| European Democratic Party | |
|---|---|
| Europäische Demokratische Partei Parti démocrate européen Partito democratico europeo Partido Demócrata Europeo |
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| President | François Bayrou MP and Francesco Rutelli MP |
| Founded | December 9 2004 |
| Headquarters | 103 Avenue F. Rooseveltlaan 1050 Brussels, Belgium |
| Political Ideology | Centrism, Social liberalism |
| International Affiliation | Alliance of Democrats |
| European Parliament Group | Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe |
| Colours | orange and blue |
| Website | http://www.pde-edp.net/ |
| See also | Politics of the EU |
The European Democratic Party (EDP) is a centrist European political party in favour of European integration. 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 Democracy is Freedom – Daisy 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 pro-European centrist parties from the European People's Party to form a new centrist multinational bloc. The reformism is another the principal standard of the party and in fact the PDE assembles center reformists in a transverse way, either if they are of social Christian or social-democratic or a mixture does not matter. Its cofounder François Bayrou (UDF) described it as a party for people being neither conservative nor socialist, like the United States Democratic Party. Current Members are:
Belgium: Citizens' Movement for Change (Mouvement des Citoyens pour le Changement)
Cyprus: European Party (Ευρωπαϊκό Κόμμα), formerly New Horizons (Νέοι Ορίζοντες)
Czech Republic: Path of Change (Cesta změny)
Spain & 
France: 
: Basque Nationalist Party (Euzko Alderdi Jeltzalea)- France: Union for French Democracy (Union pour la Démocratie Française)*
Italy: Daisy—Democracy is Freedom (La Margherita - Democrazia è Libertà)**
Lithuania: Labour Party (Darbo Partija)
San Marino: Popular Alliance (Alleanza Popolare)
*=To be succeeded by the Democratic Movement (Mouvement démocrate)
**=To be merged by the Democratic Party (Partito democratico) As of May 2006, Margherita is in government a core member of Prime Minister Romano Prodi's Olive Tree federation within The Union, and the Lithuanian Labour Party is the largest party in the Lithuanian Seimas.
Cooperation with ELDR
The meeting of the Parliamentary Group of the liberal 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.
External links
 Political organisations at European Union level |
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| European Parliament |
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| Other confederations of national parties |
European Anticapitalist Left · European Christian Political Movement · Euronat · European National Front · Nordic Green Left Alliance · Movement for European Reform · Platform for Transparency | |||||
| Dedicated EU parties | Europe – Democracy – Esperanto | |||||
| Politics Portal · National parties by European group · European Parliamentary Election · Party composition of the Council | ||||||
