The Group of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (, ELDR) was a liberal

political group of the European Parliament The political groups of the European Parliament are the officially recognised parliamentary groups consisting of legislators of aligned ideologies in the European Parliament. The European Parliament is unique among supranational assemblies i ...

between 1976 and 2004. The group comprised the

European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE Party) is a European political party composed of 76 national-level parties from across Europe, mainly active in the European Union. The ALDE Party is affiliated with Liberal Interna ...

and its constituent national-level parties, variously of liberal,

centrist Centrism is the range of political ideologies that exist between left-wing politics and right-wing politics on the left–right political spectrum. It is associated with moderate politics, including people who strongly support moderate policie ...

and agrarian orientation. Its predecessors have existed since 23 June 1953, then under the name of ''Liberals and Allies Group''. In 1976, the name was changed to ''Liberal and Democratic Group'' (LD), and on 13 December 1985 to ''Liberal and Democratic Reformist Group'' (LDR). The addition of "Reformist" was a concession to the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

of Portugal, which did not identify as a liberal party. The ELDR group partnered with the European People's Party – European Democrats (EPP-ED) to form the majority-forming coalition for the 5th Parliament, during which time it elected its sole

President of the European Parliament The president of the European Parliament presides over the debates and activities of the European Parliament. They also represent the Parliament within the European Union (EU) and internationally. The president's signature is required for Euro ...

Pat Cox Patrick Cox (born 28 November 1952) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician, journalist and television current affairs presenter who served as President of the European Parliament from 2002 to 2004 and Leader of the European Liberal Democrat ...

during the second half of the term. Following the 2004 European elections the ELDR was expanded and renamed the

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE; , ADLE) was a transnational alliance between two European political parties, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party and the European Democratic Party. ALDE had political ...

(ALDE) group.

Chairmen

* 1979–1984:

Martin Bangemann Martin Bangemann (15 November 1934 – 28 June 2022) was a German politician and a leader of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) from 1985 to 1988. He was German Federal Minister of Economics and European Commissioner. Life and career Bangemann ...

, Germany ( FDP) * 1984–1989:

Simone Veil Simone Veil (; ; 13 July 1927 – 30 June 2017) was a French magistrate, Holocaust survivor, and politician who served as health minister in several governments and was President of the European Parliament from 1979 to 1982, the first woman t ...

, France ( UDF) * 1989–1991:

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, ; ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as simply Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. After serving as Ministry of the Economy ...

, France (UDF- PR) * 1992–1994:

Yves Galland Yves Galland (born 8 March 1941 in Paris), is a French politician and entrepreneur. Biography After his studies in law from Paris University, Yves Galland started his career in the world of business before also starting his political career. H ...

, France (UDF- Rad) * 1994–1998:

Gijs de Vries Gijsbert Marius "Gijs" de Vries (born 22 February 1956) is a retired Dutch-American politician and diplomat who served as State Secretary for the Interior and Kingdom Relations from 1998 to 2002 and European Union Counter-terrorism Coordinator ...

, Netherlands (

VVD The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( , VVD) is a conservative-liberal political party in the Netherlands. The VVD, whose forerunner was the Freedom Party, is a party of the centre-right that tries to promote private enterprise and ...

) * 1998–2002:

, Ireland (independent) * 2001–2004:

Graham Watson Sir Graham Robert Watson (born 23 March 1956) is a British Liberal Democrat politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South West England from 1994 to 2014. Watson was the chairman of the Parliament's committee on c ...

, United Kingdom ( LibDem)

Presidents of the European Parliament from the Liberal Groups

* 1962–1964:

Gaetano Martino Gaetano Martino (25 November 1900 – 21 July 1967) was an Italian politician, physician, and university teacher. Early life and medicine Gaetano Martino was born in 1900 in Messina, Sicily, son of its Mayor Antonino Martino. He graduated in m ...

, Italy ( PLI) * 1973–1975:

Cornelis Berkhouwer Cornelis "Cees" Berkhouwer (, 19 March 1919 – 5 October 1992) was a Dutch politician. He was a Member of the European Parliament between 1964 and 1984, for the Dutch People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, which sat as part of the Libera ...

, Netherlands (

) * 1979–1982:

, France ( UDF) * 2002–2004:

, Ireland (independent)

Represented parties

References

{{European Parliament groups Former European Parliament party groups 1976 establishments in Europe 2004 disestablishments in the European Union Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party