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European Democratic Party

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This article is about the European party. For the Czech party, see European Democratic Party (Czech Republic). For other uses, see European Democrats (disambiguation).

European Democratic Party
AbbreviationEDP
PresidentFrançois Bayrou (FR)
Secretary-GeneralSandro Gozi (IT)
Founded9 December 2004; 20 years ago (2004-12-09)
Split fromEuropean People's Party
HeadquartersRue Montoyer 25,
1000 Brussels, Belgium
Think tankInstitute of European Democrats
Youth wingYoung Democrats for Europe
IdeologyCentrism[5]
Pro-Europeanism[6]
Political positionCentre[7]
European Parliament groupRenew Europe
International affiliationAlliance of Democrats (2005–2012)
Colours  Orange
European Parliament
10 / 720
European Council
0 / 27
European Commission
0 / 27
European
Lower Houses
90 / 6,312
European
Upper Houses
35 / 1,498
Website
democrats.eu Edit this at Wikidata

The European Democratic Party (EDP; French: Parti démocrate européen, PDE), also known as the European Democrats, is a centrist[1][2][3][4] European political party in favour of European integration.

Within the European Parliament, its MEPs form the Renew Europe group, together with those of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe party and the French Renaissance party. The President is François Bayrou.

The youth wing of the EDP is the Young Democrats for Europe (YDE).

As of 2024, one EDP member participates in the national government of an EU member state: Bayrou's Democratic Movement in France, which supports the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier. Two European regions are also led by an EDP politician, with Spain's Basque Country being led by Imanol Pradales of the Basque Nationalist Party and with Spain's Canary Islands being led by Fernando Clavijo Batlle of the Canarian Coalition; EDP member Free Voters participates as a junior coalition partner in the state government of Bavaria in Germany, as does Italia Viva in Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Campania and Basilicata and Les Engagés in Wallonia and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.

The European Democratic Party is also a member of the European Movement International and was a member of the World Alliance of Democrats until its dissolution in 2012.

History

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

In 2005, the European Democratic Party, together with the United States Democratic Party and the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats, co-founded the Alliance of Democrats international.[8][9]

François Bayrou of the Union for French Democracy and later the Democratic Movement (MoDem) and Francesco Rutelli, former leader of the Democracy is Freedom and Alliance for Italy 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 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."

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 called the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) group. This parliamentary group was renamed in 2019 as Renew Europe.

The European Democratic Party is ideologically centrist and federalist.[10] Some major members and affiliated parties like EAJ-PNV, Free Voters, MoDem, MCC, Canarian Coalition and the disbanded Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy follow a Christian democratic or liberal conservative line.

At its 20th anniversary congress in Brussels in December 2024, the party adopted a new orange brand identity and logo, taking on the short name ‘Democrats’.

Membership

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Members are national and regional political parties as well as members of the European Parliament, national and regional parliaments.[11]

