Bureau elections

At Congress, Elections to the ALDE Party Bureau will take place for the following positions: 3 Vice Presidents and Treasurer.

The deadline for nominations as per ALDE Party's internal regulations was three weeks prior to the Congress and therefore passed at midnight CET on Thursday 18 October 2018.

The nominations received by that time are as follows:

Nominations received for the 3 available Vice-President positions:

• Henrik Bach Mortensen, Venstre, Denmark
• Dita Charanzová, ANO 2011, Czech Republic
• Luis Garicano, Ciudadanos, Spain

Nominations received for the 1 available ALDE Party Treasurer position:

• Gašper Koprivšek, SMC, Slovenia

European Election Manifesto 2019 and Resolutions

Please note that in accordance with ALDE Party statutes the deadline to submit draft resolutions to the ALDE Party Congress is two months prior to the Congress.

At this Congress, the party will discuss and adopt its Manifesto for the 2019 European elections, with the expected delivery of the draft Manifesto to ALDE Party member parties scheduled for Monday 10 September.

The European Election Manifesto will be the ALDE Party’s most important document for 2019 and should be the primary focus of discussions during the limited time for working groups at Congress rather than any other business. Member parties are therefore strongly encouraged not to table additional resolutions on policy areas addressed in the draft Manifesto.

Resolutions must be submitted via the online platform (debate.aldeparty.eu) by 18.00 CET on Friday 14 September 2018.

The platform will be activated on Saturday 1 September 2018 and International Officers will be given administrative rights to upload draft resolutions upon registration on this platform or can use their access codes from previous years.

(Please bear in mind that as for now the delegates registration site and the online platform to upload draft resolutions are operated on different systems and thus require different log-in details. The ALDE Party is looking into user-friendly and financially feasible options to merge these platforms in the future. If you have not received or cannot find your debate platform login details, contact Andrew on the details below...)

Member parties will receive a consolidated dossier of all draft resolutions submitted at the latest by Thursday 27 September 2018.

Amendments to the draft Manifesto (and draft resolutions) must then be submitted by Thursday 11 October 2018, also via the online platform at debate.aldeparty.eu

NOTE: as stipulated in the ALDE Party internal regulations (art. III,11), adopted by the ALDE Party Congress in Warsaw on 1-3 December 2016, amendments may be submitted by any EU “full member Party, the Council, 25 voting Congress delegates, 50% + 1 of the Members of the European Parliament, of the Committee of the Regions, of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe who are signed up to the ALDE Party, the ALDE Party Gender Equality Network, the Bureau of the ALDE Party or individual members collectively and democratically through their elected delegates.”In the final vote, as stated in art. V,11, “the manifesto will be adopted by full member parties from EU Member States and individual members’ delegates”.

Member parties will then receive a consolidated dossier of all amendments submitted to the draft resolutions by Thursday 18 October 2018.

Urgency Resolutions

Draft urgency resolutions can be submitted via the online platform debate.aldeparty.eu until Wednesday 7 November 2018 at 18:00 CET. They must not exceed 300 words and must deal with issues or developments that occurred since the deadline for regular resolutions.

If you have any questions and queries regarding the resolution and submission process, please contact Andrew Burgess, ALDE Party Political Adviser, on [email protected]

Delegations

Delegation lists will close at 12:00 CET on Thursday 1 November 2018.

After this point, changes can only be made in the statutory exceptional cases of flight cancellation, sickness, or unforeseen political developments. In such cases, please contact the ALDE Party Secretariat immediately [email protected]

Failure of the International Officer to assign all voting rights by this deadline will result in that delegation being unable to exercise unallocated votes.

To review the number of votes each delegation is entitled to, please download the delegation list below.

Onsite Voting

This year, there will be various different styles of voting.

For voting on the Manifesto, resolutions and statute changes, and also during the working group, electronic voting pads (or vote by show of hand, as decided by the Chair) will be used. Results will be announced immediately.

For the elections of new Bureau members however, a vote in-person system will be used as at previous Congresses in Warsaw and Amsterdam. Voting delegates will be required to go to an electronic voting booth, there their right to vote will be checked, before they proceed to voting on an interactive voting screen. The booths will open for an extended period throughout the Congress, permitting delegates to go to vote whenever is convenient for them. The voting booths will be located within the main Congress venue and will therefore be easily accessible, technicians and ALDE Party staff will be on hand throughout the voting session to help with this process.

