During the first half of 2018, a series of expert forums will be organised around Europe on topical matters and challenges facing the European Union, and will be conducted as the ALDE Party considers its manifesto for the 2019 elections to the European Parliament.

Experts in the respective fields from our member parties are warmly invited to participate in these meetings for sharing their views and actively contributing to the manifesto drafting process.

The second Manifesto Forum, organised by the European Liberal Forum with the support of FORES and ALDE Party took place in Stockholm on Friday 23 March. The main topical focus this time was on EU climate policies.

The Chair of the ALDE Manifesto Drafting Committee and former Estonian Prime Minister, Taavi Rõivas, offered some opening remarks, in which he emphasised the responsibility of the EU in fighting climate change. Despite having already achieved remarkable results, it is now time to talk about what the EU should do in the next decades. He also stressed the importance of listening experts for putting together a good Manifesto as well as the significance of small and simple ideas for small and simple changes that can, however, make a big difference.

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Mattias Goldmann, CEO of Fores, also welcomed the participants by highlighting the relevance of climate policies and the incumbent need of reframing the climate change discourse to make science understandable to people as well as to communicate what science means in practical terms.

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Ahead of the debate, we also discussed on a Facebook Live chat with ALDE Party Vice President Fredrick Federley MEP about the liberal view to climate change and companies and citizens' responsibility. After the debate, Federley officially closed the event.

https://twitter.com/ALDEParty/status/977197042194886658?s=20

You can take a look at some of the best moments of the manifesto forum in Stockholm on our Flickr album.

For an overview of all the expert forums coming up in spring, take a look here.