Name of the Party: VVD (Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie). People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy
Position in the political spectrum: right/centre-right
Ideology: liberal, conservative
Position on Europe: pro Europe but no to further integration
National leader: Mark Rutte
Party in the European Parliament: ALDE (liberal party)
Number of European MPs elected in 2014: 5
In the Dutch parliament: on 2017 general election, VVD gained 33 seats. It is currently the first party in the lower house (Tweede Kamer), and it leads the government coalition. Its leader, Mark Rutte, is the prime minister.
Party programme in English: No
Lead candidate: Malik Azmani
Principles for the European Elections 2019: ” It’s not always easy to get along with in Europe so many countries to come to the right decisions”, says VVD electoral manifesto for the European Elections. More points: focus on themes that are important, such as safety and migration and also on cross-border challenges. Europe should not interfere with things that countries can do themselves, VVD thinks.
Standing points:
- Security: stronger collaboration with other countries
- Migration: agreement with countries in Africa and Middle East for reception in the region of the refugees.
- Environment: Reduction of CO2 at European level, countries should be free on how to achieve the goal
- Euro: Member States put finances in order and banks need to be lowered at the minimum
- European Institutions: European Institutions limit their activities to core tasks and save on expenses
The full programme is here (Dutch)