This procedure has been implemented as a direct response to feedback received on Congress 2015 and use of it will mean that casting an invalid vote will be impossible.

Further information about voting and elections during Congress will become available here over the coming months, so keep checking back to this page.

Procedures for the election of the Vice Presidents and the Treasurer

Election of the Vice Presidents:

As stipulated in the ALDE Party Statutes, adopted by the ALDE Party Congress in Warsaw on 1-3 December 2016 (art. 21, b) [emphasis added to highlight change to previous procedure]:

“The Vice Presidents are elected on a single ballot paper. Delegates can choose as many candidates as they wish to up to the maximum number of vacancies to be filled. The candidates with the most votes are elected in the order of the amount of votes.”

“Only candidates reaching the quorum defined as follows are elected: 1/the positions available, i.e. that for 2 positions the quorum will 1/2 = 50% of the ballots cast (and not of total votes), for 3 positions 1/3=33,33% of the ballots cast, for 4 positions 1/4 =25% of the ballots cast, etc.”

“In case of only 1 vacant position for a round of election, the principle of simple majority shall be used, as is the case with the positions of President and Treasurer.”

“Candidates failing to obtain the quorum in the first round can run in the second round where there will be no quorum. Those obtaining the highest number of votes are elected until all vacant mandates are filled. If two or more candidates obtain the same number of votes for the last vacant mandate, an extra round will be arranged between those candidates to determine who will fill the mandate.”

Election of the Treasurer:

As stipulated in the ALDE Party Statutes, adopted by the ALDE Party Congress in Warsaw on 1-3 December 2016 (art. 21, a):

“The President and the Treasurer are elected separately, by a majority of more than 50% of the votes cast. If there are more than two candidates, and no one obtains more than 50% of the votes cast, a second round takes place between the two candidates who obtained the most votes.”

The returning officers will ensure anonymity of the votes by supervising the process and ensuring that the data is not retained following the vote.

Timetable and Congress Deadlines

Please find a full overview of Congress deadlines available to download below.

Venues

Official Dinner Reception on 9 November -Museo del Prado

All other parts of the programme - Madrid Marriott Auditorium, Av. de Aragón, 400, 28022 Madrid, Spain

Please note: bus transfers between the Marriott and the Official Dinner Reception on 9 November will be organized by the ALDE Party Secretariat. Buses from the Marriott to the Museo del Prado will leave from 20:00 until 20:45. Buses from the Museo del Prado to the Marriott will start leaving at 22:30 and will run every 15 minutes until all final departures at 23:30. It will not be possible for the buses to stop in between the departure and arrival points.

For access to the Official Dinner Reception, all attendees MUST wear their Congress badges and lanyards, access to the venue will be strictly controlled. There will not be the possibility to reprint badges or receive new lanyards so attendees must be sure to keep their access badge with them.

Please note that at the Marriott parking facilities are available. For the guests of the event, the price per day is € 10. Guests can pay and receive their ticket at the hotel reception.

We look forward to welcoming you to the ALDE Party Congress 2018 in Madrid!

Registration Fee

Please note that following a decision of the ALDE PARTY Council 2018, a Congress registration fee has been introduced this year – all Congress attendees who are not valid Voting Delegates, elected politicians or press will be directed to a payment screen during their registration process. There are three available rates:

• Early Bird (15.00 EUR) available until 1 August 2018
• Regular Ticket (25.00 EUR) available until beginning of the Congress on 8 November 2018
• On-site registration fee is 35.00 EUR

The payment can be done online via the Paypal or via a bank transfer. For any queries related to registration, please contact: Edita Jatulyte, Events Officer [email protected] or +32 2 551 01 69.

Hotels

The ALDE Party Secretariat has negotiated a block of rooms available at preferential rates at the hotel Marriott Madrid Auditorium where the Congress will take place. The Congress venue is not situated in the city centre and can only be reached by road, therefore we strongly recommend delegations to take advantage of the highly favourable rates at the Marriott. Please note that the number of rooms at preferential rates is limited, therefore delegations are encouraged to make their bookings as soon as possible.

