About: ALDE
Why centrists in European Parliament are prepared to drop the term ‘liberal’
The incoming centrist group in the European Parliament should no longer be calling itself "liberal". This could also lead to the group leaning more towards the left. EURACTIV France reports.
Macron’s party presents election programme in Berlin
Two weeks before the European elections, Emmanuel Macron’s La Republique en Marche (LREM) party published its election programme and is now attempting to mobilise pro-European voters, including those in Berlin. EURACTIV German reports.
EXCLUSIVE: Macron’s Renaissance to reveal allies in Strasbourg
Eight European parties will meet up with Macron’s Renaissance party tomorrow (11 May 2019) in Strasbourg. For allies of France’s leading party in the European Parliament, the wait is over and they can now form a group of 100 centrists. EURACTIV France reports.
Margrethe Vestager, a competitive approach to environmental policy
EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, a Liberal candidate to be the next Commission President, believes the key to improving Europe’s environment and fighting climate change will be implementing the laws already on the books.
Liberalism in Portugal
Although successful economically, Portugal remains at the mercy of rampant bureaucratisation, writes Ricardo Arroja, a political newcomer who champions decentralisation and a citizen-centred state in his native country as well as in Europe.
Pro-European candidates for EU election identify Council as the ‘common enemy’
An oddly uncontroversial debate between the lead candidates of the four major pro-European political families at this month's EU elections took place in Florence on Thursday (2 May).
Greens: Bulgarian media mogul ‘the kind of people we are fighting against’
Ahead of the World Press Freedom day, the European Greens presented on Tuesday (30 April) proposals for how to guarantee media freedom in Europe. The real question, however, will be how to deal with 'rogue elements' from inside the EU institutions.
En Marche vs Merkel: Macron’s party criticises German Chancellor for not being bold enough
Merkel and Macron do not go hand in hand when it comes to the European elections. The French ruling party is using this for verbal attacks on the German Chancellor. EURACTIV’s media partner Der Tagesspiegel reports.
Vestager campaigns on hostile French territory
Danish Commissioner Vestager, centrist figurehead and part of French Macronists' future family in the European Parliament, does not have support from the French government for fear she will stand in the way of French candidate Michel Barnier. EURACTIV France reports.
French Macronists eye coup-like raid on Europe’s liberals
Macronists want to push the political boundaries of the liberal ALDE group in the European Parliament after the May EU elections, going as far as suggesting a name change for the centrist party. But their gamble is far from being won, EURACTIV France reports.
Macron’s party launches eclectic list for the European elections
The “Renaissance” list for the European elections, presented last week, contains unexpected profiles – an oceanographer, a beef farmer, and a sailor – with a connection to the EU as a common denominator. EURACTIV France reports.
EPP has ‘lost all credibility’ after Orbán scandal, Verhofstadt says
The European People's Party has “lost all credibility and moral authority to lead the EU,” ALDE's leader Guy Verhofstadt has said, following the EPP's decision to suspend but not expel Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party.
Vestager joins EU Commission presidency race
EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager will compete to be the next president of the European Commission, as Europe’s liberals are set to name the Dane among a team of lead candidates that also includes Guy Verhofstadt, Belgium's former Prime Minister.
EPP more likely to expel Fidesz if rival groups also ditch troublemakers
If mainstream political groups do not collectively expel their bad apples it could spell an end to measures by the EU to protect democracy in its member countries, write Jean Morijn and Israel Butler.
Merkel distances herself from Macron’s Europe vision
Less than two months after celebrating a new Franco-German treaty, Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron are diverging on the future of Europe in the run-up to European Parliament elections in May.
Commission to rule on Czech PM conflict of interest ahead of EU elections
Facing conflict of interest proceedings under tightened EU rules, billionaire Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš may soon become the first European politician found in violation of the bloc's new law.
Liberals and the far-right: A contrasting experience in Spain, Sweden
Four months ahead of the European elections, liberal parties are torn between those ready to engage with the far-right and those opposed to any kind of alliance. Spain and Sweden offer the latest examples.
Poll: Bulgarian centre-right GERB party to get 37% of votes in EU elections
In the upcoming elections for the European Parliament next May, Bulgaria's conservative ruling party GERB could receive almost 40% of the votes, followed closely by the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party, according to a poll of voting intentions. EURACTIV’s media partner Dnevnik reports.
Macron between patriotism and pro-European sentiment at Armistice centenary
Whether he was in Paris on 11 November, or Les Éparges, the site of a bloody battle between the French and the Germans, or in Verdun with secondary school pupils, Emmanuel Macron’s “memorial itinerary” was set against the background of Europe’s future and the European elections. EURACTIV France reports.
Macron wants to build EU ‘coalition’ that goes beyond liberal core
President Emmanuel Macron’s party hopes to build a coalition of pro-EU lawmakers in the European Parliament election next spring that goes beyond the current centrist grouping and takes on surging nationalists, a French official said on Friday (9 November).
Kazakh families torn apart in China’s Xinjiang crackdown
When he looks back on his youth in China's far-west Xinjiang region, Akikat Kaliolla, an ethnic Kazakh, recalls the place's natural beauty and the big, colourful weddings typical of his majority-Muslim community.
Verhofstadt sides with Macron for the European elections
The Belgian MEP Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the European liberals and democrats (ALDE), confirmed in an interview with our partner Ouest-France that he will be campaigning with French President Emmanuel Macron at the European elections in May 2019. The common movement will be launched in October.
Putting the ‘European’ into the European elections
When the so-called “Spitzenkandidaten” or lead candidate method for designating the Commission president was introduced in 2014, it was celebrated as a democratic revolution. Five years later, it is difficult to find anyone seriously questioning the method - but the enthusiasm has somewhat washed away, writes Christopher Glück.