The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (ALDE-PACE) (French: ''Alliance des démocrates et des libéraux pour l'Europe'') is a political group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 46 member states, with a p ...

bringing together 92 members from 26 states. Since January 2020, the group is chaired by Jacques Maire of France.

ALDE-PACE Mission

The Mission of the ALDE-PACE group is to promote core values of the

democracy 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 g ...

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

and the

rule of law The rule of law is the political philosophy that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. The rule of law is defined in the ''Encyclopedia Britannic ...

through enhanced political actions inside and outside the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up ...

. ALDE adopted a new mission statement 22 January 2018 outlining the values and objectives of the group. ALDE members realize these objectives by actively participating in the Parliamentary Assembly sessions, working in its Committees, drafting reports, initiating debates and ensuring the follow-up of this work in their home countries. Outside the Assembly the group members are committed to promoting the principles of the

and giving support to liberal and democratic values throughout Europe.

Composition

Bureau

According to the Rules of Procedure of the ALDE-PACE (as amended on 22 January 2018), the Bureau of the Group consists of the Chairperson, 11 Vice-Chairpersons and the Treasurer of the Group. Chairpersons of committees and former Chairpersons of the Group are ex officio members of the Bureau.

Members

List of ALDE-PACE members

Secretariat

The permanent secretariat of the Group is located in the headquarters of the

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

( Palais de l’Europe). The secretariat is chaired by Dr Maria Bigday.

History

It was not until after the celebration of the Council of Europe's 25th anniversary in 1964 that the Rules of Procedure of the Consultative Assembly (its name was not changed to Parliamentary Assembly until 1974) discreetly mentioned that members had the possibility of forming political groups. The history of the liberal group in the PACE dates back to the early 1970s (first documented in 1974). At the time it was called the Liberal Group and consisted of 30 members headed by Frederik Portheine (Netherlands). In the mid-80s the group changed its name to the "Liberal, Democratic and Reformers' Group" (LDR) in order to make the Group's political ideals universally and unequivocally recognisable. The name "Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe" (ALDE) was adopted on 20 June 2005 in order to enhance cooperation with other European liberal and democratic bodies, in particular the ALDE of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...

ALDE-PACE Presidents

Liberal Presidents of the Parliamentary Assembly

Liberal Secretary General of the Council of Europe

Daniel Tarschys Nils Daniel Tarschys (born July 21, 1943, Stockholm, Sweden), is a professor of political science at Stockholm University. Tarschys was born into an academic family. Both his parents taught in Swedish universities. He is married and has two daug ...

(

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

) was

Secretary General of the Council of Europe The Secretary General of the Council of Europe (french: Secrétaire général du Conseil de l'Europe, links=no) is appointed by the Parliamentary Assembly on the recommendation of the Committee of Ministers for a period of five years. The secreta ...

from 1994 - 1999.

History of the Secretariat

The permanent secretariat of the Group operates since 1978, when Mr Peter Kallenberger was appointed Secretary of the Group. After he retired in 2010, Ms Maria Bigday took up the position of the Secretary.

Activities

Recent reports prepared by the ALDE members

* Anne Brasseur ** ''Good Football governance''
Report, Doc 14452
15 December 2017) **''Internet and politics: the impact of new information technology on democracy''
Report, Doc 13386
13 January 2014) *

Rik Daems Hendrik Jules Joseph "Rik" Daems (born 18 August 1959) is a Belgian painter, wine trader and politician who served as the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from 2020 to 2022, a 70-year-old body bringing together par ...

**''Setting minimum standards for electoral systems in order to offer the basis for free and fair elections''
Report,Doc 15027
8 January 2020) **''Extra-institutional actors in the democratic system''
Report, Doc 12278
4 June 2010) *

Dick Marty Dick Marty (born 7 January 1945) is a Swiss politician ( FDP.The Liberals) and former state prosecutor of the canton of Ticino. He is a former member of the Swiss Council of States (from 1995 to 2011) and of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Coun ...

**''Inhuman treatment of people and illicit trafficking in human organs in Kosovo''
Report, Doc. 12462
25 January 2011) **''Alleged secret detentions and unlawful inter-state transfers of detainees involving Council of Europe member states''
Report, Doc 10957
12 June 2006)

Conferences and side-events

The ALDE-PACE Group regularly holds conferences, hearings, seminars and round tables in the framework of the

scope of interest. It also co-organises joint events with other European and international liberal and democratic institutions. Information relating to these side events is found on the ALDE-PACE Pace website and in th
ALDE newsletter
published after each session.

Partner organisations

The ALDE-PACE holds stable partnership with major European and world liberal and democratic organisations. #

ALDE Party Alde may refer to: * Alde Mudflats, a reserve in Suffolk, England * River Alde, a river in Suffolk, England * Alde Valley School, a school in Leiston, Suffolk, England * Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe group, a political party 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 exi ...

in the European Parliament #

International Federation of Liberal Youth The International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY) is an international liberal youth organization. It consists of a global membership of national youth organizations. These are often but not exclusively affiliated with political parties that ...

(IFLRY) #

Liberal International Liberal International (LI) is a worldwide organization of liberal political parties - a political international. It was founded in Oxford in 1947 and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties, aiming to strengthen liberalism aroun ...

(LI)
Renew Europe
in the

European Committee of the Regions The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) is the European Union's (EU) assembly of local and regional representatives that provides sub-national authorities (i.e. regions, counties, provinces, municipalities and cities) with a direct voice w ...

Independent Liberal and Democratic Group
in the

Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is the pan-European political assembly representing local and regional authorities from the forty-six member states of the Council of Europe. Its role is to promote local and regional democracy, imp ...

References

External links

* {{official, http://www.alde-pace.org/ Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Political groups in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe