The former Belgian Prime Minister has been unanimously elected today at the European Parliament as the new leader of the liberal democrat parliamentary group, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE).

Read here ELDR's 3rd liberal bulletin on the political demands of the liberal group in Parliament

In the weekend of 26-28 June 2009, Liberals from South Eastern Europe assembled in Kosovo's capital Pristina to exchange views on their region's development. Read more ...

The preparations and political discussions prior to the constituent session of the new European Parliament are in full swing. The formation of new political groups confirms the crucial role Liberals will have to play in the Parliament to ensure political majorities in favor of civil liberties and the market economy. Read here ELDR's 2^nd liberal bulletin on the ramifications of the European election results.

European Liberals mourn the passing of German-British Lord Ralf Dahrendorf, one of the greatest genuine liberal thinkers in Europe. “With Lord Ralf Dahrendorf’s demise, international liberalism loses yet another personality of exceptional and towering stature”, deplores Annemie Neyts, President of the ELDR Party. Read more ...

European liberal prime ministers and party leaders today gathered together for their traditional pre EU summit meeting in Brussels. They discussed the upcoming election of the President of the European Commission; the preparations for the Swedish presidency and their support for a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty in the company of Irish Prime Minister, Brian Cowen. Read more ...

The European Liberals are going to occupy the centre ground in the new European Parliament and hold the balance of power between the left and the right. Read more ...

"Liberty, taking the word in its concrete sense, consists in the ability to choose". Simone Veil, Liberal, French philosopher and former President of the European Parliament Read more ...

Yabloko party makes a plea to the international press declaring again its commitment for freedom of press in Russia and promotion of human rights, taking distances from the government's approach. And finally they put forward a proposal: joint large-scale European political initiatives. Read more ...

ELDR prime ministers, ministers, commissioners and party leaders will gather together on Thursday 18th June for the traditional ELDR Leaders and Ministers meeting in advance of the European summit. Read more ...

The ELDR party MEPs are set to strengthen their influence in the next European Parliament as they increase their MEPs relative to 2004 and to the EDP members, with whom they form the current ALDE Group. ELDR MEPs within the liberal group are expected to bring 75 out of the 84 total seats. Read more ...

European Liberals have faired well with notable gains in Germany, Sweden and Estonia so far recorded. The German FDP increased its representation in the Parliament winning 12 seats compared to 7 in 2004. In Sweden Folkpartiet won 3 seats (an increase of 1) and centerparty retained 1 seat. The Centreparty of Estonia won 3 seats (compared to 1 in 2004) and Reform Party retained its 1 seat. Read more ...

With nearly all results counted, ELDR member parties maintain 75 MEPs in the new Parliament which represent a relative increase given that the number of seats has been reduced to 736. Read more ...

Coming in as one of the last results, the British Liberal Democrats have held on to 11 seats in a smaller European Parliament. Read more ...

The FDP won 11% and will therefore increase the number of German liberals in the European Parliament to 12. In comparison to the election five years ago, the party almost increased by 5 %. Read more ...

The two ELDR member parties D66 and VVD both won 3 seats according to the results released by the Dutch authorities on Thursday evening. The overall presence of Dutch liberals will therefore increase by one seat in the next European Parliament. The results will officially be confirmed only on Sunday evening 7 June when polling stations across Europe will have closed. Read more ...

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. Read more ...

The stability and growth pact is an agreement to limit budget deficits in countries that are members of the Eurozone. France and notably its Minister of Finance, Christine Lagarde, who belongs to EPP’s French member party UMP, have now joined the club of rule breakers calling for a less strict application of the rules to limit budget deficits in view of the economic crisis. It is correct that most (but actually not all) of the Eurozone countries will breach the 3% threshold of budget deficit. However, is this an argument to validate the breach and even encourage member states’ adoption of dangerous fiscal policies? Read more ...