The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE Party) is a liberal European political party composed of national parties from across Europe, mainly active in the European Union. The ALDE Party is affiliated with Liberal International and a recognised European political party, incorporated as a non-profit association under Belgian law.

It was founded on 26 March 1976 in Stuttgart, Germany as a confederation of national political parties under the name "Federation of Liberal and Democrat Parties in Europe" and renamed "European Liberals and Democrats" (ELD) in 1977 and "European Liberal Democrats and Reformists" (ELDR) in 1986. On 30 April 2004, the ELDR was reformed as an official European party, the "European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party" (ELDR Party).

On 10 November 2012, under the leadership of Graham Watson MEP, the party chose its current name ALDE Party, taken from its then-European Parliament group, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), which had been formed on 20 July 2004 in conjunction with the European Democratic Party (EDP). Prior to the 2004 European election, the European party had been represented through its own group, the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party Group (ELDR) Group. In June 2019, the ALDE group was succeeded by Renew Europe.

, ALDE Party is represented in European Union institutions, with 51 MEPs and five members of the European Commission. Of the 27 EU member states, there are two with ALDE-affiliated Prime Ministers: Kristen Michal (Estonian Reform Party) in Estonia and Alexander De Croo (Open VLD) in Belgium. ALDE Party members are also in governments in ten other EU member states: Cyprus, France, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Ireland, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Germany and the Netherlands. Charles Michel, former Belgian prime minister, was the president of the European Council until December 2024.

ALDE's think tank is the European Liberal Forum, led by Jan-Christoph Oetjen MEP, and gathers 46 member organisations. The youth wing of ALDE is the European Liberal Youth (LYMEC), which is predominantly based upon youth and student liberal organisations but contains also a small number of individual members. LYMEC is led by Ines Holzegger.

In 2011, ALDE Party became the first European political party to create the status of individual membership. Since then, between 1000 and close to 3000 members (the numbers fluctuate annually) maintained direct membership in the ALDE Party from several EU countries. Over 40 coordinators mobilised liberal ideas, initiatives and expertise across the continent under the leadership of the steering committee, which was first chaired by Julie Cantalou. ALDE later took a step further when granting voting rights to individual members' delegates at the Party Congress. Individual membership was eventually discontinued in 2023.

In 2025, the Alliance was declared an undesirable organisation in Russia.

Structure

Bureau The day-to-day management of the ALDE Party is handled by the Bureau, the members of which are:

OfficeNameState memberParty memberPresidentSvenja Hahn MEPFDPVice-presidentsYoko AlenderReformMalik Azmani MEPVVDDan Barna MEPUSRSal BrintonLib DemRik DaemsOpen VLDEva Kjer HansenVenstreYevheniia Kravchuk MPServant of the PeopleJouni Ovaska MPKeskustaLucia Plaváková MPProgressive SlovakiaTreasurerDavid BurkeFF

+Ex officio membersOfficeNameState memberParty memberALDE Party Secretary-GeneralDidrik de SchaetzenMR- Open VLD – DPPresident of Liberal InternationalKarl-Heinz PaquéFDPALDE Group Chair in the PACEIulian BulaiUSRPresident of the Renew Europe Group in the European ParliamentValérie Hayer MEPRenaissanceLeader of the Renew Europe Group in the European Committee of the RegionsFrançois DecosterRenaissancePresident of the European Liberal ForumJan-Christoph OetjenFDPPresident of the European Liberal YouthInes HolzeggerNEOS

Presidents Period President 1978–1981 Gaston Thorn 1981–1985 Willy De Clercq 1985–1990 Colette Flesch 1990–1995 Willy De Clercq 1995–2000 Uffe Ellemann-Jensen 2000–2005 Werner Hoyer 2005–2011 Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck 2011–2015 Graham Watson 2015–2021 Hans van Baalen 2021–2024 2024–present Svenja Hahn

History of pan-European liberalism

Pan-European liberalism has a long history dating back to the foundation of Liberal International in April 1947. On 26 March 1976, the Federation of Liberal and Democrat Parties in Europe was established in Stuttgart. The founding parties of the federation were the Free Democratic Party of Germany, Radical Party of France, Venstre of Denmark, Italian Liberal Party, Dutch People's Party for Freedom and Democracy and Democratic Party of Luxembourg. Observer members joining later in 1976 were the Danish Social Liberal Party, French Radical Party of the Left and Independent Republicans, British Liberal Party, and Italian Republican Party. In 1977, the federation was renamed European Liberals and Democrats, in 1986, European Liberal Democrats and Reformists.

It evolved into the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR Party) in 2004, when it was founded as an official European party under that name and incorporated under Belgian law at an extraordinary Congress in Brussels, held on 30 April 2004 the day before the enlargement of the European Union. At the same time the matching group in the European Parliament, the European Liberal Democrats and Reformists Group allied with the members of the newly elected European Democratic Party, forming the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) with a matching ALDE Group in the European Parliament.

On 10 November 2012, the ELDR Party adopted the name of the alliance between the two parties, to match the parliamentary group and the alliance.

On 12 June 2019, the ALDE group was succeeded by a new enlarged group, Renew Europe, which primarily consists of ALDE and EDP member parties and France's La République En Marche! (LREM).

