:Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party

{{Short description|Liberal European political party}}

{{About|the European political party|related organisations with similar names|Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (disambiguation)}}

{{Use British English|date=December 2022}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}

{{Infobox political party

| colorcode = {{EUPP data|color}}

| name = {{EUPP data|official name}}

| abbreviation = {{EUPP data|acronym}}

| logo = ALDE Party logo.svg

| logo_size = 300px

| president = Svenja Hahn (DE){{Cite web |date=2024-10-06 |title=Svenja Hahn elected ALDE Party president |url=https://www.aldeparty.eu/svenja_hahn_elected_alde_party_president |access-date=2024-10-06 |website=Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE) |language=en}}

| secretary_general = Didrik de Schaetzen (BE)

| foundation = {{Start date and age|1976|03|26|df=y}}

| headquarters = Rue d'Idalie 11 - box 2,
1050 Brussels, Belgium

| think_tank = European Liberal Forum

| youth_wing = European Liberal Youth

| membership_year = {{EUPP data|individual members date}}

| membership = {{EUPP data|individual members}}

| ideology = Liberalism{{Cite web |date=2021-02-26 |title=Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE) |url=https://www.cleanenergywire.org/experts/alliance-liberals-and-democrats-europe-party-alde |access-date=2024-05-29 |website=Clean Energy Wire |language=en}}
Pro-Europeanism

| position = Centre{{refn|{{Cite book |last=Wolfs |first=Wouter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=frVoEAAAQBAJ&q=%22Alliance+of+Liberals+and+Democrats+for+Europe+Party%22%22centrist%22 |title=European Political Parties and Party Finance Reform: Funding Democracy? |date=2022-04-06 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-3-030-95175-7 |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Woods |first=Judith |date=2019-05-10 |title=Guy Verhofstadt sprinkles his centrist stardust on the perfect Lib Dem launch |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/05/10/guy-met-vince-judith-woods-tags-along-perfect-lib-dem-launch/ |access-date=2024-05-26 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}{{Cite web |last1=Hublet |first1=François |last2=Lanoë |first2=Mattéo |last3=Schleyer |first3=Johanna |date=June 2023 |title=Spelling out the European center-right's dilemma: Renewal of the Grand coalition or National-Conservative Alliance? |url=https://geopolitique.eu/en/2023/06/19/spelling-out-the-european-center-rights-dilemma-renewal-of-the-grand-coalition-or-national-conservative-alliance/ |access-date=2024-05-26 |website=Groupe d'études géopolitiques |language=en-US}}}} to centre-right{{refn|{{Cite book |last=Kazanoğlu |first=Nazlı |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TZYiEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Alde%22%22Centre-right%22&pg=PT58 |title=The Politics of Europeanisation: Work and Family Life Reconciliation Policy |date=2021-05-03 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-37249-6 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Francesco |first=Corti |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xTRZEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Alde%22%22Centre-right%22&pg=PA62 |title=The Politicisation of Social Europe: Conflict Dynamics and Welfare Integration |date=2022-01-14 |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing |isbn=978-1-80088-526-4 |language=en}}{{Cite journal |last1=Mamede |first1=Anna Paula Ribeiro Araujo |last2=Anastasia |first2=Fátima |date=2016-08-31 |title=Instituições democráticas, crise econômica e resultados políticos no Parlamento Europeu: as políticas migratória e ambiental (2009-2014) |url=https://www.cartainternacional.abri.org.br/Carta/article/view/488 |journal=Carta Internacional |language=pt |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=126–151 |doi=10.21530/ci.v11n2.2016.488 |issn=2526-9038}}{{Cite web |title=With 5 months to go before elections, Europe's political |url=https://agenceurope.eu/en/bulletin/article/13283/2 |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=agenceurope.eu}}}}

| international = Liberal International

| europarl = {{plainlist|class=nowrap|

• Renew (2019–present)
• ALDE Group (2004–2019)
• ELDR Group (1976–2004)

