At the invitation of Sir Graham Watson MEP, President of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party, more than 500 liberals from all over Europe will meet for their 33rd Congress in Dublin, Ireland on 8-10 November 2012.

The main theme of this year will be a liberal roadmap for energy transition in Europe. In addition to debates on this issue, there will be a fringe programme to cater for a broad range of interests.

Along with hundreds of local, national and european elected officials, the below have confirmed their participation so far:

• Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the LibDems Party, United Kingdom;
• Carl Haglund, Minister of Defence and leader of the SFP Party, Finland;
• Siim Kallas, Vice-President of the European Commission;
• Micheal Martin, leader of the Fianna Fáil Party, Ireland;
• Karolina Peake, Deputy Prime Minister, Czech Republic;
• Vesna Pusic, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Croatia;
• Lars Løkke Rasmussen, leader of the Venstre Party, Denmark;
• Philipp Rösler, Deputy chancellor, Minister of economy & energy, FDP leader, Germany;
• Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the ALDE group in the European Parliament.

The press conference is scheduled on Friday 9 November at 11.30 at the Ballsbridge Hotel in Dublin [1]. Immediately before or after the press conference, we can arrange for interviews or bilateral meetings with liberal leaders.

Additional information and programme are available on the Congress webpage [2].

The ELDR Party can cover the accomodation and reimburse up to 350 EUR of travel costs to a limited number of journalists covering this event. Please contact Didrik de Schaetzen if you wish to benefit from this.

Press contact
Didrik de Schaetzen
Head of the Communication unit
ddeschaetzen@eldr.eu [3]     
Tel. +32 2 237 01 43   

The European Liberal Democrats consists of more than 50 member parties across Europe and brings together Members of the European Parliament where they form the 3rd largest political force. Two EU Prime ministers belong to ELDR member parties and we are participating in 14 governments around the European Union. 8 out of 27 European Commissioners represent liberal democrats.