Preferential rate prices for a Single room: 146.82 EUR, Double room: 161.82 EUR. The rates don't include 10% VAT tax.

Access to the hotel and the venue

From the Madrid Barajas Airport

The Marriot offers complimentary airport shuttle service for the guests of the hotel. The shuttle runs from 5:00 am until 1:30 am every day. The schedule of the shuttle from the hotel and different airport terminals can be found here: https://www.marriott.com/hotelwebsites/us/m/madad/madad_pdf/Shuttle-Service-2018.pdf

Please note: The shuttle only has 19 seats and provides service on the first come, first served basis. It is impossible to reserve seats in advance.

As an alternative, taking a taxi will take approximately 15 minutes (depending on which terminal you are travelling from) and will cost around 20 EUR. All terminals have clearly signed taxi ranks outside the arrivals area. Official taxis are white with a red stripe and have the Madrid City Council coat-of-arms on their doors.

In Madrid it is also possible to use Uber, which is fast and efficient way to get around the city. Please note that thanks to our mobility partnership with Uber, all Uber trips to and from the Madrid Marriott Auditorium during the ALDE Party Congress 2018 will receive a 30% discount. Simply type in the promotional code ALDEMADRID18 to receive the discounted fare. The discount also applies for trips between the Marriott and Madrid Barajas Airport.

From the City Centre

If you get to the main station of Madrid called Estación Sur de Mendez Álvaro, you have to take the line number 6 of Metro de Madrid and get to Avenida América (it will take you approximately 12 minutes). Once you are at the Exchanger there are several numbers to get to the hotel in around 25-30 minutes: 222, 223, 224, 224A, 226, 227, 229, 229, 281, 282, 283 and 284. The bus stop of the hotel is called Ctra. A2 – Hotel Auditorium. You can buy bus tickets by cash paying to the driver directly, it costs around 2.00-2.60 EUR per trip.

Alternatively, you can take a taxi to the city centre, it will approximately take you 20-30 minutes depending on traffic to get to the main sights such as Museo del Prado, Puerta del Sol, or Plaza Mayor.

Transport in Madrid

Once you reach the city centre, Madrid's excellent transport system allows you to get around the city quickly and efficiently. Boasting over 300 stations, the Madrid Metro currently comprises twelve metro lines that normally run from 6:00 am to 1:30 am. 

The fares cost between 1.50 to 2.50 EUR depending on the length of your journey (when you purchase your single ticket from the ticket machine, simply select your destination and it will automatically calculate the shortest route). For more information, go to the official Madrid Metro site here: https://www.metromadrid.es/en/index.html

Moreover, as mentioned in the section above, in Madrid it is also possible to use Uber, which is fast and efficient way to get around the city.

Travel Reimbursement

In accordance with ALDE Party statutes, partial travel costs will be reimbursed to ALDE Party Council delegates only. To claim your reimbursement, download the form at the bottom of this page and follow the instructions listed on it.

Copying & Printing

In order to comply with ALDE Party commitments to environmental sustainability, the compilation of resolutions & the amendment table will NOT be printed & distributed to delegates. Instead, all registered delegates will receive the aforementioned documents by email, prior to the Congress. It is delegates' responsibility to provide their own paper copies if they wish.

Following the Working Groups, all delegates will receive an email with the draft table of amendments containing the recommendations made by the working groups to Congress. All these documents will also be available via the Congress app.

There is a business center in the Marriott where all delegates are free to use the printer 24/7. Please note that copies can only be made in black and white, and no scanner option is available.

Congress App

The ALDE Party events team are working on the 2018 Congress app which will be available for download shortly via the App Store & Google Play.

The Congress app will give you full access to all information about the Congress, including programme, political documents, up-to-the-minute venue information & news. It will also allow you to create your own personalised event schedule.

