1. Home
  2. Updates
  3. ALDE Party Council welcomes new members in Bucharest
21 Oct, 2023

ALDE Party Council welcomes new members in Bucharest

On 20-21 October, political leaders and partners from the European liberal family gathered for the ALDE Party Council meeting in Bucharest, Romania. 

Over the weekend, Council delegates voted to welcome new members, adopt resolutions on pressing issues across Europe and confirm the nomination of ALDE Party’s new Secretary General. 

Saturday at the Council was opened with a keynote address from European Commissioner for Justice and temporary Commissioner for Competition Didier Reynders, from ALDE Party member Mouvement Réformateur in Belgium, who emphasised the importance of the values of the rule of law and fundamental democracy in the eyes of European citizens. 

“In the preparation of the European elections, it will be important to continue our work on the rule of law and fundamental democracy - it’s the most important element that liberals present to the citizens and voters for the next elections. When you have a confrontation between democracies and authoritarian regimes, our first mission is to convince more and more people that the only way to live in peace is to protect the values of rule of law and fundamental democracy,” said Commissioner Reynders. 

Council delegates discussed developments on membership affairs and shared updates on the ALDE Party 2024 Manifesto, among other key issues on the liberal agenda. 

Delegates approved the membership application of two new full member parties: Azione and Liberali Democratici Europei (LDE), both from Italy. Welcome! 

Led by Carlo Calenda, current member of the Italian Senate and a former Minister of Economic Development and MEP, Azione (‘Action’) was founded in 2019 and vows to promote the values of liberal democracy, free market economy and social solidarity. 

"As of today we are officially a member of ALDE Party, together with +Europa and the European Liberal Democrats. We are very pleased about that," said Calenda. 

Liberali Democratici Europei (LDE), founded in 2023 by Giuseppe Benedetto, Alessandro De Nicola, Oscar Giannino and Sandro Gozi, and led by Andrea Marcucci and Piero Cecchinato, aims to offer a credible alternative to the destabilising forces of populism, and advocates for a European vision that's liberal, progressive, and committed to ecological sustainability. 

The Council also confirmed the appointment of Didrik de Schaetzen as ALDE Party’s new Secretary General following his nomination by the ALDE Party Bureau. 

“The role of ALDE Party Secretary General is to unite and foster cooperation between our members to bring positive change across the continent. I look forward to working with our members and other key stakeholders in the run up to the next European elections and beyond. We have a lot of work to do ahead of 2024, but Europe’s liberals are ready and united," said de Schaetzen. 

Ahead of the upcoming 2024 European elections, the ALDE Party Council also approved a proposal for a lead candidate selection procedure. This consultative procedure will culminate in a formal election of the lead candidate at the ALDE Party’s extraordinary Congress in Brussels on 20-21 March 2024.  

Delegates also discussed updates on the campaign on the upcoming European elections in 2024, the ALDE Party’s manifesto drafting process, and the revision of the 1976 Stuttgart Declaration, ALDE Party’s founding document. 

During the Council, a range of resolutions covering topical issues were voted on and adopted, including on the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area.

All new adopted resolutions will be available here. 

To view the streamed political opening from the ALDE Party Council, visit our YouTube channel. 

To relive the ALDE Party Council through pictures, check out our Flickr album.

You might also like:

Cookies on ALDE

ALDE uses functional and performance cookies that are necessary for the websites to function as well as possible. These cookies do not use any personal data and no permission is required for this. We also use marketing cookies to tailor the website to your preferences. You can give permission for this below. You can always change your settings on the Privacy Statement page in the cookies section.

Adjust preference
Accept all cookies