Thanks to Liberals, the European Parliament won key concessions over the new SWIFT agreement, obtaining satisfaction on most issues, in particular that the Commission and Council committed to establishing an equivalent EU system that will filter the bank transfer data of EU citizens before agreeing to US data transfer requests.

A definitive timetable will soon be fixed for replacing the current US system (reliant on bulk transfer of European data) with a genuine European mechanism which will fully respect data privacy and civil liberties without undermining the fight against terrorism. Alexander Alvaro (FDP, Germany), EP rapporteur and chief negotiator for Parliament on the agreement declared: "Parliament has stood up for citizens' rights to privacy by insisting that the current transfer of bulk data via Swift will be replaced by a properly controlled European data transfer system."
To know more.

Setting appropriate conditions for older workers to remain active in the labour market for longer; making the most of labour immigration and adopting the “Blue Card Directive”; improving Europe’s education and training systems; and supporting youths in their transition to work and in their efforts to engage in our societies are just some of the many proposals advanced this week by liberal European commissioners on the ELDR Focus Year website on demographic change. The website also contains latest information, frequent updates and new friendly features that help members and citizens to get quickly acquainted with European Liberal Democrat opinions.

The major political event of the year in Sweden, the so called Almedalen week, is just around the corner. Taking place between the 4^th and 10^th July on the idyllic island of Gotland, it brings together all political stakeholders in Sweden; from Party Leaders to NGO representatives and business for seminars, speeches and networking. Constructed around the political parties, the interest in the Almedalen Week from media and lobbyists will reach record highs this year, as Sweden is set to head into very tight and unpredictable general elections in September. Swedish ELDR Member Parties in government, Centerpartiet and Folkpartiet, are naturally prominently featured in Almedalen.

The conference €URonomics – Bailout or Bust? organised by the ELDR Party on 17 June registered a high number of participants and intensive discussions on the future of the Euro zone. The conference highlighted the need not just to put a plaster over the situation in Greece and hope the problem with its debt level is healed, rather, liberals consider that concerted and coordinated action by all member states is needed to ensure that no country finds itself in the same predicament in the future.   

An ELDR delegation composed of Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck MEP, ELDR Party President; Kristiina Ojuland MEP; and Michael Jensen MP were in Moscow last week to attend a conference organised by ELDR member, the People’s Democratic Union, about the future direction of Russia and how the country might co-operate better with the European Union in terms of developing mutual understanding between its peoples and addressing global issues, such as economic stability, climate change and combating international terrorism. The ELDR delegation also met with the leadership of ELDR’s long standing member party in Russia, Yabloko. To read more click here.

A network of Iberian liberal parties, think-tanks, and political organisations was formally created on Monday. The network, which will be called the “Iberian Liberal Forum”, will focus on the strengthening of Liberalism in Iberian territories, through the exchange of ideas and the organisation of common events, including an annual meeting. The first annual meeting of the Forum will be held in Lisbon in 2011 and the second in Galicia in 2012. To read more click here.

Mari Kiviniemi was elected the new leader of ELDR member party Keskusta (Centre Party) last weekend during the party’s congress in Lahti. ELDR congratulates the newly appointed leader and wholeheartedly thanks Finnish Prime Minister, Matti Vanhanen, for the dedication he has shown to European liberalism for almost a decade as both Prime Minister and party leader of Keskusta. European Liberals trust that the good cooperation with Keskusta will continue with Mrs Kiviniemi, who is due to become new Prime Minister by Friday 18 June. Fluent in several languages including German and English and equipped with extensive ministerial competence, she is well placed to continue Matti Vanhanen's successful years. To read more.  

The VVD has won the Dutch parliamentary elections on Wednesday 9 June and becomes the number one party in the Netherlands for the first time in its 62 year history, with 20.5% of the votes. The VVD took the lead with 31 seats (an increase of 9 seats) against 30 for Labour, which lost three seats. VVD Leader Mark Rutte, who is expected to become the next Prime Minister, made a victory speech in the early hours of Thursday 10 June: "During the campaign, we have tirelessly tried to convince people of our convictions how to get our country out of the crisis. This result gives our party an obligation which we can all sense. We will respect the result and the trust which the voters have given us."

The other ELDR member party, D66, also had a wonderful election night. The party led by Alexander Pechtold obtained 7% of the votes and increases from three to ten seats in the Dutch Parliament. Pechtold: “D66 is back to the centre of Dutch politics with double digits.” To know more .

