To ensure proper delivery of this newsletter, please add newsletter@eldr.eu yo your email address book.Table of contentsNew leader of Venstre – "Norway should pay more attention to small and medium enterprises" HSLS conference on public administration reform in Croatia The Alliance of Free Democrats – The Hungarian Liberal Party left the government coalition "Sexual Orientation" Discrimination Directive out of the Lisbon treaty? Lymec Barcelona Congress – the annual convention of young liberals Abolition Visa regime is a 2008 engagement for liberals - Ambitious project? ELDR Database - Keep in touch with the liberal family   L'ACDE que Jean-Marie Cavada, Claire Gibault et Janelly Fourtou ont créée en janvier dernier a été intégrée les 11 et 12 avril à l'ELDR. Claire Gibault, (photo) MEP et chef d'orchestre adjointe. ELDR FamilyThe European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR Party) brings together 55 political parties with common liberal, democratic and reform ideals. In 2007 the European Liberal Democrat political family achieved many successes in the various elections around the EU member states, bringing the total number of liberal democrat voters to 30 million Europe-wide. Five EU prime ministers, one third of the members of the European Commission, 100 MEPs in the ALDE Group of the European Parliament and ministers in more than 20 governments in Europe belong to the liberal family. New leader of Venstre – "Norway should pay more attention to small and medium enterprises"ELDR Party President Annemie Neyts met with Venstre Norway MP Odd Einar Dørum, and the newly elected deputy leader of Venstre Ola Elvestuen on Thursday 17 April 2008 in the ELDR headquarters. They discussed the new political energy within Venstre and the grass roots approach to broaden the basis of support for the Party to other sectors of the Norwegian society, including for example small and medium sized enterprises, as well as increasing the Party's presence in ELDR.HSLS conference on public administration reform in CroatiaOn Friday 25th April 2008, the Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS) held a successful conference about public administration reform in Croatia, a key issue as the country continues on the path to EU membership. "The goals of this effort are a leaner administration able to provide a quality service to the citizens as well as a better entrepreneurial climate and conditions for economic growth" stated Durda Adlešić, HSLS President and Croatia's Deputy Prime Minister. The Alliance of Free Democrats – The Hungarian Liberal Party left the government coalitionAs of April 30 2008 the Free Democrats terminate the coalition treaty with the Hungarian Socialist Party, which was concluded on May 29 2006, and will no longer take part in government.SZDSZ, led by Mr. János Kóka, made its final decision during the Extraordinary Congress of the party on April 27 where 84% of the delegates supported quitting the coalition. "If necessary reform measures cannot be taken, then SZDSZ – just for the sake of government positions – will not be a member of any governments or coalitions," according to Mr. János Kóka."Sexual Orientation" Discrimination Directive out of the Lisbon treaty? European Liberals push to accelerate the adoption of the "Sexual Orientation" Discrimination Directive into the Lisbon Treaty, as promised in 2002, following the worried signals of non-unanimous consensus from the European Commission. ELDR is committed to eliminate discrimination and harassment for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, giving equal opportunities to the LGBT community. "If as Europeans we want to be a community of values, we must defend the freedom of all members of our society", said Annemie Neyts, ELDR Party President.Lymec Barcelona Congress – the annual convention of young liberalsFollowing a highly successful 2007 Berlin Congress, Lymec, the European Liberal Youth, the youth organisation of the ELDR Party convenes in Barcelona on 1-4 May 2008 for its annual Congress with delegates from all of its 59 member organisations spread across 37 European countries. LYMEC's highest decision-making body will once again discuss the future of Europe, this time from the perspective of the recently agreed Lisbon Treaty. Over 170 participants will gather to debate new purposes for the upcoming European Elections in 2009 as well as discussing new strategic partnerships between the EU andh Northern Africa. The congress will also elect a new LYMEC Bureau and President, marking an important transition to a new generation of LYMEC leaders.Abolition Visa regime is a 2008 engagement for liberals - Ambitious project?After the adoption of the Russia-EU Agreement by the European Parliament on the issuance of short stay visas last month, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) has set new objectives - moves to allow all citizens of the Western Balkans to access the EU without visas, beginning with Kosovo.Jelko Kacin, MEP in the ALDE group, recently met with Kosovo's President Fatmir Sejdiu in Pristina. "European Commissioner Franco Frattini has started negotiations with some countries, and we hope Kosovo will follow suit soon", Kacin said.  ELDR Database - Keep in touch with the liberal familyPlease note that ELDR has changed its general email account to ".eu" and all future communications should be sent to info@eldr.eu. You can visit our website at www.eldr.eu . We invite all our members to visit the new ELDR database www.eldr.eu/members, a very useful tool for keeping in touch with liberal democrat colleagues throughout Europe. 01/05/2008 : LYMEC EC and Congress 08/05/2008 : ELDR Political and Information Activity: Swedish People's Party 23/05/2008 : ELDR Political and Information Activity: Centre Party, Sweden 24/05/2008 : European Movement 60th Anniversary Congress 19/06/2008 : ELDR Leaders Meeting 20/06/2008 : ELDR Bureau Meeting 30/10/2008 : ELDR Congress in Stockholm 18/12/2008 : ELDR Leaders Meeting ELDR Partyrue MONTOYERstraat 31 (7th floor)1000 BruxellesBelgiumT +32 2 237 01 40F +32 2 231 19 07 info@eldr.euwww.eldr.eu

