The Alde Party adopted its elections Manifesto on 10 November at their Party Congress in Madrid. The Manifesto defines ALDE’s goals for the next parliamentary term.
The Manifesto says that the European Union should continue to set global standards in international trade and promote free and rule-based trade. At the same time, the negotiations of free trade agreements must be more transparent, and the content must be better explained to the public, the Manifesto says. ALDE also aims for more support for European SMEs by giving them easier access to finance and by ensuring that the rules on investment funds are simpler.
Furthermore, ALDE wants a fully completed Digital Single Market without virtual borders and with data protection rules that do not harm innovation in Europe. It wants Europe to be an attractive place for digital companies, so it can lead the way in new technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence and others. At the same time, ensuring cyber security, data protection and privacy remains a key feature of this plan.
The Party states that it wants to strengthen the knowledge economy in Europe by investing in R&D and giving the European workforce the right set of skills to better match the needs of the labor market. It also wants to strategically invest more in digital infrastructure and programs to produce a smart workforce for the future.
The Manifesto describes ALDE’s plans to reform the European Parliament with only one seat in Brussels and re-evaluated competencies. Its wish is to see greater involvement of the European Parliament in the decision-making process by giving it the right to initiate legislation.
The Party also wants to reform the Common Agricultural Policy, ensure the rapid implementation of the Eurozone banking union and a more transparent EU budget. Regarding Brexit, ALDE calls on the EU and the UK to avoid a no-deal Brexit and to ensure ongoing cooperation and partnership between the EU and the UK if the latter leaves the European Union.