Funding

As a registered European political party, ALDE is entitled to European public funding, which it has received continuously since 2004.

Below is the evolution of European public funding received by ALDE.

In line with the Regulation on European political parties and European political foundations, ALDE also raises private funds to co-finance its activities. As of 2025, European parties must raise at least 10% of their reimbursable expenditure from private sources, while the rest can be covered using European public funding.

Below is the evolution of contributions and donations received by the ALDE.

European Commissioners Members from ALDE Party political family contribute five out of the 27 members of the European Commission:

StateCommissionerPortfolioPolitical partyPortrait EstoniaKaja KallasHigh Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,

Vice PresidentER IrelandMichael McGrathDemocracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection CommissionerFF SloveniaMarta Kos Enlargement, CommissionerInd. BelgiumHadja LahbibEquality, Preparedness and Crisis Management CommissionerMR

Elected representatives of member parties European institutions Organisation Institution Number of seats European Parliament European Commission European Council(Heads of Government) Council of the European Union(Participation in Government) Committee of the Regions (as part of ) Parliamentary Assembly

European Council Member StateTitleRepresentativePolitical partyMember of the Council sincePortraitPrime MinisterKristen MichalEstonian Reform PartyTaoiseachMicheál MartinFianna FáilPrime MinisterRob JettenDemocrats 6623 February 2026

In third countries Through its associate and observer parties ALDE has two heads of state or government in non-EU countries:

StateTitleRepresentativePolitical partyIn power sincePortraitFederal CouncillorKarin Keller-SutterFDP.The LiberalsFederal CouncillorIgnazio Cassis

National parliaments of European Union member states

Country Institution Number of seats Member partiesStatusNational CouncilNEOSFederal CouncilNEOSChamber of RepresentativesMROpen VldSenateMROpen VldNational AssemblyPPSaborHNSHSLSGlasIDS-DDICentreFocusHouse of RepresentativesDemocratic AlignmentFolketingRVVM Riigikogu Reform ParliamentKeskSFPNational AssemblyUDIPRSenateUDIPRBundestagFDPOrszággyűlésMomentumDáilFFSeanadFFChamber of DeputiesARI, +ESenate of the RepublicASeimasLRLSLPSaeimaA/Par!Chamber of DeputiesDPHouse of RepresentativesD66VVDSenateD66VVDAssembly of the RepublicILChamber of DeputiesUSRSenateUSRNational CouncilPSNational AssemblyFreedom MovementCongress of DeputiesCs rowspan="2" SenateCsRiksdagCL

National parliaments outside the European Union Country Institution Number of seats Member parties General Council DA, LA National Assembly ANC, Bright Armenia National Assembly Musavat House of Representatives Our Party Parliament Lelo, SA, Republicans, Girchi MF, FD Althing Viðreisn Parliament PL Assembly LPCG Storting Venstre National Assembly PSG National Council FDP, GLP Council of States FDP Verkhovna Rada Servant of the People, VoiceHouse of CommonsLiberal Democrats, AllianceHouse of LordsLiberal DemocratsGibraltar ParliamentLibs

Membership

As of January 2026 ALDE party had 55 full member and ten affiliated parties from EU and non-EU countries. Only delegates from full members of the ALDE Party and its youth wing LYMEC, together with the delegates of the ALDE Party Supporters and ALDE Party Bureau members, are permitted to vote at the ALDE Congress and Council. Affiliated member parties have non-voting delegates.

Full members Country or Region Party MEPs Action for Andorra Not in EULiberals of AndorraNEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum Reformist MovementDifferentOur PartyNot in EUWe Continue the Change CentreFocusIstrian Democratic AssemblyDemocratic AlignmentSocial Liberal PartyVenstreModeratesEstonian Reform PartyCentre PartySwedish People's Party of FinlandRadical PartyUnion of Democrats and Independents Lelo for GeorgiaNot in EUStrategy AghmashenebeliGirchi — More FreedomFree Democratic Party Momentum MovementViðreisnNot in EUFianna Fáil – The Republican PartyActionEuropean Liberal DemocratsItalian RadicalsMore EuropeDemocratic Party of KosovoNot in EUFor Latvia's DevelopmentMovement For!Freedom PartyLiberals' MovementDemocratic PartyLiberal Party of MontenegroNot in EULiberal Democratic PartyNot in EUDemocrats 66People's Party for Freedom and DemocracyLiberal PartyNot in EULiberal InitiativeSave Romania UnionMovement of Free CitizensNot in EUProgressive SlovakiaFreedom MovementCitizensCentre PartyLiberalsFDP.The LiberalsNot in EUGreen Liberal Party of Switzerland Servant of the PeopleNot in EUVoiceEuropean Party of UkraineLiberal DemocratsNot in EU

Affiliated members

Former members

Individual members

ALDE also includes a number of individual members. For many years, ALDE had the largest number of individual members of all European parties; however, this membership was discontinued with only one individual member remaining as of 2024. As most other European parties, it has not sought to develop mass individual membership.

Below is the evolution of individual membership of ALDE since 2019.

Election results European Parliament Year Lead candidate % seats Seats Status 2024 Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann 7.2 (#4)

See also European Liberal Forum European Liberal Youth European political party Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations European political foundation Liberal International Political parties of the world

Notes

References

External links