Current members

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Country or Region Party MEPs[a] National MPs
 Austria Citizens' Forum Austria
Bürgerforum Österreich (FRITZ) 		- -
 Belgium Les Engagés
Les Engagés (LE)
1 / 8
14 / 150
5 / 60
Marie-Christine Marghem
(MR and MCC; Individual member) 		-
1 / 150
0 / 60
 Croatia People's Party – Reformists
Narodna stranka – Reformisti (NS-R) 		- -
 Cyprus Citizens' Platform
Platforma Politon 		- -
Pavlos Mylonas
(DIKO; individual member) 		-
1 / 56
[12]
 Czech Republic SEN 21
SEN 21 		-
0 / 200
4 / 81
 France Democratic Movement
Mouvement démocrate (MoDem)
3 / 81
48 / 577
4 / 348
Sandro Gozi
(MoDem / IV; individual member)
1 / 81
 -
 Germany Free Voters
Freie Wähler (FW)
3 / 96
0 / 735
(Bundestag)
2 / 69
(Bundesrat)
 Greece Union of Centrists
Ένωση Κεντρώων (EK) 		- -
 Hungary New Start
Új Kezdet (UK) 		- -
 Italy Italia Viva
Italia Viva (IV) 		-
9 / 400
6 / 200
L'Italia c'è
L'Italia c'è 		- -
New Times – United Populars[13]
Tempi Nuovi – Popolari Uniti 		- -
 Ireland Independent Ireland (II)
1 / 14
4 / 174
Marian Harkin (Independent; Individual member) -
1 / 174
 Netherlands 50PLUS (50+) -
0 / 150
1 / 75
 Poland Alliance of Democrats
Stronnictwo Demokratyczne 		- -
 Portugal Together for the People
Juntos pelo Povo (JPP) 		- -
 San Marino Future Republic
Repubblica Futura (RF) 		Not in EU
6 / 60
 Slovenia Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia
Demokratična stranka upokojencev Slovenije (DeSUS) 		- -
 Spain
 Basque Nationalist Party
Euzko Alderdi Jeltzalea (EAJ)
Partido Nacionalista Vasco (PNV)
1 / 61
6 / 350
10 / 265
Canarian Coalition
Coalición Canaria (CC) 		-
1 / 350
1 / 265
Commitment to Galicia
Compromiso por Galicia (CxG) 		- -
 Europe Young Democrats for Europe[14]
Jeunes Démocrates européens 		-

Former members

[edit]

Elected representatives of member parties

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European institutions

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Organisation Institution Number of seats
 European Union European Parliament
10 / 720
European Commission
0 / 27
European Council
(Heads of Government)
0 / 27
Council of the EU
(Participation in Government)
1 / 27
Committee of the Regions
 Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly
4 / 306

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ The number of MEPs listed below may not match the total number of MEPs of the European party, as it does not include MEPs who join as individual members.

References

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  1. ^ a b c Nordsieck, Wolfram (2019). "European Union". Parties and Elections in Europe.
  2. ^ a b c McCormick, John (2015). European Union Politics. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 247. ISBN 978-1-137-45340-2.
  3. ^ a b c Pehrson, Lars (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.
  4. ^ a b c Niedermayer, Oskar (1 May 2013). Handbuch Parteienforschung. Springer. p. 831. ISBN 978-3-531-18932-1.
  5. ^ [1][2][3][4]
  6. ^ Brack, Nathalie; Costa, Olivier (2014). How the EU Really Works. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 120. ISBN 978-1-4724-1465-6.
  7. ^ [1][2][3][4]
  8. ^ "Presentation - EDP – European Democratic Party". 22 February 2015. Archived from the original on 22 February 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  9. ^ "Towards a new Alliance of Democrats". 16 February 2012. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  10. ^ Alberto Martinelli & Alessandro Cavalli (2020). European Society. Vol. 133. Brill. p. 237. ISBN 9789004351776. The European Democratic Party (EDP) is a centrist, social-liberal, and federalist party that stands for a more democratic, integrated EU closer to its citizens. Between 2004 and now (end of 2019) the EDP has formed a joint European parliamentary group with ALDE.
  11. ^ "Our members". democrats.eu. EDP. 24 June 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  12. ^ "MYLONAS Pavlos". parliament.cy. House of Representatives (Cyprus). Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  13. ^ Merlo, Giorgio (17 October 2023). "Tempi Nuovi ha scelto il PDE per motivi di coerenza". Il Domani d'Italia (in Italian). Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  14. ^ "Adoption of the EDP manifesto and new member organisation | European Democrats – European Democratic Party". www.democrats.eu. Archived from the original on 19 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  15. ^ robin (15 October 2022). "PES Congress welcomes new PES leadership team and four new member parties". The Party of European Socialists. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  16. ^ Democrats, European (30 June 2017). "Individual membership request from MP Alena #Bašistová (SK) has just been accepted by the #EDPCouncil in #Coimbra. Welcome! #EDPCoimbrapic.twitter.com/RiOAZGrfQ7". @PDE_EDP. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
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