The Council of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) party unanimously approved the accession of the Italian party Più Europa on Saturday 9 February in Berlin.
The European liberal party already had an Italian party, the Italian Radicals, which has been a member since October 2004. It also welcomed as a full member the Icelandic Viðreisn party and as an affiliate member the Bright Armenia party of Armenia.
On the other hand, according to an ALDE source, the process for the exclusion of the Romanian party Alianța Liberalilor și Democraților (ALDE), which began at the Madrid Congress last November, continues.
"We follow our procedures," the source explained, while acknowledging that these were not very clear. "ALDE Romania was asked to clarify its position as a member of the Romanian government on the implementation of the Venice Commission's recommendations with regards to justice reforms and respect for the rule of law," said a statement from the European Party, which states that the subject will be discussed at a forthcoming Council meeting. By way of comparison, the expulsion of the Catalan PDeCAT party took two years (see EUROPE 12127).
In addition, as announced by EUROPE, ALDE President Hans Van Baalen confirmed that the electoral campaign for the European elections would be launched on 21 March in Brussels (see EUROPE 12184). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)