The ALDE Group traced its unofficial origin back to September 1952 and the first meeting of the Parliament's predecessor, the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community. Founded as an explicitly liberal group, it expanded its remit to cover the different traditions of each new Member State as they acceded to the Union, progressively changing its name in the process. Its immediate predecessor was the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party Group (ELDR).
The ALDE Group traced its unofficial ancestry back to the Liberal members present at the first meeting of the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community (the Parliament's predecessor) on 10 September 1952,[9] but the Group was officially founded as the Group of Liberals and Allies[3] on 23 June 1953.[3]
In 1999, the Group partnered with European People's Party–European Democrats (EPP-ED) group to form an informal coalition for the Fifth Parliament. This included supporting the EPP's candidate for President of the Parliament in 1999 and the ALDE candidate in 2002. This meant that the Group secured its first President of the European Parliament since Simone Veil, when Pat Cox was elected to the post to serve the latter half of the Parliament's five-year term. This arrangement was discontinued after the 2009 election, when the EPP and the socialist S&D Group formed an informal Grand Coalition.
The Group accordingly became the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe[3] (ALDE) on 20 July 2004,[3] to match the eponymous transnational political alliance, although the two European-level parties remained separate outside the European Parliament. The MEP Graham Watson of the British Liberal Democrats became the first chair of ALDE.
In May 2019, speaking at a debate leading up to the 2019 European Parliament election, ALDE President Guy Verhofstadt announced that following the election, the group would form a new, centrist alliance with Emmanuel Macron's "Renaissance" list and be renamed as Renew Europe.[14]
Membership
The ALDE has MEPs from 20 countries, including 14 with more than one MEP (in yellow) and six with one MEP each (light yellow).
Membership by party in Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Parliaments
The national parties that are members of ALDE are as follows:
In September 1952, the third-largest grouping in the Common Assembly was the Liberal grouping with 11 members.[15] The Group of Liberals and Allies was officially founded on 23 June 1953.[3] By mid-September 1953, it was again the third-largest Group with 10 members.[16]
The Bureau was the main decision making body of the ALDE Group and is composed of the leaders of the delegations from each member state that elects ALDE MEPs.[17] The Bureau oversaw the ALDE Group's main strategy and policies and was headed by a chair (referred to as the Leader). The day-to-day running of the Group was performed by its secretariat, led by its Secretary-General.
The senior staff of ALDE as of July 2012 were as follows:[17]
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