The first-ever virtual ALDE Congress will take place on 11-12 June this week.

Bringing together hundreds of participants across Europe, the Congress is an opportunity for member party delegates, Prime Ministers, party leaders, European Commissioners and decision-makers from our member parties to come together to discuss and debate some of the defining challenges of our time.

Some of this year’s Congress highlights are listed below – please check the Congress programme regularly for potential updates.

Friday, 11 June

9:30-10:00

Congress opening ceremony, featuring a tribute to late ALDE Party President Hans van Baalen and speeches from acting ALDE Party co-Presidents Timmy Dooley and Ilhan Kyuchyuk as well as messages from some of Europe’s leading liberals, will start the first virtual ALDE Congress.

This session is streamed and available to general public

10:00-12:30

ALDE Party Council meeting takes place during the virtual Congress. The Council meeting will include a segment on the Conference on the Future of Europe, with guest speakers Guy Verhofstadt MEP and LYMEC President Antoaneta Asenova.

Note: Only the contributions on COFOE will be streamed and available to general public during the Council meeting.

13:30-14:30

Bureau candidates will hold a debate on Friday early afternoon. Henrik Bach Mortensen, Dita Charanzová and Luis Garicano have been nominated for the positions of ALDE Party Vice Presidents. David Burke and Jasmina Mršo have been nominated for the position of ALDE Party Treasurer.

This session is streamed and available to general public

15:30-17:30

A range of fringe meeting on various topics and in collaboration with partners will take place during the Congress. Two of the meetings will be streamed and available to general public:

• Politics Is for Other People – FNF in partnership with NCE+
• Pushing Europe Further Through Digital Policy – With Representatives from Microsoft and Sky

Saturday, 12 June

9:30-10:50

An interesting panel discussion on Europe’s economic recovery kicks off the second day of Congress. The panel brings together high-level liberal leaders, including Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Commissioner Kadri Simson, Belgian State Secretary Eva De Bleeker, Nicola Beer MEP, Luis Garicano MEP, Morten Løkkegaard MEP and Stephane Sejourne MEP.

This session is streamed and available to general public

11:00-12:30

The second panel discussion of the day focuses on strengthening democracies and reinstating our freedoms. High-level panellists include Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, Commission Vice-President Věra Jourová, Commissioner Didier Reynders, Lithuanian Minister of Justice Evelina Dobrovolska, Romanian Secretary of State Alexandru Dimitriu, ALDE Party Vice President and German MP Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, Sophie in 't Veld MEP and Katalin Cseh MEP.

This session is streamed and available to general public

14:30-15:00

The results of the Bureau elections and the official closing session will conclude this year’s Congress on Saturday afternoon.

This session is streamed and available to general public

Please note that potential updates to the programme and speakers are possible. For more detailed information and the Congress programme, visit the ALDE Congress event pages.

The general public will be able to follow some of the sessions, which will be live-streamed on our Facebook and Youtube channels. You can also follow the hashtag #ALDECongress on Twitter and Instagram.

To download our special ALDE Congress app, visit here for more instructions

Photos from the Congress will be updated and available on our Flickr page.