Between the 29-31 August, ELDR and its foundation The European Liberal Forum bring together 40 students from across Europe for a three-day workshop in the European Parliament.
Participants will debate over the future of the European Union following the financial crisis and the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty under the over-arching topic Challenging the European Standstill.
The Liberal Academy, which plans to become a yearly liberal appointment, will constitute an excellent occasion for ELDR to exchange views and gain valuable experiences on the perception of the EU from young European students.
Make sure to monitor the ELDR website for more on The Liberal Academy 2010 closer to the occasion.

“Kosovo’s declaration of independence on February 2008 did not violate international law.” This is the verdict of the International Court of Justice in the Hague.

This decision will bring “more clarity and certainty” to the region, commented Annemie Neyts MEP, President of the ELDR Party and foreign affairs spokesperson for the ALDE Group in the European Parliament.

“The European Union's high representative for foreign affairs [Ashton] should now encourage those member states that have not yet formally recognised Kosovo to do so and then work with Serbia to facilitate a more constructive approach to the dispute in the broader context of deeper EU relations,” she said. To read more. 

The EU is faced with a diminishing workforce and greater health care needs, while the US faces the prospect of too many workers and not enough jobs. Who is best equipped to meet their respective challenges? SUBMIT THE POLL

The Liberal Group in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly recently elected Matteo Mecacci (Italy) as its new president. The position became vacant, after former incumbent, David Heath, became a member of the UK Government. The ELDR Party wishes Mr Mecacci well in his new post.

“The European Union becomes a global partner with the advent of the European External Action Service (EEAS), which will be the foundation for a genuine common foreign policy” commented Guy Verhofstadt, Leader of the ALDE group after the vote in the European Parliament in Strasbourg for the new common diplomatic corps last Thursday (8 July).
ELDR Party President Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck MEP adds: “the EEAS is a significant step forward in enabling the European Union to speak with one, coherent voice also in Foreign Affairs. This vote has been a breakthrough. Details have yet to be fine tuned but with the European Parliament now fully included in the oversight of the EEAS, transparency and popular influence will be granted. Therefore, I am adamant that the EEAS will be good for the EU and its citizens”.
“It is though important to realize that this is merely the launch, not the end. Now the High Representative can properly start to get the EEAS up and running. This procedure will have to be followed with close scrutiny, as it is in everyone’s interest that the EU is not getting this wrong”, President Neyts-Uyttebroeck concluded.
Read more Liberal views on the European External Action Service here.

Following the Slovak parliamentary elections, the liberal Party Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) obtained 12.14% of the votes and 22 seats in the National Parliament and entered into coalition with three other centre-right parties: SDKÚ, Christian Democratic Movement and Most-Hid.
The parties agreed on a common programme and allocated ministries with SaS controlling four key ministries (Economy, Defense, Culture and Social Affairs), with SaS Party Chairman Richard Sulik becoming President of the Slovak Parliament.
Welcoming the remarkable success of the young Slovak Liberals, the ELDR Bureau endorsed the membership application of Freedom and Solidarity and will propose to the ELDR Council – convening in October 2010 in Helsinki for its next meeting - to accept the Party as a full member of the ELDR Party.

On the occasion of the agreement by the European Council to officially make Iceland an EU Candidate Country and open accession negotiations, Pat the Cope Gallagh (picture), liberal MEP and Chairman of the European Parliament delegation to Iceland, said: "The accession negotiations will undoubtedly be tough but Iceland has already completed 22 out of the 35 accession chapters of negotiation. […] I am confident that the other chapters will be dealt with in a positive manner by both sides." To see the video, click here.
For more details see ELDR resolution on Iceland’s EU accession as adopted at the Congress 2009 in Barcelona.

 L’Aquila, the Italian city almost pulverized by the earthquake in April 2009, was chosen as a venue for the last National committee of I Radicali Italiani (July 2-4) “for a clear reason“, says Mario Staderini, Secretary General of I Radicali Italiani. “First of all to give a voice to the victims of the calamity that has been censored by the Italian media and secondly because this censorship is the prime example of the progressive destruction of the rule of law in our country”.
“If the Italian government had fixed zoning ordinances and run a proper prevention programme in L’Aquila before the earthquake, people wouldn’t have been found dead under thousands of collapsed buildings. That’s why – concluded Staderini – the party resolved to take European legal proceedings in order to assert victim’s rights.”
If you want to know more, please see the video.

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From 6th to 11th July 25 young liberals from all over Europe met in Liverpool, UK, to discuss how local government can deliver for citizens while at the same time keeping budgets balanced. The seminar treated liberalism from a local perspective, with focus on the liberal economy.
The nearly week-long seminar “Liberal Economy in Local Governance” was supported by the ALDE group in the Committee of the Regions and organized in co-operation with LYMEC member organization Liberal Youth from the UK.

ELDR member parties as well as their local and regional branches are invited to submit their nominations for the LeaDeR awards, the ALDE Liberal Democrat Local and Regional Politicians Prize launched by the Liberals in the Committee of the regions by 30th of September 2010. With these annual awards, the ALDE group in the Committee of the Regions aims to recognize the work of outstanding local and regional liberal and democrat politicians.
This year the awards ceremony will take place on Monday 15th November in Brussels. There will be in total eight different awards.
For more information about eligibility and submission of candidates, please see website: www.alde.eu/cor or e-mail: alde@cor.europa.eu.

As usual in summertime, Brussels-based UK Liberal Democrats are glad to invite you to attend the Liberal Democrats summer party, which will take place this evening, Wednesday 14^th July 2010, in Avenue des Sept Bonniers 9, Uccle, Brussels. This year's party provides an opportunity to celebrate the momentous events of recent weeks, which have seen the Liberal Democrats join the British government for the first time in 65 years.
BBQ, drinks and delicious food aplenty. More on the event via the Facebook event page. How to get there.