Minister	Alexander De Croo	Open VLD	27 October 2019
Estonia	Prime Minister	Kristen Michal	Estonian Reform Party	23 July 2024
Ireland	Taoiseach	Micheál Martin	Fianna Fáil	23 January 2025

National parliaments of European Union member states

Country	Institution	Number of seats	Member parties		Status
Austria	National Council Lower house	18 / 183	NEOS		Government
	Federal Council Upper house	1 / 61	NEOS		Government
Belgium	Chamber of Representatives Lower house	27 / 150	MR	19 / 27	Government
			Open Vld	8 / 27	Opposition
	Senate Upper house	12 / 60	MR	9 / 12	Government
			Open Vld	3 / 12	Opposition
Croatia	Sabor	8 / 151	HNS	1 / 8	Confidence and supply
			HSLS	2 / 8	Confidence and supply
			Glas	1 / 8	Opposition
			IDS-DDI	2 / 8	Opposition
			Centre	2 / 8	Opposition
			Focus	0 / 8	Extra-parliamentary
Cyprus	House of Representatives	4 / 56	Democratic Alignment		Government
Denmark	Folketing	30 / 175	RV	7 / 30	Opposition
			V	23 / 30	Government
Estonia	Riigikogu	39 / 101	Reform		Government
Finland	Parliament	41 / 200	Kesk	31 / 41	Opposition
			SFP	10 / 41	Government
France	National Assembly Lower house	11 / 577	UDI	6 / 11	Opposition
			PR	6 / 11	Government
	Senate Upper house	48 / 348	UDI	38 / 48	Opposition
			PR	10 / 48	Government
Germany	Bundestag	90 / 735	FDP		Opposition
Hungary	Országgyűlés	10 / 199	Momentum		Opposition
Ireland	Dáil Lower house	48 / 174	FF		Government
	Seanad Upper house	18 / 60	FF		Government
Italy	Chamber of Deputies Lower house	12 / 400	A	10 / 12	Opposition
			RI, +E	2 / 12	Opposition
	Senate of the Republic Upper house	4 / 205	A		Opposition
Lithuania	Seimas	12 / 141	LRLS	12 / 12	Opposition
			LP	0 / 12	Extra-parliamentary
Latvia	Saeima	0 / 100	A/Par!		Extra-parliamentary
Luxembourg	Chamber of Deputies	12 / 60	DP		Government
Netherlands	House of Representatives Lower house	33 / 150	VVD	24 / 33	Government
			D66	9 / 33	Opposition
	Senate Upper house	15 / 75	VVD	10 / 15	Government
			D66	5 / 10	Opposition
Poland	Sejm Lower house	38 / 460	PL2050	32 / 38	Government
			.N	6 / 38	Government
	Senate Upper house	5 / 100	PL2050	5 / 5	Government
			.N	0 / 5	Extra-Parliamentary
Portugal	Assembly of the Republic	8 / 230	IL		Opposition
Romania	Chamber of Deputies Lower house	40 / 330	USR		Opposition
	Senate Upper house	19 / 136	USR		Opposition
Slovakia	National Council	33 / 150	PS		Opposition
Spain	Congress of Deputies Lower house	0 / 350	Cs		Extra-parliamentary
	Senate Upper house	0 / 266	Cs
Sweden	Riksdag	40 / 349	C	24 / 40	Opposition
			L	16 / 40	Government

National parliaments outside the European Union

Country	Institution	Number of seats	Member parties
Andorra	General Council	14 / 28	DA, LA
Armenia	National Assembly	0 / 107	ANC, Bright Armenia
Azerbaijan	National Assembly	0 / 125	Musavat
Bosnia and Herzegovina	House of Representatives	2 / 42	Our Party
Georgia	Parliament	5 / 150	Lelo, SA, Republicans, Girchi MF, FD
Iceland	Althing	4 / 63	Viðreisn
Moldova	Parliament	0 / 101	PL
Montenegro	Assembly	1 / 81	LPCG
Norway	Storting	8 / 169	Venstre
Serbia	National Assembly	3 / 250	PSG
Switzerland	National Council Lower house	45 / 200	FDP, GLP
	Council of States Upper house	12 / 46	FDP
Ukraine	Verkhovna Rada	261 / 450	Servant of the People, Voice
United Kingdom	House of Commons Lower house	73 / 650	Liberal Democrats, Alliance
	House of Lords Upper house	94 / 775	Liberal Democrats
	Gibraltar Parliament unicameral	3 / 17	Libs

Membership

  States with full and/or associate member parties

The ALDE party has 59 full members and 18 affiliated members from EU and non-EU countries.^[22]

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.^[23]

