The 41st ALDE Party Congress, will take place from 11-12 June 2021 online.

Preliminary information about the programme, political deadlines, venues and logistics is available on the ALDE Party website.

The UK Liberal Democrats are currently the second largest voting bloc in the ALDE Party. The Congress is the largest event of the year for ALDE and it is a policy-making event, with policy motions submitted by member parties for debate and voted on during the Congress. The ALDE Party Congress is the biggest annual event gathering Liberals across Europe with;

• Over 650 members of Liberal parties from around the continent,
• Top politicians including Prime Ministers, European Commissioners, Ministers, Members of the European and national Parliaments, Members of the Committee of the Regions, and many other delegates,
• European visibility, acknowledging the role of the supporting party within a European and not only a national political context,
• Topical debates, high level speeches and policy discussions,
• Plenty of Networking opportunities.

The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Party is the party for liberal democrat values in Europe.

Together with our liberal member parties across Europe ALDE are translating the principle of freedom into politics, economics and all other areas of our societies. The ALDE Party provides an increasingly vital link between citizens and the EU institutions and is continuously growing in size and significance.

The ALDE Party consists of over 60 member parties and many individual members from 39 countries across Europe.

Liberal Democrats created their European political family in 1976 in view of the first European elections and in 1993 was established as a true transnational political party.

Formerly the European Liberal Democrat and Reform (ELDR) party, on 10 November 2012 at the Congress in Dublin, European Liberal Democrat delegates voted overwhelmingly to change the name of the party to Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE) Party to strengthen links with the European Parliamentary group.

What is expected?

1. Active participation at the entire Congress, from 11-12 June 2021, including attendance at policy debates, voting in internal ALDE elections and on policy motions and participation
   in the whole programme.
2. Ability to attend a minimum of one delegation meetings (online) before the event, chaired by the Delegation Leader, Phil Bennion.
3. Ability to prepare for policy debates and events ahead of the Congress, including reading all policy motions and briefings provided.
4. Ability to fill out a feedback form after the Congress.

Please do not apply if you are not available for the duration of the Congress – attendance at voting is mandatory as your votes cannot be allocated to another delegate.

Participation in the Congress will be completely self-funded.

Deadline

Please apply HERE no later than Thursday 3rd June 11:59am GMT. Please note that applications submitted after the deadline will not be considered.

Contact

If you are interested in applying, please contact the International Office at [email protected]. Applicants must be members of the Liberal Democrats.