The European Democratic Party (EDP) ( French: Parti Démocrate Européen; PDE) also known as the European Democrats, is a

centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the l ...

European political party in favour of

European integration European integration is the process of industrial, economic integration, economic, political, legal, social integration, social, and cultural Regional integration, integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integrat ...

François Bayrou François René Jean Lucien Bayrou (; born 25 May 1951) is a French politician who has presided over the Democratic Movement (MoDem) since he founded it in 2007. A centrist, he was a candidate in the 2002, 2007 and 2012 presidential elections. ...

is the President of the party. All MEPs of the European Democratic Party currently sit in the

Renew Europe Renew Europe (Renew) is a liberal, pro-European political group of the European Parliament founded for the ninth European Parliament term. The group is the successor to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) group which exist ...

group. The youth wing of the EDP is the

Young Democrats for Europe The Young Democrats for Europe (officially Jeunes Démocrates Européens) is the youth wing of the European Democratic Party. The seat of the organisation is Brussels. History It was announced on 9 May 2007, the 50th Anniversary of the Treaty ...

. As of 2022, EDP member parties participate in the government of one country: France ( Democratic Movement). A European region is also led by an EDP politician, with the Basque Country being led by

Iñigo Urkullu Íñigo Urkullu Renteria (born 18 September 1961) is a Spanish politician, and the Lehendakari (President) of the Basque Government since 2012. As the President of the Basque Government, he headed the First, Second and Third Urkullu Governments ...

of the

Basque Nationalist Party The Basque Nationalist Party (, EAJ ; es, Partido Nacionalista Vasco, PNV; french: Parti Nationaliste Basque, PNB; EAJ-PNV), officially Basque National Party in English,) was rejected by party members in November 2011. Nonetheless, the party did ...

, and EDP member

Free Voters Free Voters (german: Freie Wähler, FW or FWG) in Germany may belong to an association of people which participates in an election without having the status of a registered political party. Usually it involves a locally organized group of voters ...

participate as a coalition partner in the government of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

History

European Democratic Party was initiated on 16 April 2004 and formally founded on 9 December 2004 in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

of the

Union for French Democracy The Union for French Democracy (french: Union pour la démocratie française, UDF) was a centre to centre-right political party in France. It was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to c ...

and later the Democratic Movement (MoDem) and

Francesco Rutelli Francesco Rutelli (born 14 June 1954) is an Italian journalist and former politician, who is the president of '' Anica'', National Association of Film and Audiovisual Industry, since October 2016. He also chairs the "Centro per un Futuro Sosteni ...

, former leader of the

Democracy is Freedom Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choose gover ...

and

Alliance for Italy Alliance for Italy ( it, Alleanza per l'Italia; ApI) was a centrist political party in Italy. The party, which was described in its manifesto as "democratic, liberal, popular" as opposed both to "right-wing populism" and the "social-democratic l ...

parties, served as the two co-presidents until 2019. Now, François Bayrou serves as the only president. The EDP was founded in reaction to the rising influence of Eurosceptic parties within European institutions. It drew

pro-European Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Polit ...

centrist parties from the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Ch ...

(EPP) group to form a new centrist multinational bloc. Its co-founder

described it as a party for people being ''neither conservative nor socialist." '' 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 Party An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

called the

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE; french: Alliance des Démocrates et des Libéraux pour l'Europe, ADLE) is a transnational alliance between two European political parties, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Euro ...

(ALDE) group. This parliamentary group was dissolved in 2019 and replaced by

. The European Democratic Party is ideologically

and

federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of de ...

. Some major members and affiliated parties like

EAJ-PNV The Basque Nationalist Party (, EAJ ; es, Partido Nacionalista Vasco, PNV; french: Parti Nationaliste Basque, PNB; EAJ-PNV), officially Basque National Party in English,) was rejected by party members in November 2011. Nonetheless, the party did ...

MoDem A modulator-demodulator or modem is a computer hardware device that converts data from a digital format into a format suitable for an analog transmission medium such as telephone or radio. A modem transmits data by Modulation#Digital modulati ...

, MCC,

Canarian Coalition The Canarian Coalition ( es, Coalición Canaria, CC) is a regionalist, Canarian nationalist political party in Spain operating in the Canary Islands. The party's aim is for greater autonomy for the islands but not independence. It has been label ...

and the disbanded

Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy ( it, Democrazia è Libertà – La Margherita, DL), commonly known simply as The Daisy (''La Margherita''), was a centrist political party in Italy. The party was formed from the merger of three parties within ...

follow a christian democratic or

liberal conservatism Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...

line.

Members

Members are national and regional political parties as well as members of the European Parliament, national and regional parliaments.

Former member parties

* : National Forum (''Nacionalni forum''), joined EDP in 2014, disbanded in 2015 * : ** European Party ** Citizens' Alliance * : ** Party for the Open Society ** Way to Change, founding member of EDP, disbanded in 2009 * :

Union of Democrats and Independents The Union of Democrats and Independents (french: Union des démocrates et indépendants, UDI) is a Centrism, centre to Centre-right politics, centre-right list of political parties in France, political party in France and former Electoral alliance ...

joined the ALDE party on 2 December 2016 * : **

, founding member of EDP, merged into the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

in 2007, MEPs Mario Pirillo, Silvia Costa and

Vittorio Prodi Vittorio Prodi (born 19 May 1937 in Reggio Emilia) is an Italian politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament from 2004 until 2014. He is a member of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. In parliament, Prodi serv ...

stayed as individual members until 2014, now member of PES **

, party disbanded by the end of 2016 ** European Democratic Party Italy (''Partito Democratico Europeo Italia'') disbanded in 2021. * : Labour Party, left in 2012 to join the ALDE party * **

PRO Romania PRO Romania (, PRO) is a minor extra-parliamentary social liberal political party in Romania. History The founding of PRO Romania was initiated in 2017 by former Prime Minister Victor Ponta, former acting/ad interim Prime Minister and Minist ...

(''PRO România''), left in 2022 to join

Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a social democratic and progressive European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all member states of the European Union (EU) plus Norway and the United Kingdom ...

Association of Italians of Romania The Association of Italians of Romania – RO.AS.IT. ( ro, Asociația Italienilor din România – RO.AS.IT.; it, Associazione degli Italiani di Romania – RO.AS.IT.) is an ethnic minority political party in Romania representing the Italian ...

, left in 2022 * : **

People's Party – Movement for a Democratic Slovakia Former headquarters of the ĽS-HZDS political party at Tomášikova Street 32/A in Bratislava The Movement for a Democratic Slovakia ( sk, Hnutie za demokratické Slovensko, HZDS) was a national-populist political party in Slovakia. The party ...

, joined EDP in 2009, disbanded in 2014, succeeded by Democratic Slovakia Party **Democratic Slovakia Party ('Strana Demokratického Slovenska') and

European Democratic Party The European Democratic Party (EDP) (French: Parti Démocrate Européen; PDE) also known as the European Democrats, is a centrist European political party in favour of European integration. François Bayrou is the President of the party. All ...

(') in 2019 ** Alena Bašistová (Independent), not reelected in 2020

Elected representatives of Member Parties

European institutions

References

External links

EDP official website
{{Authority control Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Pan-European political parties