}}

| colours = {{Color box|#284BA0|border=darkgray}} Blue
{{Color box|#EC008C|border=darkgray}} Magenta
{{Color box|#{{wikidata|property|P465}}|border=darkgray}} Yellow (customary)

| seats1_title = European Parliament

| seats1 = {{EUPP data|seat composition bar|EP}}

| seats2_title = {{nobr|European Commission}}

| seats2 = {{EUPP data|seat composition bar|EC}}

| seats3_title = European Council

| seats3 = {{EUPP data|seat composition bar|EUCO}}

| seats4_title = European
Lower Houses

| seats4 = {{EUPP data|seat composition bar|ms-lower-house}}

| seats5_title = European
Upper Houses

| seats5 = {{EUPP data|seat composition bar|ms-upper-house}}

| website = {{EUPP data|website}}

| country = the European Union

}}

The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE Party) is a European political party composed of 76 national-level parties from across Europe, mainly active in the European Union. The ALDE Party is affiliated with Liberal International and a recognised European political party, incorporated as a non-profit association under Belgian law.{{cite web |url=http://www.liberal-international.org/site/Co-operating_Organsisations.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=13 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113022549/http://www.liberal-international.org/site/Co-operating_Organsisations.html |archive-date=13 November 2013 |url-status=dead}}

It was founded on 26 March 1976 in Stuttgart as a confederation of national political parties under the name "Federation of Liberal and Democrat Parties in Europe" and renamed "European Liberals and Democrats" (ELD) in 1977 and "European Liberal Democrats and Reformists" (ELDR) in 1986. On 30 April 2004, the ELDR was reformed as an official European party, the "European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party" (ELDR Party).{{cite web |url=http://www.eldr.eu/en/press-releases/european-liberal-democrats-change-party-name-alde-party-0 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130213054307/http://www.eldr.eu/en/press-releases/european-liberal-democrats-change-party-name-alde-party-0 |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 February 2013 |title=European Liberal Democrats change party name to ALDE Party | ALDE Party |publisher=Eldr.eu |access-date=23 September 2013 }}

On 10 November 2012, under the leadership of Sir Graham Watson MEP, the party chose its current name ALDE Party, taken from its then-European Parliament group, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), which had been formed on 20 July 2004 in conjunction with the European Democratic Party (EDP). Prior to the 2004 European election, the European party had been represented through its own group, the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party Group (ELDR) Group. In June 2019, the ALDE group was succeeded by Renew Europe.

{{as of|2024|}}, ALDE Party is represented in European Union institutions, with 51 MEPs and five members of the European Commission. Of the 27 EU member states, there are two with ALDE-affiliated Prime Ministers: Kristen Michal (Estonian Reform Party) in Estonia and Alexander De Croo (Open VLD) in Belgium. ALDE Party members are also in governments in ten other EU member states: Cyprus, France, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Ireland, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Germany and the Netherlands. Charles Michel, former Belgian prime minister, was the president of the European Council until December 2024.

ALDE's think tank is the European Liberal Forum, led by Jan-Christoph Oetjen MEP, and gathers 46 member organisations. The youth wing of ALDE is the European Liberal Youth (LYMEC), which is predominantly based upon youth and student liberal organisations but contains also a small number of individual members. LYMEC is led by Ines Holzegger.

In 2011, ALDE Party became the first pan-European party to create the status of [https://www.foederalist.eu/2016/03/julie-cantalou-cocktail-party-political-party-future-pan-european-parties.html individual membership]. Since then, between 1000 and close to 3000 members (the numbers fluctuate annually) maintained direct membership in the ALDE Party from several EU countries. Over 40 coordinators mobilised liberal ideas, initiatives and expertise across the continent under the leadership of the steering committee, which was first chaired by Julie Cantalou. The ALDE Party took a step further in the direction of becoming a truly pan-European party when granting voting rights to individual members’ delegates at the Party Congress. Individual membership was eventually discontinued in 2023.