ELDR Party Congress has new statutes and welcomes EU enlargement

On 30 April 2004 the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party hold its annual Congress of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party in Brussels. The Congress is destined to be a historic one, as during the meeting the delegates endorsed by acclamation new statutes establishing the Party as an international non-profit association under Belgian law.

The Congress also provided a good opportunity for the ELDR to celebrate the enlargement of the European Union.

Welcoming the adoption of the new ELDR Party statutes, Werner Hoyer said:

"The adoption of our new statutes marks the coming of age of the ELDR Party. We were established as a European political party in 1976, and since that time our values of freedom, democracy and reform have remained consistent and we have grown from strength to strength. We will continue to campaign to strengthen the liberal, democrat and reform movement throughout Europe, promote agreement among our parties on a common European platform and work closely with our MEPs in the ELDR Group. These new statutes mark the start of a new, more independent phase in our development as from July we will benefit from EU funding under the EU Statute on European Political Parties."

On the eve of the biggest enlargement in the history of the European Union, Mr Hoyer added: "On behalf of the ELDR, I would like to welcome the fifth wave of EU enlargement, which will take place on May 1st, 2004, and warmly congratulate the peoples of the ten new countries on this historic occasion."

The Congress closed with keynote speeches by Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy MP and Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel.

In other decisions taken by the Congress, three new parties were welcomed into the Party's ranks: Cesta Zmeny ("Path for Change") of the Czech Republic, Movimento Repubblicani Europei of Italy and LIBRA of Croatia.