Earlier in July, ALDE Party took part in debates with representatives from fellow pan-European political parties to discuss political priorities, campaign preparations and key topics with a view to next year’s European elections. 

In two separate events in Brussels, ALDE Party Secretary General ad interim and 2024 Campaign Director Didrik de Schaetzen outlined the liberal views for next year’s vote. 

On 4 July, de Schaetzen took part in a policy dialogue organised by EU think tank Bruegel around the potential impact of the European elections in 2024 on democratic resilience in the EU. In his remarks, he pointed out that the Spitzenkandidaten process is “imperfect but is part of the solution” to improving European representation and inclusion.  

“What you need is to show Europeans that they are being listened to, so there is a transparency dimension that is really important. But there is also showing the different voices, and this is where we have to be a bit more careful. […] There are points where we disagree, but also others where we like to take discussions: we don’t shy away from a debate, and this is something that will help having people to feel represented,” he said. 

On 6 July, the organisation Friends of Europe organised a panel debate on how to represent and engage first-time and young European voters, as next year will mark the first time 16 and 17-year-olds will be able to cast their ballots in five EU Member States. 

Here, de Schaetzen argued that there is youth engagement and that political parties “have to find ways to channel that engagement and transfer it into a vote”, while agreeing in principle that the voting age in all EU countries should be lowered to 16 years for all elections.

This was fun… thank you @debatingeurope for the exchange! Let’s work together to het more youth involved and elected at the #EP2024 elections! 💪🏻🇪🇺 https://t.co/q1XV53JYHi pic.twitter.com/4RbG7wDmud

— Didrik de Schaetzen 🇪🇺 (@DdeSchaetzen) July 6, 2023

You can rewatch the Bruegel debate below.

Ahead of the 2024 elections, ALDE Party is developing a liberal electoral manifesto in an inclusive and consultative process, and will provide different opportunities for our supporters to voice their views on the main challenges that Europeans are currently facing.  

You can help us shape our manifesto by sharing your views with us. Click here for more information about the ALDE Party's 2024 manifesto process.