On Saturday 11 May, the ALDE and Renaissance, the list in the European elections from the French parties La République en Marche, the MoDem, Agir - La droite constructive and the Mouvement Radical/Social-Libéral (see EUROPE 12251/6), recalled their determination to “form a new group after the European elections”.
At the ALDE’s Madrid Congress last November, La République en Marche had already announced its intention to work with the party (see EUROPE 12134/8).
The joint declaration – signed, in addition to Renaissance, by the parties Ciudadanos (Spain), D66 and VVD (Netherlands), MR and Open VLD (Belgium), FDP (Germany), NEOS (Austria) and Momentum (Hungary) – states that this group will be open to parties “that share [their] ambitions and [their] intentions”. All these parties explain that together they have “a clear new ambition for Europe and wish to build a coalition with other parties committed to rebuilding Europe for a more effective Europe where the status quo is simply no longer allowed”.
“This new group will be a new force in the European Parliament and will mark the end of a two-party system”, the statement adds, referring implicitly to the EPP and the PES (which was part of the S&D group).
In addition, at the Strasbourg meeting at which the declaration was announced, the Portuguese Socialist Prime Minister, António Costa, gave his support and called for the union of European progressives to confront nationalists and populists. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)