European Liberal prime ministers and leaders convened recently in Brussels, Belgium to discuss the future of Europe ahead of the European Council Summit, at the invitation of Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the ALDE Group in the European Parliament and LI President of Honour and ALDE Party President Hans van Baalen MEP.

Tackling some of the most burning questions for Europe’s future, Liberal Prime Ministers, Party Leaders and European Commissioners discussed among others the start of the Brexit negotiations, the setting up of a genuine EU Defence system, as well as the way forward following Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement.

Commenting on the outcome of the discussions Hans van Baleen MEP said:

We decided that we are going to work much more closer together and now in the Council we want to have no fatigue and focus on the progress with Europe. Liberals are the future of the EU.

The Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel (DP – LI full-member), addressed his colleagues on the issue of climate change, insisting that the EU should stick to the Paris Agreement noting that  “we cannot afford a domino effect following the US decision [to withdraw]” while the EU Commissioner for Competition, Margarethe Vestager, emphasised that employment in Europe has been rising, renewing hope in the European project.