After long and complex negotiations, the ALDE Group in the Committee of the Regions (CoR) secured last week the greatest level of responsibility for liberals and democrats since the CoR was established, a sign that the size and influence of the group is beginning to be recognised. Having presented a strong case for there to be a liberal president of the CoR for the first time, coupled with the excellent candidacy of the popular and highly regarded Flo Clucas, the two largest groups, EPP and PES, acknowledged the need to involve the liberals in the work of the presidency.
Liberal negotiated the presidency of 3 commissions; 3 vice-presidencies and the higher representation of women in key posts (in fact the only women to chair CoR Commissions in this mandate come from ALDE).
For the list of the key roles, please click here.

One of the most debated questions in and around the European Parliament over the past weeks has undoubtedly been the interim so called SWIFT agreement, which was rejected in plenary in Strasbourg on 11th February. With a liberal rapporteur and the topicality of the issue, ELDR has naturally been following the issue in detail throughout the process. Already on the 10th February, an ELDR Background Paper was published on our website. On top of that, next week’s ELDR newspaper devotes a special focus on SWIFT, featuring inter alia interviews with MEPs Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and Sarah Ludford, where they explain why an agreement which lacks reciprocity and transparency cannot be acceptable for European citizens.

The Liberal South East European Network (LIBSEEN) recently opened its headquarters in Osijek, Croatia. The opening of the office was a decisive step in the strengthening of the network which today counts 16 political parties and several NGOs inspired by liberal values. Furthermore, LIBSEEN, chaired by ELDR Vice President, Vesna Pusic MP, includes around 140 members of national parliaments, 12 members of the European Parliament and three parties participating in national governments. Ivan Vrdoljak, Vice Mayor of Osijek said: "The foundation of LIBSEEN and the opening of its very first headquarters will further strengthen the cooperation of liberals in this region, and jointly, we will work on the improvement of our countries".

During 2010, LIBSEEN has an ambitious line up of conferences including, July’s Summer Academy in Sofia, Bulgaria and the LIBSEEN Leaders meeting in Osijek, Croatia in October celebrating the first year of the functioning of the LIBSEEN headquarters.

More information: www.libseen.org

At a meeting of the European Liberal Democrats parliamentary group in Brussels on 3rd February, Sergey Mitrokhin, Leader of ELDR member party, YABLOKO, called for a strong collaboration amongst liberals in view of the introduction of a visa-free regime between Russia and the European Union.

Mitrokhin called on the European Union to “work out a strategy for interaction with Russia based on integration rather than confrontation”. Such integration is needed both for the EU and Russia in the field of the economy (which should not be reduced to oil and gas issues only), politics and national security, as well as a broad spectrum of other aspects, such as the inclusion of Russia’s rich intellectual and labour potential into the European economy. To know more, please click here.

Under proposals drawn up by Fianna Fail ministers, companies will soon have an opportunity to compete for Government funding to offer retraining and educational opportunities for unemployed young people in Ireland. In the region of €20m has been earmarked for the Labour Market Activation Fund, which, according to  Dara Calleary TD (picture), Minister for Labour Affairs “will be specifically targeted at people under 35 who are unemployed because of a decline in the sector they were working in, such as construction, manufacturing, or retail. People who have little or no qualifications and the long term unemployed will also be targeted.” Companies are to be encouraged to submit their training and application proposals and it is hoped that the scheme will be operational by Easter. Click here for more information.

Première erreur: le libéralisme n’est pas une «idéologie». C’est une doctrine […] une doctrine empirique, argumentée, ouverte et évolutive. Seconde erreur : le libéralisme n’est pas une idéologie « dominante » : dans le champ intellectuel, c’est probablement la doctrine la plus contestée et la moins défendue.
With these words Corentin de Salle, author of the book edited by Centre Jean Gol, inaugurates his daring overview of classical liberalism and the complexity and richness of the tradition of freedom. Copies of the book are available at the ELDR HQ for free. Please contact the ELDR office if you wish to receive a copy or alternatively send an email direct to the Centre Jean Gol, cjg@cjg.be.

On 2nd February, Birgitta Ohlsson, Swedish MP for ELDR member party, Folkpartiet Liberalerna, was appointed as Sweden’s new Minister for European Affairs, replacing Cecilia Malmström who will be sworn in next week as the European Commissioner for Home Affairs. Another liberal taking up an important post is Meglena Kuneva who, when her mandate ends next week as European Commissioner for Consumer Affairs, is set to take over as the head of the Bureau of European Policy Advisers, the European Commission’s in-house think-tank that advises the Commission president and commissioners on three main policy areas: political, economic and societal.

Madame Antoinette Spaak delivered her farewell speech from politics in front of the Belgian Parliament last week. One of the most eminent Belgian liberal politicians, Mme Spaak withdraws from the political debate leaving behind a number of remarkable achievements.  After the death of her father, Prime Minister of Belgium Paul-Henri Spaak and a “pères de l'Europe”, she joined the Democratic Front of Francophones (FDF), rising to become the leader of the party from 1977 to 1982, the first Belgian woman to lead a political party. MEP for two mandates, she headed the Parliament of the French Community of Belgium from 1988 to 1992. In the 1990s, together with Jean Gol and Louis Michel, she was in the vanguard of the movement which led to the fusion of the FDF, the Liberal Reformist Party (PRL), and the Citizens' Movement for Change (MCC), to create the Mouvement Réformateur.

The British government is considering calling a referendum on replacing the “first past the post” voting system with an “alternative vote” (AV) system. The AV approach sees candidates ranked in order of preference with 50% of the votes needed to be elected. If no candidate gains a majority on first preferences, the second-preference votes of the candidate who finished last on the first count are redistributed, a process that continues until someone gets over 50 %.
A public vote on electoral reform would only be called after this year’s general election, and could potentially take place in autumn 2011. The Liberal Democrats are calling for further reform, however, and want to see the introduction of proportional representation. 

5-6 February the Centre Party of Sweden will attend the "municipal days". Approximately 500 politicians from the Centre party, reaching across all the Swedish municipalities, cities and regions will convene to discuss current political topics. The upcoming Swedish general election that will take place in October of this year will be one of the foremost issues that is discussed.

More than 500 delegates gathered last Sunday in the Palais des Congrès in Liège, approuving  «l'Appel Réformateur» titled Mieux, pour Tous (Better for all). The text took benefit from more than 3000 amendments from the local sections, federations, activists of Mouvement réformateur (MR) and represents the unquestioned values of MR, put together by the General Rapporteur Richard Miller.  Didier Reynders ,  MR president, said : ‘the project will be submitted to other internal discussions in view of a final texte for the Congress’.
please click here for more information.

Nick Clegg, leader of the UK Liberal Democrats, stated on Monday that his party would fund extra tuition and reduce class sizes in schools. Clegg commented, "I think what we want, as we try and get out of this recession and rebuild a country which is fairer, is a school system that gives every single child a chance to get ahead, to live out their dreams, to fulfill their potential, irrespective of where they live, irrespective of where they were born,"  The Liberal Democrats are the only party in the UK that believes university education should be free and that everyone who has the ability should be able to go to university and not be put off by the cost.

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