The ALDE party will hold its 2018 congress in Madrid this Friday 9 and Saturday 10 November.
The party's 39th congress will be marked, on 10 November, by the adoption of the party's election manifesto "setting out (its) liberal vision of the EU" ahead of the European elections next May. "Next year’s elections to the European Parliament will be very important. At this congress, we will debate and adopt our manifesto for the 2019 European elections, a document to conquer the hearts and minds of the citizens", the party's president, Dutch national Hans van Baalen, stated in his word of welcome. "We liberals defend the rule of law, the social-free market economy and free trade, a clear and rules-based immigration policy, and further solutions to addressing global warming", he added.
Unlike the EPP (see other article), the candidate(s) for the post of European Commission president will not be appointed at the congress. Saturday 10 November, will mark only the launch of the procedure, which is expected to end up with a final decision in February (see EUROPE 12123).
Many high ranking politicians are expected in Madrid. As well as Van Baalen and the leader of the European Parliament's ALDE Group, Guy Verhofstadt, the prime ministers of Denmark, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, and Slovenia, Marjan Sarec, will address the congress. The Commission will also be represented and four of the five liberal commissioners will speak to the attendees: Margrethe Vestager (Competition), Violeta Bulc (Transport), Vera Jourová (Justice) and Andrus Ansip (Digital).
The French party La République En Marche! (LREM), with which ALDE would like to build an alliance, will also be represented. The LREM delegate for international action, Astrid Panosyan, will even speak at the opening ceremony. "Remaining the fourth largest force in the European Parliament after the 2019 European elections is simply not an option. We must unite, and we must also grow and build alliances with other progressive and liberal political forces. Among others, we welcome guests of La République En Marche! to our congress to continue exploring ways to work together in this goal", Van Baalen said during his speech. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)