ELDR group set up to find ways to combat climate change Romania to hold European Parliament elections on 25 November Poland to call early elections UK Lib Dems launching consultation on party’s Europe policy ELDR mourns Gaston Thorn’s demise and honours his memory 512 MEPs want to raise awareness of EU-wide 112 emergency number Two of Latvia’s ruling coalition parties mergeELDR group set up to find ways to combat climate changeA newly formed ELDR climate change working group will be meeting for the first time on 11 September at the ELDR Party’s headquarters in Brussels. The group meeting, entitled ‘A Cross-Sector Approach to Tackling Climate Change’, will be chaired by Lord Teverson, the UK’s Liberal Democrat spokesperson for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and includes liberal MEPs and MPs from across the European Union. MEPs include Lena Ek, the Alliance of Liberal and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) coordinator in the European Parliament’s committee on climate change. She will talk about what the EU can do as a global leader in the fight against climate change, especially given that the Kyoto protocol is due to expire in 2012. Special guests will include the European Commission’s Deputy Head of Unit for climate strategy, international negotiation and monitoring of EU action (DG Environment) Laurence Graff; Peter Vis, a Member of Cabinet for the EU’s Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs; and energy giant E-ON Energy’s Head of Public Policy Thomas Kästner. They will tackle the issue of how the EU’s energy needs can be met in a sustainable, secure and environmentally friendly way. The group will also address how businesses can be successful in the face of the growing economic and social impact of climate change and what individuals and society as a whole can do to address the threat of climate change.Romania to hold European Parliament elections on 25 NovemberThe National Liberal Party (PNL), a member party of the ELDR, is set to name its list of candidates for the European Parliament elections on around 21 September. According to data from the latest survey, carried out by the Sociological Research and Branding Company (CCSB) between 3 and 15 August, turnout is due to be over 75%, with 76% of those polled saying they would go to vote, 45% of them saying they will certainly vote and 31% they would probably do so. According to the survey, the Democrat Party will be the favourite party for the European elections, with 34% preferring them, followed by the opposition Social Democratic Party (PSD) with 19% and the National Liberal Party (PNL) with 17%. The European elections are seen as being more important that the national parliamentary ones by half of those polled.Separately, the opposition PSD is set to table a motion of no confidence, on 10 September, against the Romanian government, which is currently led by Prime Minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, from the PNL. The current government is made up of the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR). Up until April 2007, these two parties had been in government with the Democratic Party (PD) in what was called the Justice and Truth alliance. Poland to call early electionsAt its second session since the summer break, the Polish parliament voted on 7 September to dissolve itself, a move that will trigger early elections in the country. The office of Poland’s President Lech Kaczynski says that Kaczynski will be announcing 21 October as the date of the elections.Back in August, Poland’s Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski was reported to have said that his governing party could no longer work with its coalition partners. The country has been dogged by infighting between Kaczynski's Law and Justice Party and the two junior parties in the right-wing coalition government, the nationalist League of Polish Families and the farm-based Self Defence party. Andrzej Lepper, the head of Self Defence, was sacked from his job as agriculture minister and deputy premier in July. In August, Lech Kaczynski met the head of the main opposition Civic Platform, Donald Tusk, apparently to see if the two main parties could form a ‘grand coalition’, something they were unable to do after the 2005 elections.The Democratic Party (PD), which is an ELDR member party, currently has no MPs but has four MEPs. The Democratic Party has an election coalition with Social Democrats (SLD). The alliance, which is called Left and Democrats (LiD), would attract 13% of votes if there were an election now, according to a poll by PBS (Pracownia Badan Społecznych), one of the three main opinion poll houses. This percentage of the vote would translate into 75 seats in a new parliament. The poll results appeared on 4 September in Gazeta Wyborcza, the biggest daily newspaper in Poland. UK Lib Dems launching consultation on party’s Europe policyEurope will feature prominently in the UK Liberal Democrat Party’s conference from 15 to 20 September. Among the many highlights of a conference that will debate climate change, terrorism, the Millennium Development Goals, human rights, civil liberties and the Israel/Palestine issue, the Europe working group will be launching a consultation paper to review the party’s EU