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Brussels 2006
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Welcome to LDEG!
The Liberal Democrat European Group (LDEG) is the association for UK Liberal Democrats interested in European politics.
Membership of LDEG is open to all members of the Liberal Democrat Party and of allied European political parties.
Graham Watson launches bid to be next EP President
New!
Wed 7th Jan 2009
ALDE Group Leader Graham Watson has launched his campaign for the presidency of the European Parliament. Speaking about his ambitions for the Parliament's future, Mr. Watson said: "For too long, Presidents of Parliament have been chosen through backroom deals in smoke-filled rooms. Mine will be the first ever public campaign for the presidency: in this I hope that I will set a precedent. We need a proper debate about the role and priorities of the next President. This is what European democracy should be about. I hope that by going public with my campaign I will stimulate debate about the candidates and the issues, and spark a contest which will be decided on merit not convenience. I have written to every MEP informing them of my intentions, and next week I will unveil the priorities that would mark out my presidency."
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Read "Graham Watson launches bid to be next EP President" in full (142 words).
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George Thomson
New!
Tue 6th Jan 2009
There will be a Memorial Service for Lord Thomson of Monifieth KT at St Martins in the Fields, at 11am on January 13th. Tickets not necessary.
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Read "George Thomson" in full (27 words).
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EUROPEAN CITIZENS CONSULTATION 2009
Mon 22nd Dec 2008
There is a new project called the European Citizens' Consultation (ECC) which aims to inject citizens' voices into the EU policy making process. The European Citizens' Consultation 2009 will bring together citizens from all 27 Member States to deliberate with each other and with policy makers the future of the EU. LDEG has been invited to input ideas into this process. On three weekends in March 2009, 1,500 randomly selected EU citizens will attend National Citizens' Consultations in their country. These conferences are the heart of the ECC process. Participants will deliberate the ideas put forward by the public in an online debate before drawing up national recommendations. They will then present and discuss their recommendations on what the EU should do to be socially just and economically strong to policy makers, stakeholders and experts. A European Summit, held in Brussels in May, will ensure that a truly European set of recommendations is presented to key EU decision makers. At each stage of the discussion, members of the general public will be able to make their voice heard via national websites, enabling an unprecedented number of additional views to be contributed to the debate on the future of Europe. The citizens' recommendations will also be discussed with many more stakeholders at regional outreach events to be held between September and December 2009.
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Read "EUROPEAN CITIZENS CONSULTATION 2009" in full (483 words).
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Charles Kennedy calls for renewed debate on Euro membership
Tue 16th Dec 2008
European Movement president Rt Hon Charles Kennedy MP, speaking in the House of Commons debate on European affairs on Tuesday 9 December, said the case for joining the euro had to be addressed because of the current economic situation. He said: "It is sad that it has taken such calamitous circumstances for the debate to begin to make its way back to the desired level." Read the whole speech here: http://www.euromove.org.uk/
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Read "Charles Kennedy calls for renewed debate on Euro membership" in full (72 words).
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Share your vision
Tue 16th Dec 2008
Between the 3rd of December 2008 and March 2009, you have the chance to take part in a Europe-wide debate on the question: "What can the EU do to shape our economic and social future in a globalised world?" This online debate on 27 national websites in all official EU-languages will generate proposals which will contribute to the discussions held by 1500 randomly selected citizens from all EU Member States. These discussions will take place in the 27 national citizens' consultations in March 2009.
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Read "Share your vision " in full (87 words).
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Nick Clegg attends ELDR meeting
Tue 16th Dec 2008
European Liberal Democrats from all over Europe gathered for the bi-annual ELDR Leaders and Ministers meeting, on Thursday 11th December 2008, which saw the participants reach a common position on the EU's ambitious climate change and energy 'package' of legislation on the eve of a two-day EU summit. Graham Watson, Leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe in the European Parliament, stated: "If member states cannot agree on effective emissions trading targets, they must agree on a method for carbon capture and storage."
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Read "Nick Clegg attends ELDR meeting" in full (232 words).
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"Let the people decide" by Richard Laming
Sun 7th Dec 2008
A big victory for the pro-Europeans at a debate on Monday evening. Lembit Öpik and I defeated some Eurosceptics at University College London on "The house believes in a federal Europe." Other than, obviously, the persuasive rhetoric and skilled arguments of the pro-federalist side, and the good sense of the assembled student body, here are two reasons why we won. First, the extraordinary attempt by the UKIP representative to compare Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel with Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler. In fact, he said that the former two were more dangerous than the latter. I think he rather startled his audience with the suggestion that world war and the Holocaust somehow didn't matter. Most people tend to take a rather dim view of genocide: it will surely count against UKIP that they do not. (cont...)
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Read ""Let the people decide" by Richard Laming" in full (265 words).
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European of the Year
Sun 7th Dec 2008
Meglena Kuneva, the Bulgarian EU Commissioner, is this year's European of the Year. She is a Liberal on ELDR's list of their 9 Commissioners. She is the first woman European of the Year in the 8 years of the annual awards and was awarded the honour largely for work on consumer policy. Other awards were as follows -
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Read "European of the Year" in full (137 words).
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Archive of earlier news stories.
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