About ALDE

Your Freedom Our Fight

47 years of freedom: Liberals and Democrats across Europe created their family in 1976, and in 1993 established even further to form a true European political party, fighting every day for your rights and freedoms.

Growing in importance: Every year our family gets bigger and stronger. Now consisting of 70+ member parties and more than a thousand individual members across the EU, we put people at the centre of our party and this allows us to grow together.


ALDE Party by-laws and founding document

ALDE Party statutes

The ALDE Party statutes define the fundamental purpose and liberal objectives. They also lay out the basic rules of membership and describe the nature and composition of the party’s bodies that form the party’s structure.

ALDE Party internal regulations

The ALDE Party internal regulations define the functioning and working procedures of the Party and its different bodies. They describe in detail how the party statutes are being applied in practice.

ALDE Party founding document: Stuttgart Declaration

Our European liberal party was founded more than 30 years ago in the German city of Stuttgart in 1976. Its truly visionary founding document, outlining our guiding principles, constitutes in detail our liberal vision of a free and liberal European Community. As articulated by great liberal personalities back then, our vision of a prosperous, united, and strong Europe remains valid more than ever before and commits us to continue working in a liberal spirit for the citizens of Europe. 
Download the founding document: Stuttgart declaration in pdf

ALDE Party Charter of Values

At ALDE Party's 2024 Extraordinary Congress in Brussels, European liberals co-signed a Charter of Values setting out our principles and key mission, updating the remit of the 1976 Stuttgart Declaration. The document sets a common standpoint on the heritage, vision and essence of European liberalism, reaffirming the liberal commitment to defend and promote some of the most defining issues of our generation as part of an equal, open and democratic society.

Click here to read the full Charter of Values.

ALDE Party annual financial statement

The funding of the ALDE Party comes from two sources, the general budget of the European Union and its member parties' contributions. Below are all financial statements of the last five years containing revenue and expenditure and a statement of assets and liabilities.

Financial statements: 2023, 2022, 20212020, 2019, 2018201720162015

ALDE Party Code of Conduct for Sponsorship

EU Regulation 1141/2014 sets the rules for receiving donations for European political parties. In addition, the ALDE Party Council had adopted a Code of Conduct on receiving corporate sponsorship.
The list of our donations and sponsorships is published every year as an annex to our annual financial statements as well as on the website of the Authority for European political parties

ALDE Party Data Protection and Privacy Statement

The ALDE Party is committed to protecting your personal information and to respect the European legislation and its transposition into Belgian law on the matter. 

The Data Protection and Privacy Statement explains what information we collect and how we collect it.


Origins and development of the ALDE Party

In view of the first European elections, fourteen parties from Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom gathered for the constituent congress in Stuttgart, Germany on 26-27 March 1976. The Liberal Group of the European Parliament and representatives of the International Liberal Youth Organisation also took part.

This marked the creation of the first cross-border European political family. A further result of the deliberations in Stuttgart was the adoption of the Stuttgart Declaration, our declaration of principles, based on the Oxford Manifesto of 1947.

At the European Liberal Democrat Congress in Dublin on 8-10 November 2012, delegates voted overwhelmingly to change the name of the party from the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR) to Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Party to strengthen ties with the European Parliamentary group.

To mark the occasion, a short video was produced showing the history and development of the party.

 

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