Liberals and Democrats recommend formation of new group of at least 89 MEPs

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 8th Jul 2004

Liberal and Democrat delegation leaders in the European Parliament met together for the first time in Bath and formally recommended to their members that they form a new Group next week of at least 89 MEPs, based on a common ten point program for Europe.

The bureau of the proposed new Group, to be called the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) also nominated Bronislaw Geremek as the Group's candidate for the presidency of the European Parliament and recommended that the new group accept applications for membership from 5 MEPs from the Lithuanian Labour Party and 2 MEPs from the Italian Radicals. Discussions are ongoing with other MEPs who have expressed interest in joining the new group.

Commenting on the outcome of the bureau meeting, the leader of the outgoing ELDR Group, Graham Watson MEP (Liberal Democrat, UK) said,

"This week in Bath Liberals and Democrats have written a new page in the history of the European Parliament. Liberal and Democrat delegation leaders met as a bureau for the first time and formally decided to recommend to their members the creation of a new group, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. We have endorsed a ten point programme for Europe which we will present to the press next week, after the members of the new group have voted to create the new group and heard from Mr Barroso."

"The new ALDE Group will bring together MEPs from the liberal and democrat traditions in the European Parliament to form a group of at least 89 members; the strongest centre force that the European Parliament has ever known. We welcome the Lithuanian Labour Party and the Italian Radicals into our new group, and we will continue our discussions with other interested MEPs to strengthen our new group next week."

"It is fitting that the first act of the new Group's bureau should be to nominate unanimously Bronislaw Geremek as our candidate for the presidency of the European Parliament. Professor Geremek incarnates the values of Liberals and Democrats, and our shared commitment to European integration."

"I am pleased to be able to host this meeting in my constituency in Bath, long a meeting place for ideas from different European cultures."