European Democratic Party
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The European Democratic Party (EDP) is a centrist European political party very strongly in favour of European integration ("europeanist"). It was initiated on April 16, 2004 and formally founded on December 9 in Brussels. François Bayrou of France's UDF and Francesco Rutelli of Italy's Margherita Party serve as the first two co-presidents.
The EDP was founded in reaction to the rising influence of eurosceptic parties within European institutions. It drew europhillic centre-right parties from the European People's Party and centre-left parties from the Party of European Socialists to form a new centrist multinational bloc.
Current Members are:
- Union for French Democracy (Union pour la Démocratie Française) (France)
- Margherita (Italy)
- Labour Party (Darbo Partija) (Lithuania)
- Path of Change (Cesta zmeny) (Czech Republic)
- Citizens' Movement for Change (Mouvement des Citoyens pour le Changement) (Belgium)
- New Horizons (Neoi Orizontes) (Cyprus)
Cooperation with ELDR
The meeting of the Parliamentary Group of the liberal democrat European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party which took place in Brussels on July 13, 2004 approved a recommendation to unite the ELDR Group and the EDP Group into the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group. Although their MEPs currently sit together, these two European political parties remain separate parties.
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