The election results of last Sunday were disappointing for both Belgian liberal parties, which have been participating in the recently collapsed government. ELDR President Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck, commented: “I congratulate the winners of these elections and I hope that they will be able to cooperate to swiftly find a rational and sustainable solution.”

It is expected that the formation of a new government will take quite some time. However, it is not expected that this will affect the upcoming EU Presidency. The European affairs state secretary Olivier Chastel (MR) has prepared well the EU Presidency which will start on 1 July 2010. For more details click here.

Thursday 17^th June 2010: 12:30 to 15:00

LOCATION: Concert Noble, rue d’Arlon 82, 1040 Brussels, Belgium

The ELDR Party will host a conference on the situation in the euro zone, in view of the developments in Greece and other member states. This conference will discuss the current state of play in the euro zone and the European liberal democrat approach for the future stability and prosperity of Europe's economy. 

SPEAKERS: Siim Kallas, European Commission Vice President and Commissioner for Transport (Estonia); Robert Priester, Head of Department - Wholesale and Regulatory Policy, European Banking Federation; and Olle Schmidt MEP, ALDE Coordinator of the European Parliament's committee on the economic and financial crisis.

High level golfer, skier and tennis player, former mayor of Luxembourg City, MEP, secretary general of the Luxembourg Olympic Committee, and not least, President of the European Liberal Democratic Party in the 1980’s, Colette Flesch is one of our most distinguished liberal personalities.
On top of this, she has become honorary mayor of Luxembourg. Appointed on Monday, Colette Flesch expressed her gratitude in the presence of Luxembourg City representatives and remembers “It was coincidence that I joined politics. Parties wanted to include more women in politics in the run up to the 50th anniversary of the right to vote for women, in 1969. I did not get elected to the parliament that year. However, I did get elected mayor of the capital in the local elections of that same year.”

ELDR congratulates Colette Flesch along with the tireless fervour lavished on her work, her active spirit and strong commitment to liberalism.

In its efforts to support its Member Parties and organized liberalism to build sustainable structures for successful political party work, ELDR held a workshop in Bratislava to discuss the perception of key liberal values in Central and Eastern Europe. Together with politicians from the liberal parties and researchers, ELDR took a hands-on approach in discussing how a liberal party successfully builds its party structure and what efforts need to be undertaken to establish a stronger political presence in the region.

This is a top priority for ELDR, which is now in the process of stepping up its efforts to support its members in the region. Keep posted to the ELDR website for more detailed developments in the near future.

 The President of the ELDR Party, Annemie Neyts-Uttebroeck MEP, visited Slovakia on 30 and 31 May 2010 to meet with Mr Richard Sulík, leader and head of list, and the leadership of the liberal party Freedom and Solidarity (Sloboda a Solidarita in Slovak). Mrs Neyts discussed the prospects for the liberals in Slovakia in the upcoming parliamentary elections on Saturday 12 June as well as the application for membership, which Freedom and Solidarity has submitted to ELDR.
Mrs Neyts: “I believe that Freedom and Solidarity will have good chances in the elections for the Parliament of Slovakia on 12 June. The party has a clearly liberal election manifesto, strong candidates and a refreshing campaign. The Bureau of the ELDR Party will welcome membership of Freedom and Solidarity once the elections confirm the current polls and the party will enter the Slovak parliament.”

Polls give the Slovak party a good chance of entering the Slovak parliament with between 9 and 11 % of the votes.

At the height of the financial crisis, with rising unemployment figures and dire future prospects, a discussion about the importance of migration is not at the top of the agenda. While populists on the right fuel prejudices and populists on the left ignore social realities, liberals find themselves caught in the middle of this political minefield. To counter cultural and religious prejudices and to avoid socio-economic clashes, European and Arab liberals are taking the lead to address these issues with a joint deceleration for establishing cross-continental dialogue on the socio-economic and human rights dimension of migration.

