LYMEC president encourages ELDR to seek a refoundation of the party with a new name and a new brand

Roger Albinyana, LYMEC president, addressed the plenary of the ELDR Party Congress in Berlin last week. The ELDR Congress entitled “A Liberal Europe for a Free World” gathered nearly 500 delegates from all over Europe. LYMEC president addressed the party plenary on Friday 19 October before the closing remarks of the re-elected ELDR president Annemie Neyts, who was re-elected with 80% of support.

In his speech LYMEC president regretted the lack of leadership in today’s Europe and the impossibility of the current EU leaders to present a European project to which citizens can feel emotionally attached and close to. Furthermore Albinyana blamed on pure functionalism of being one of the main reasons why EU citizens are not interested on the EU project and why they do not generally vote on the EP elections.

Regarding ELDR, LYMEC president proposed to launch a process of refoundation of the party in view of the European Parliament elections in 2009 with the aim to accommodate more sensibilities and build a stronger party in force and numbers. According to Albinyana if the party wants to take a proper lead on many of the EU institutions after the EP elections, the party needs to be more politically active and stronger institutionally.

The president of LYMEC was thanked with a long applause by the ELDR Congress delegates and by some words of the ELDR president for his long term serving mandate as LYMEC president. Roger Albinyana will not seek re-election at the next LYMEC Congress in spring 2008.

You can read his full speech by clicking here.