Today marks 50 years from ALDE Party's founding on 26 March 1976. Our President Svenja Hahn MEP has delivered a message to liberals everywhere commemorating the day.
For too long, Europeans have been told to fear what comes next. Liberals see it differently: the future is not something to fear, but something we can create together.
While some are afraid of change or difference, we’ve kept on making the case for openness, diversity and freedom. Because we know it makes us stronger. Instead of retreating into the past, we’re stepping up.
As liberals, our politics are all about hope. When I look at Europe today, I see a continent that is still being built everyday by people who refuse to stand still.
Since creating the first pan-European political party in 1976, ALDE Party has expanded freedom, strengthened democracy and proven that Europe is better with inclusion and courage.
Liberals have left an unmistakable mark on Europe. We’ve opened doors for those too often excluded: from pioneering legal same-sex marriage to supporting the landmark 2004 EU enlargement, which reunited our continent. We’ve championed women in leadership, including the election of the first female President of the European Parliament, Simone Veil.
We gave a voice to young people shaping policies and citizens demanding that politics solve problems, rather than deepen divisions.
By championing the single market, free trade and the rule of law, we’ve stood up to those who keep trying to take our freedoms away. These achievements are proof that liberal ideas work, and that we are ready to do it again.
But now, that progress feels uncertain.
Five decades from our founding, illiberal forces across Europe are becoming louder. International alliances are under pressure, wars rage on our continent and we are too often held back by those who would rather shrink our future than shape it.
Too many people are told to limit their expectations, accept decline, fear tomorrow and settle for less. And as a result, Europeans feel ignored, taken for granted and talked down to.
That is not a future worth choosing. As liberals, we will not accept this fate.
Future generations are relying on us to safeguard the liberties they deserve. That is why we will never take our freedoms for granted. We will not give up on them.
Over the decades, the European Union has always shown resilience, adapting to meet the moment. And this moment is no different. As yet another crisis unfolds, we must raise our ambitions and reassert Europe’s place on the global stage.
Europeans are demanding real solutions to everyday problems: a home they can afford, opportunities to rely on and a future to believe in. Unfortunately, some prefer distractions, excuses and politics driven by blame and division. Others seek to concentrate power and exclude, all in service of their own interests.
But there is another path. Liberals are putting people back at the centre of politics and offering credible solutions to improve everyday life. We bridge differences and stand up for what matters.
Our young people deserve to grow up in a world they can afford to live in and have their say. That’s why it is time to make Europe a global superpower that is strong globally, united internally and delivers prosperity.
Europe does not lack potential. It is a lack of ambition that has become our biggest risk.
As liberals, we want to be the architects of the future. Because we know that there is greatness behind us, but even greater things ahead.
Fifty years on, our anniversary marks a decisive moment: we choose hope over fear, division over unity and progress over inaction.
We choose the future.
With the support of the European Parliament. The sole liability rests with the author; the European Parliament is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.
Svenja Hahn MEP, ALDE Party President