Full members

Country or Region	Party	MEPs[b]
Andorra	Action for Andorra Acció per Andorra	Not in EU
	Liberals of Andorra Liberals d'Andorra
	Democrats for Andorra Demòcrates per Andorra
Austria	NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum NEOS – Das Neue Österreich und Liberales Forum	2 / 20
Belgium	Reformist Movement Mouvement Réformateur	3 / 8
	Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten	1 / 13
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Our Party Naša stranka	Not in EU
Croatia	Centre Centar	0 / 12
	Focus Fokus	0 / 12
	Istrian Democratic Assembly Istarski demokratski sabor Dieta democratica istriana	0 / 12
Cyprus	Democratic Alignment Δημοκρατική Παράταξη Dimokratiki Parataxi	0 / 6
	United Democrats Ενωμένοι Δημοκράτες Enomenoi Dimokrates	0 / 6
Denmark	Social Liberal Party Radikale Venstre	1 / 15
	Venstre Venstre	2 / 15
Estonia	Estonian Reform Party Eesti Reformierakond	1 / 7
Finland	Centre Party Suomen Keskusta	2 / 15
	Swedish People's Party of Finland Svenska folkpartiet i Finland Suomen ruotsalainen kansanpuolue	1 / 15
France	Radical Party Parti radical	0 / 81
	Union of Democrats and Independents Union des démocrates et indépendants	1 / 81
Georgia	Lelo for Georgia ლელო საქართველოსთვის lelo sakartvelostvis	Not in EU
	Strategy Aghmashenebeli სტრატეგია აღმაშენებელი st'rat'egia aghmashenebeli
	Girchi — More Freedom გირჩი — მეტი თავისუფლება girchi — met'i tavisupleba
Germany	Free Democratic Party Freie Demokratische Partei	5 / 96
Hungary	Hungarian Liberal Party Magyar Liberális Párt	0 / 21
	Momentum Movement Momentum Mozgalom	0 / 21
Iceland	Viðreisn	Not in EU
Ireland	Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach	4 / 14
Italy	Action Azione	0 / 76
	European Liberal Democrats Liberali Democratici Europei	0 / 76
	Italian Radicals Radicali Italiani	0 / 76
	More Europe Più Europa	0 / 76
	Team K Team K	0 / 76
Kosovo	Democratic Party of Kosovo Partia Demokratike e Kosovës	Not in EU
	New Kosovo Alliance Aleanca Kosova e Re
Latvia	For Latvia's Development Latvijas attīstībai	1 / 9
	Movement For! Kustība Par!	0 / 9
Lithuania	Freedom Party Laisvės partija	1 / 11
	Liberals' Movement Liberalų sąjūdis	1 / 11
Luxembourg	Democratic Party Demokratesch Partei Parti Démocratique Demokratische Partei	1 / 6
Moldova	Coalition for Unity and Wellbeing Coaliția pentru Unitate si Bunăstare	Not in EU
Montenegro	Liberal Party of Montenegro Либерална партија Црне Горе Liberalna partija Crne Gore	Not in EU
North Macedonia	Liberal Democratic Party Либерално-демократска партија Liberalno-demokratska partija	Not in EU
Netherlands	Democrats 66 Democraten 66	3 / 31
	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie	4 / 31
Norway	Liberal Party Venstre	Not in EU
Portugal	Liberal Initiative Iniciativa Liberal	2 / 21
Romania	Save Romania Union Uniunea Salvați România	2 / 33
Russia	Yabloko Я́блоко	Not in EU
Serbia	Movement of Free Citizens Покрет слободних грађана Pokret slobodnih građana	Not in EU
Slovakia	Progressive Slovakia Progresívne Slovensko	6 / 15
Spain	Citizens Ciudadanos	0 / 61
Sweden	Centre Party Centerpartiet	2 / 21
	Liberals Liberalerna	1 / 21
Switzerland	FDP.The Liberals FDP. Die Liberalen PLR. Les Libéraux-Radicaux PLR. I Liberali Radicali PLD. Ils Liberals	Not in EU
	Green Liberal Party of Switzerland Grünliberale Partei der Schweiz Parti vert'libéral Partito verde liberale Partida verda-liberala
Ukraine	Servant of the People Слуга народу Sluha narodu	Not in EU
	Voice Голос Holos
	European Party of Ukraine Європейська партія України
United Kingdom	Liberal Democrats	Not in EU

Affiliated members

• Armenian National Congress
• Bright Armenia
• Musavat
• Party of Freedom and Progress
• Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats
• Civic Liberal Alliance
• Croatian Social Liberal Party
• Republican Party of Georgia
• Free Democrats
• Droa
• Liberal Party
• .Nowoczesna
• People's Freedom Party
• Civil Position
• Power of the People
• Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
• Liberal Party of Gibraltar

Former members

• National Movement for Stability and Progress
• Movement for Rights and Freedoms (2001–2024)
• ANO 2011 (2014–2024)
• Drassi (2013–2014)
• Progressive Democrats
• Italian Republican Party (1976–2010)
• Italy of Values
• Labour Party (2004–2021)
• Liberal and Centre Union
• Democratic Party (2017–2020)
• Social Democratic Party (until 1996)
• National Liberal Party (2007–2014)
• Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (2015–2019)
• Party of Alenka Bratušek (2014–2022)
• List of Marjan Šarec (2018–2022)
• Modern Centre Party (2014–2021)
• Zares
• Liberal Democracy of Slovenia
• Catalan European Democratic Party (until 2018)
• Estonian Centre Party (2004–2024)

Election results

European Parliament

Year		Lead Candidate	Seats %	Seats	Status	Ref
2024		Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann	7.2 (#4)	52 / 720	Coalition	[24][25]

See also

• European Liberal Forum
• European Liberal Youth
• European political party
• Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations
• European political foundation
• Liberal International
• Political parties of the world

Notes

1. Independent on the national level but affiliated with ALDE at the EU level
2. The number of MEPs listed below may not match the total number of MEPs of the European party, as it does not include MEPs who join as individual members.