To know more about European Liberal Democrat views on the ageing of populations and migration visit the ELDR Focus Year website on demographic change

 International security and the future of the Dutch defence policy was the theme of an ELDR sponsored political and information activity organized by the Dutch liberals of VVD on Tuesday 1 June in The Hague. Prof. Dr. Julian Lindley-French of the Strategic Advisory Group of the Atlantic Council challenged the current Dutch government’s policy of shying away from its responsibility as a medium size power in NATO and the EU and to – almost – become a free-rider in security and defence matters. He summed up the international response from NATO partners such as the United States and the United Kingdom in one word: “disappointment.” Furthermore, “the solidarity in NATO and the EU would be undermined if more countries would follow the Dutch attitude.” For more details, please click here

The ELDR Party considers demographic change to be a key European issue that urgently requires attention and has launched a European Liberal platform focusing on demographic change.
European liberals want to initiate a broad discussion on this issue looking at the wider solutions and approaches to addressing the changing make-up of European society and want the input of the liberal public sphere in order to create a new basis for discussion.
The Focus Year on demographic change centers around five main areas, that collectively explore this issue:
-       Ageing population
-       Health care
-       Migration
-       Social welfare
-       Work-life balance

Visit the ELDR Focus Year website (www.eldrfocus.eu) and contribute to the discussion.

On Thursday 17th June, the ELDR Party is organising a public conference about the present situation in the euro zone, in view of the developments in Greece and other member states. 
The bail out of Greece and questions about the longer-term stability of the single currency and ways to strengthen cooperation in the euro zone are the most urgent topics for EU leaders to address. 
The conference will discuss the current developments in the euro zone and the European liberal democrat approach for the future stability and prosperity of Europe’s economy. 
The speakers include Siim Kallas (left in the picture), European Commission Vice President (Estonia), who will present the Estonian perspective of the state of play in the euro zone in view of Estonia’s expected entry into the euro at the beginning of next year.
This event will take place at the Concert Noble, rue d’Arlon 82, 1040 Brussels, Belgium between 12:30 and 15:00, including a networking lunch between 12:30 and 13:00. For more information about the conference and to confirm your participation please contact Robert Plummer, rplummer@eldr.eu, +32.2.237.0147.

Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the UK Liberal Democrats, spoke last weekend at his party’s conference about the concrete opportunities that Liberal Democrats have already had to set the policy agenda of the new British coalition government of which they are a part: “It is five days since I accepted the position of Deputy Prime Minister. Just five days, and we now know there will be no ID cards, no third runway at Heathrow, no more fingerprinting in schools without parents’ consent, no more child detention. Changes Liberal Democrats have spent months, years, campaigning for, are happening. Promises we were making to people on their doorsteps just a few weeks ago are becoming realities.” To read more about the outcome of the UK general election and the other cabinet positions given to Liberal Democrats, click here

HSLS (Croatia) discussed Structural Reforms of Local and Regional Administration at a conference held on 14^th May in Zagreb. The Conference led to the adoption of the HSLS Declaration on the reform of local and regional self-government in the Republic of Croatia and aimed to contribute to the EU accession process pursuant to the European Charter of Local Self-Government as adopted by the European Council and ratified by the Croatian Parliament.

Participants in the conference included Darinko Kosor, HSLS President; Jadranka Kosor, Croatian Prime Minister and HDZ President; Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck MEP, ELDR President; Đurđa Adlešić, Vice-Prime Minister of Government of the Republic of Croatia and the President of HSLS Central Council, as well as a number of leaders from ELDR’s member parties in the region. This event took place in the framework of the ELDR Party Political and Information Activities scheme.  

“Eastern Partnership – New Opportunities for Moldova” and the two sub-themes “The good neigbourhood between Romania and Moldova” and “Is Moldova ready for Europe?” have been the over-arching topics of a conference co-organised by FNF, ELDR Party and the two liberal parties of Moldova, Alliance Moldova Noastra and Partidu Liberal held in Chisinau last week.

This was a first concrete follow-up in one of the Eastern Partnership countries to the pan-liberal Eastern Partnership conference that took place earlier this year, featuring prominent local and international speakers, inter alia H.E. Mihai Ghimpu, President of the Republic of Moldova and Markus Löning, ELDR Party Vice President.
Click here to read more about European Liberals’ actions in view of the Eastern Partnership initiative.

In view of the ELDR Focus Year 2010 on demographic change, the Dutch party D66, the Catalan CDC, the Belgian Open VLD, together with LYMEC recently organised a conference on how EU member states can learn from each other to find solutions to youth unemployment.

The main topic was split into four themes: Labour market reforms; School-to-work transition; Local initiatives or ‘good practices’; and European policies and coordination. The conference concluded with a 10 point plan for tackling youth unemployment. This event took place in the framework of the ELDR Party Political and Information Activities scheme.  

In the picture Ramona Manescu MEP, PNL, Romania