CDL President Sean O'Curneen and ELDR Vice President Marc Guerrero

In the week-end of 21 March 2010, an interesting conference adressed the situation and future of liberalism on the Iberian peninsula. The event, which took place in the southern Spanish city of Cadiz, was organized by the European Liberal Forum (ELF), in cooperation with the German Friedrich Naumann Foundation (Germany), the Movimiento Liberal Social (Portugal) and the Catalanist and Democrat Foundation from Catalonia. (more…)

Vice President Marc Guerrero

At the last ELDR party congress, held in Barcelona (Catalonia), I remarked in my candidacy speech that we, liberals, could not allow having a red belt in south Europe. It is right to consider that for historical reasons the south of Europe has been not an easy place for liberalism.

If we have a look at the current situation we can clearly check that even though we have important liberals parties that are or have been in government -as Partit Liberal d’Andorra, Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya or Unió Mallorquina-, it is also true that we have a great lack of strong liberal political forces in, for example, Greece, Portugal or Malta. The positive side is that in all these countries we can find a variety of think tanks, national political foundations, institutes and leading liberal personalities that promote liberal and democrat ideals and values. (more…)

ELDR President Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck MEP

With Lord Ralf Dahrendorf’s demise, international liberalism loses yet another personality of exceptional and towering stature. German born, he spent most of his life in the United Kingdom whose nationality he came to adopt. He presided successfully over the prestigious London School of Economics, and contributed to many newspapers and magazines. The Libdems proposed him for a life peerage and so a foreign born intellectual came to grace the House of Lords, this most British of institutions.

He participated in many congresses and meetings of Liberal International, often sharing his mostly unconventional thoughts with the audience. Listening to him was always an exquisite pleasure. (more…)

ELDR President Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck

The European elections are a democratic mega-event that can only be compared to the elections in India. The elections have begun today in The Netherlands and the UK. Until Sunday evening close to 400 million European citizens have the possibility to determine the direction that Europe will take over the course of the next five years. The Parliament is the only directly elected body of the European institutions. Your vote gives the European Parliament its democratic character and influences decisions taken at the European level. There are a number of challenges that member states cannot face alone and where action at the EU level is vital. The economic crisis, which is affecting so many of us, is a prime example. (more…)