European Democratic Party
European Democratic Party | |
---|---|
President | François Bayrou and Francesco Rutelli |
Secretary-General | Marielle de Sarnez |
Founded | 9 December 2004 |
Headquarters | Rue de l'Industrie 4, 1000 Brussels, Belgium |
Youth wing | Young Democrats for Europe (YDE) |
Ideology |
Centrism[1] Pro-Europeanism[2] |
Political position | Centre |
European Parliament group | Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe |
Colours | Orange and blue |
Political foundation | Institute of European Democrats |
Website | |
http://www.pde-edp.eu/ | |
The European Democratic Party (EDP) is a centrist[3][4][5] European political party in favour of European integration. It was initiated on 16 April 2004 and formally founded on 9 December 2004 in Brussels. François Bayrou of the French Democratic Movement (MoDem) and Francesco Rutelli of the Alliance for Italy serve as the two co-presidents.
The EDP was founded in reaction to the rising influence of Eurosceptic parties within European institutions. It drew pro-European centrist parties from the European People's Party (EPP) group to form a new centrist multinational bloc. Its co-founder François Bayrou described it as a party for people being neither conservative nor socialist, like the United States Democratic Party.
Since the beginning of the 6th European Parliament of 2004–2009, the EDP has formed a joint European parliamentary group with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) party called the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) group. Although ALDE Party and EDP MEPs continue to sit together in the same parliamentary group, the two European political parties remain separate entities.
The youth wing of the EDP is the Young Democrats for Europe.
Membership
Member parties
Country or Region | Party | European MPs |
---|---|---|
Belgium | Citizens' Movement for Change (Mouvement des Citoyens pour le Changement) | 1 / 22 1 / 8 |
Croatia | People's Party - Reformists (Narodna stranka - Reformisti) | 0 / 11 |
Cyprus | Citizens' Alliance (Συμμαχία Πολιτών, Symmachia Politon) | 0 / 6 |
France | Democratic Movement (Mouvement démocrate) | 4 / 74 |
Germany | Free Voters (Freie Wähler) | 1 / 96 |
Greece | Union of Centrists (Ένωση Κεντρώων) | 0 / 21 |
Italy | Alliance for Italy (Alleanza per l'Italia) | 0 / 73 |
Poland | Alliance of Democrats (Stronnictwo Demokratyczne) | 0 / 51 |
Portugal | Democratic Republican Party (Partido Democrático Republicano) | 1 / 21 |
Romania | Association of Italians of Romania (Asociaţia Italienilor din România, Associazione degli Italiani in Romania) | 0 / 32 |
San Marino | Popular Alliance (Alleanza Popolare) | N/A |
Slovakia | European Democratic Party (Europska Demokraticka Strana) | 0 / 13 |
Slovakia | Democratic Slovakia Party (Strana Demokratického Slovenska) | 0 / 13 |
Spain | Basque Nationalist Party (Euzko Alderdi Jeltzalea) | 1 / 54 |
Spain | Canarian Coalition (Coalición Canaria) | 0 / 54 |
Additionally, other independent MEPs, national and regional deputies have also integrated into the EDP:
Country or Region | Person | Party | Member of |
---|---|---|---|
France | Jean-Marie Cavada | Génération Citoyens | European Parliament |
Ireland | Marian Harkin | Independent | European Parliament |
Italy | Gianluca Susta | Independent | Senate of the Republic |
Slovenia | Ivo Vajgl | DeSUS | European Parliament |
Former member parties
- Cyprus: European Party
- Czech Republic: Way to Change, founding member of EDP, disbanded in 2009
- Italy: Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy, founding member of EDP, merged into the Democratic Party in 2007, MEPs Mario Pirillo, Silvia Costa and Vittorio Prodi stayed as individual members until 2014, now member of PES
- Lithuania: Labour Party, left in 2012 to join the ALDE party
- Slovakia: People's Party – Movement for a Democratic Slovakia, joined EDP in 2009, disbanded in 2014, succeeded by Democratic Slovakia Party
- Croatia : National Forum (Nacionalni forum), joined EDP in 2014, disbanded in 2015
- France: Union of Democrats and Independents joined the ALDE party on 2 December 2016
Elected representatives of Member Parties
European institutions
Organisation | Institution | Number of seats |
---|---|---|
European Union | European Commission | 0 / 28 |
European Union | European Council (Heads of Government) | 0 / 28 |
European Union | Council of the EU (Participation in Government) | 0 / 28 |
European Union | European Parliament | 11 / 751 |
Council of Europe | Parliamentary Assembly | 5 / 318 |
References
- ↑ Parties and Elections in Europe: The database about parliamentary elections and political parties in Europe, by Wolfram Nordsieck
- ↑ Nathalie Brack; Olivier Costa (2014). How the EU Really Works. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 120. ISBN 978-1-4724-1465-6.
- ↑ John McCormick (2015). European Union Politics. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 247. ISBN 978-1-137-45340-2.
- ↑ Lars Pehrson (12 June 2009). How Unified Is the European Union?: European Integration Between Visions and Popular Legitimacy. Springer. p. 160. ISBN 978-3-540-95855-0.
- ↑ Oskar Niedermayer (1 May 2013). Handbuch Parteienforschung. Springer. p. 831. ISBN 978-3-531-18932-1.