Sightseeing in Madrid

With numerous museums and art galleries, Madrid is undoubtedly one of the most important capitals of culture in Europe. The city is also an architectural treasure with beautiful palaces, grand monuments and spacious squares. Below find some recommendations that we have picked out for you, but in case you want to learn more, here is the official tourism website of Madrid: https://www.esmadrid.com/en

Museums and galleries: The Golden Triangle of Art

Museo del Prado is the main Spanish national art museum. It is widely considered to have one of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 20th century. Highlights of the collection are numerous works by Francisco Goya, Hieronymus Bosch, El Greco, Peter Paul Rubens, Titian, Diego Velázquez and many others. To find out more and book tickets, click here: https://www.museodelprado.es/en/visit-the-museum\

If you are more interested in modern and contemporary art of the 20th century, Museo Reina Sofia is certainly a must-see. Boasting of an excellent collection of works by Spain's two greatest 20th-century masters, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí, the museum is also home to Picasso’s masterpiece Guernica. Other artist on display include Joan Miró, Alexander Calder, Paul Klee, Mark Rothko and many more. For more information, click here: http://www.museoreinasofia.es/en

The third point of the Golden Triangle, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum fills the historical gaps in its counterparts' collections: in the Prado's case this includes Italian primitives and works from the English, Dutch and German schools, while in the case of the Reina Sofia it concerns Impressionists, Expressionists, and European and American paintings from the 20th century. For more information, click here: https://www.museothyssen.org/en

Local tip: You can buy a Paseo del Arte Pass which allows you to visit all three museums with discount. More information here: https://www.esmadrid.com/en/tourist-passes

Architecture: The Royal Metropolitan Gem

Built in the 9th century, the Royal Palace of Madrid over the years was extended and developed into one of the most beautiful royal palaces in the world. The King Felipe VI and the Royal Family do not reside there, that’s why you can visit the royal palace and admire its majestic exterior as well as intricate interior design created by the most prominent Spanish artists. For more information, click here: https://entradas.patrimonionacional.es/en-GB/venta-de-entradas

Located at the roundabout on the Paseo del Prado, Plaza de Cibeles evokes the splendour of imperial Madrid. The jewel in the crown of this stirring celebration of Belle Époque is the Palacio de Cibeles (1917) – built by Antonio Palacios, Madrid’s most prolific architect of the era – which serves as Madrid’s City Hall. The fountain of Cibeles, named after Cybele, the Greek goddess of fertility, lies at the centre of the plaza and is one of Madrid’s most beautiful statues. Address: Plaza Cibeles, 28014 Madrid.

The monumental heart of the city, the Plaza Mayor was completed in 1619 by Juan Gómez de la Mora. It’s built in typical Herrerian style, of which the slate spires are the most obvious expression. Ochre-hued apartments with wrought-iron balconies and 17th-century frescoes overlook the plaza, which has borne witness to bullfights and executions during the Spanish Inquisition.

Dining in Madrid

Eating is more than simply looking after hunger for the Spanish – instead, Spanish cuisine reflects historical processes that shaped culture and society of the country. Influenced by complex history where invasions of the country and conquests of new territories modified culinary traditions, Spanish cuisine offers bursting array of flavors, ingredients and cooking techniques.

From sizzling gambas al ajillo to 18-months-cured jamón, from spicy patatas bravas to sugar-coated churros, in Spain even the most picky eaters will find something to indulge in. Paired with a glass of world-famous Spanish wine, what else one can ask for?

Here are some recommendations for different dining experiences:

If you feel like having a touristy tasting experience, head to the Mercado de San Miguel. Within walking distance from the Plaza Mayor, more than 30 market’s vendors offer variety of freshly prepared gourmet tapas, hams, olives, baked goods and other foods.

If you are after a low-key and more local experience, the La Cava Baja is the place to go. Located in the heart of Madrid, the lively street full of bars over the years has become a synonym for great and affordable tapas. Alternatively, check out La Casa del Abuelo, which is an ageless and popular place which has been around for more than a hundred years. They have a few branches around the city, so you can pick the one which is more convenient to you.

If you are looking for more elevated dining, Madrid has a wide range of restaurants that cater to all tastes. Try Amparito Roca for traditional Spanish cuisine with a modern twist or Restaurante Amazonico if you fancy a fusion cuisine dinner in a beautiful setting. If you are looking for some traditional entertainment, check out Corral de la Moreria where you catch a dinner and flamenco show.

Amparito Roca: http://restauranteamparitoroca.com/
Restaurante Amazonico: https://restauranteamazonico.com/en/
Corral de la Moreria http://www.corraldelamoreria.com/

For any queries related to logistical matters, please contact:

Edita Jatulyte, Events Officer
[email protected] +32 2 551 01 69