  To ensure proper delivery of this newsletter, please add newsletter@eldr.eu yo your email address book.   PM Matti Vanhanen, PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen, EU Commissioner Olli Rehn, Eu Commissioner Siim Kallas. The European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR Party) brings together 51 political parties with common liberal, democratic and reform ideals. In 2007 the European Liberal Democrat political family achieved many successes in the various elections around the EU member states, bringing the total number of liberal democrat voters to 30 million Europe-wide. Five EU prime ministers, one third of the members of the European Commission, 100 MEPs in the ALDE Group of the European Parliament and ministers in more than 20 governments in Europe belong to the liberal family. ELDR comprises a third of the European CommissionGreen light for Androula Vassiliou, appointed by the European Parliament on Wednesday 9th April 2008 as the new European Commissioner for Public Health, Food Safety, Animal Health and Welfare, with 446 votes in favour, seven against and 29 abstentions. Reaffirming the provisions of the Lisbon Treaty, the liberal commissioner said: “I’m convinced that no one will be against the principle to improve legal clarity and transparency on the existing right under the treaty or improving patients’ access to healthcare.”ELDR Prime Ministers gather for informal summitOnboard snowmobiles and husky dogs-led sleds 20 European liberal leaders got togethere in Ruka, Finland on 5th April 2008 for an unofficial liberal summit hosted by Liberal PM Matti Vanhanen. The meeting saw debates between European liberal prime ministers, ministers and European commissioners about topical EU issues, such as the liberal position on the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty and the ELDR campaign for the 2009 EU elections. The agenda also included discussion of potential candidates for the EU presidency and the political strategies for the 2009 electoral manifesto. Tallinn Council approves resolutions on Tibet and TurkeyConvening in Tallinn, Estonia, on 11th April 2008, the ELDR Bureau issued a statement concerning the recent judicial developments in Turkey and presented a resolution about the ongoing situation in Tibet.On Turkey, the Bureau regards the recent developments as hindering the country’s progress towards EU accession. The resolution on Tibet, adopted by the ELDR Council, expressed support for the Dalai Lama’s call on the Tibetan people to demonstrate non-violently, reaffirming the so-called “middle way” approach to enjoy a genuine political autonomy.ELDR welcomes three new member partiesThe number of parties belonging to the European liberal family has risen to 56 with the inclusion of three new members at the ELDR Council meeting that took place in Tallinn, Estonia on 11th April 2008. The addition of the three new parties sees ELDR establish itself as a pivotal player in Slovenian and Latvian politics and a welcome return of French participation in the Party.The parties are: Latvia First Party / Latvia’s Way (LPP/LC); Zares - nova politika, Slovenia; and the Citizen’s Alliance for Democracy in Europe (ACDE), France.Italian Elections: Centre-right and centre-left have to collaborate for more investments and liberalisationThe political partner in the race with the Democratic Party of Walter Veltroni, the Italia dei Valori party, led by Antonio Di Pietro and member of ELDR scored around 5 percent, doubling the results achieved in the last Italian elections in 2006.“People voted for us thanks to our coherent political programme, our proactive politics close to the citizens and respect of the rules of the free market. As Italia dei Valori we will maintain a strong position on the values of liberalism as well as trying to negotiate a common solution in view of an effective reorganisation of the country,” Leoluca Orlando, spokesman of Italia dei Valori said. Commenting on the election result Annemie Neyts, ELDR Party President, stated “we hope the centre right and centre left will cooperate towards a common reform programme to reach the eurozone average of 2.7 percent, attracting investments and stimulating the liberalisation process" 19/04/2008 : ELDR Political and Information Activity: Liberal Democratic Party of Macedonia 25/04/2008 : ELDR Political and Information Activity: HSLS 29/04/2008 : LYMEC seminar 01/05/2008 : LYMEC EC and Congress 08/05/2008 : ELDR Political and Information Activity: Swedish People's Party 23/05/2008 : ELDR Political and Information Activity: Centre Party, Sweden 24/05/2008 : European Movement 60th Anniversary Congress 19/06/2008 : ELDR Leaders Meeting 20/06/2008 : ELDR Bureau Meeting 30/10/2008 : ELDR Congress in Stockholm 18/12/2008 : ELDR Leaders Meeting ELDR Partyrue MONTOYERstraat 31 (7th floor)1000 BruxellesBelgiumT +32 2 237 01 40F +32 2 231 19 07 info@eldr.euwww.eldr.eucm