policy ahead of the Autumn 2008 conference. Questions set to be addressed include: Which policies could be implemented more effectively at the EU than at the national level?; Which competences could be returned from Brussels to the member states? and How can the EU become more democratic and accountable? European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso will give a keynote speech on the afternoon of 17 September. Barroso is expected to talk about the Reform Treaty and how it will help the EU’s institutions work more effectively.Separately, the UK government is coming under growing pressure to hold a referendum on the Reform Treaty. The pressure rose further on 6 September when a cross-party group of Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs launched a nationwide campaign for a referendum. At a Downing Street press conference on 4 September, the Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown opened the door to a referendum if the UK’s ‘red lines’ were not “adhered to in the detail of the Inter-Governmental Conference”.“The UK Liberal Democrats will make a final decision on their view of this issue when they see the final Treaty text,” said a Liberal Democrat party official. “However, the presumption is that it will not require a referendum.”MEP Andrew Duff, who is a representative on the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) that will finalise the treaty document, says that the UK “should not have a referendum on the Reform Treaty”.Read moreELDR mourns Gaston Thorn’s demise and honours his memoryELDR President Annemie Neyts – Uyttebroeck is deeply affected by the death of Gaston Thorn. “He was our first President,” she says. “He was one of the founders of the Federation of Liberal and Democratic Parties of the European Community, which was established in 1976, in view of the first direct elections of the European Parliament.”At the time, he was Prime Minister of Luxembourg and had distinguished himself as a dynamic and dedicated Liberal and European. As ELDR President, he presided over the drafting and adoption of the first common liberal electoral manifesto. When he became President of the European Commission in 1981, he resigned as ELDR President but remained an influential and highly respected figure.Read more512 MEPs want to raise awareness of EU-wide 112 emergency numberThe European Parliament adopted, on 6 September, a written declaration requesting an evaluation of the quality of the operation of ‘112’, the little known European emergency number, writes ALDE, the Alliance of Liberal Democrats in Europe. The declaration was championed by a cross-party coalition led by Vice President of the European Parliament Diana Wallis (UK, Lib Dem). "It is essential for all of our citizens to know this emergency number, already in operation in all 27 Member States and to benefit from an efficient response," said Wallis. Despite legislation going back 16 years and several problem areas already identified, the European Commission has only published one implementation document, which contained some inaccuracies. "We are calling on the European Commission to create a European day to promote awareness of ‘112’ (on 11 February), and to proceed without delay to an evaluation of all 112 services in Europe."Read moreTwo of Latvia’s ruling coalition parties mergeLatvia’s First Party and ELDR member party Latvia’s Way merged into a single political entity (along with two regional parties - Vidzeme Union and We Of Our Region) on 25 August. The new party will be co-chaired by former Latvia’s Way leader Ivars Godmanis (Latvia’s current interior minister) and former Latvia’s First Party leader Ainars Slesers (Latvia’s current transport minister) for two years. The party will then vote for a single leader. The new party brings together two centre ground parties, which formed a coalition before the last round of the parliamentary election in 2006 and is part of the current ruling coalition.Next Events15/09/2007 : Det Radikale Venstre Annual congressDet Radikale Venstre Annual congress in Nyborg. For more information:www.radikale.dk15/09/2007 : Lib Dems Annual ConferenceLib Dems Annual Conference in BrightonFor more info: www.libdems.org.uk15/09/2007 : CDC/ELDR International SeminarCDC/ELDR INTERNATIONAL SEMINARXVIII Summer Summit Ramon Juncosa‘COUNTRIES LOOKING FOR MORE FREEDOM’For more info: http://www.convergencia.cat/Click here to see the programme07/10/2007 : Folkpartiet CongressThe Folkpartiet Congress will take place in Västeräs, SwedenFor more info: www.folkpartiet.se18/10/2007 : ELDR Congress in Berlin, GermanyThe next ELDR Congress will take place in Berlin, Germany.For more info, please contact the ELDR Secretariat at +32 237 01 40 or at kputzeys@eldr.org13/12/2007 : ELDR Leaders and Ministers MeetingELDR Leaders and Ministers Meeting in Brussels.For more info, please contact the ELDR secretariat at +32 2 231 01 40 or by email at kputzeys@eldr.org 14/12/2007 : ELDR Party Bureau MeetingELDR Party Bureau Meeting in Brussels. For more info, please contact the ELDR secretariat at +32 2 231 01 40 or by email at kputzeys@eldr.org ELDR Party40, rue Montoyer (6ème étage)1000 Bruxelles BelgiumT +32 2 237 01 40F +32 2 231 19 07 info@eldr.orgwww.eldr.orgwith the support of the European parliament