Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats Dutch:Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | Open Vld |
| President | Eva De Bleeker |
| Vice President | Alexander De Croo |
| Founded | 1992; 33 years ago (1992) (VLD) 2007; 18 years ago (2007) (Open Vld) |
| Merger of | VLD,LA,Vivant (Open Vld) |
| Preceded by | Party for Freedom and Progress |
| Headquarters | Melsensstraat 34 Brussels |
| Membership(2018) |  60,000[1] |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| Regional affiliation | Liberal Group |
| European affiliation | Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe |
| European Parliament group | Renew Europe |
| International affiliation | Liberal International |
| Francophone counterpart | Reformist Movement |
| Germanophone counterpart | Party for Freedom and Progress |
| Colours | Blue |
| Chamber of Representatives | 7 / 87 (8%) (Flemish seats) |
| Senate | 5 / 35 (14%) (Flemish seats) |
| Flemish Parliament | 9 / 124 |
| Brussels Parliament | 2 / 17 (Flemish seats) |
| European Parliament | 1 / 22 (5%) (Flemish seats) |
| Flemish Provincial Councils | 13 / 175 |
| Benelux Parliament | 2 / 21 |
| Website | |
| openvld.be | |
TheOpen Flemish Liberals and Democrats[2][3][4] (Dutch:Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten,[ˈoːpə(ɱ)ˈvlaːmsəlibəˈraːlənɛndeːmoːˈkraːtə(n),-ləʔɛn-]ⓘ,Open Vld) is a Flemishliberal[5][6][7][8]political party in Belgium. The party has been described ascentre-right[9] and has smaller factions within the party that haveconservative liberal[7][8][10] andsocial liberal views.[citation needed] The party is a member of theLiberal Group,[11]Renew Europe, andLiberal International.
The party was created in 1992 from the former bilingualParty for Freedom and Progress (PVV) and politicians from other parties after Belgium was reconstituted as a federal state based on language, with the French-speaking faction forming theReformist Movement (MR) in Wallonia. The party led the government for three cabinets underGuy Verhofstadt from 1999 until March 2008. Open Vld then formed the Federal Government (the so-called "Swedish government") withN-VA,CD&V and Mouvement Réformateur.
In theFlemish Parliament, the VLD formed acoalition government with sp.a-Spirit andChristian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V) from after the2004 regional election until the2009 regional election. Open Vld has been a member of theLeterme I Government formed on 22 March 2008, theVan Rompuy I Government formed on 2 January 2009, theLeterme II Government formed on 24 November 2009 and theDi Rupo Government formed on 6 December 2011.
Ideologically, Open Vld started as aneconomically liberal[12] and somewhat libertarianThatcherite party under its founder,Guy Verhofstadt, which mirrored some of the original ideology of the PVV. The VLD rapidly became morecentrist and gave up much of itsfree market approach, partly under the influence of Verhofstadt's political scientist brotherDirk Verhofstadt. However, the VLD continued to contain conservative-libertarian and classical liberal wings with ties to think-tanks likeNova Civitas. Party chairmanBart Somers called in November 2006 for a "revolution" within the party, saying that "a liberal party", like the VLD, "can be only progressive and social".[13]
From 2000 to 2004, during the second period of its participation in the Belgian federal government and underBelgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, the VLD allegedly lost most of its ideological appeal. Several of its thinkers such as (former member)Boudewijn Bouckaert, president ofNova Civitas, heavily criticized the party. Many others, particularly from the party's conservative and Flemish autonomist wing, resented the priority it placed on the 'Belgian compromise', which enabled theFrench Community's Socialist Party to gain a dominant position in the formulation of Belgian federal government policy.
In 2004, the VLD teamed up with the minority social-liberal partyVivant for both the Flemish andEuropean elections. VLD-Vivant lost the elections to arch rivals CD&V and theFlemish Bloc. The VLD fell from second to third place among the Flemish political parties, slipping narrowly behind the sp.a-Spirit cartel. Internal feuds, the support for electoral rights for immigrants and an unsuccessful economic policy were seen as the main reasons for its election defeat. From 2007, the party kept having electoral difficulties, first due to competition from split-offList Dedecker and after 2010 from the liberal-conservative Flemish-nationalist partyN-VA.
The VLD has its origins in theParty for Freedom and Progress (which in turn was a successor to theLiberal Party), a bilingual party which stood in both the Flemish and Walloon regions of Belgium. As such the liberal party is the oldest political party of Belgium. In 1846,Walthère Frère-Orban succeeded in creating a political program which could unite several liberal groups into one party. Before 1960, theLiberal Party of Belgium was barely organised. The school pact of 1958, as a result of which the most important argument for the traditionalanti-clericalism was removed, gave the necessary impetus for a thorough renewal. During the liberal party congress of 1961, the Liberal Party was reformed into the bilingualParty for Freedom and Progress (PVV-PLP), andOmer Vanaudenhove became the chairman of the new party. The new liberal party, which struggled with an anti-clerical image, opened for believers, but was not too concerned about the situation of workers and primarily defended the interests of employers. It is a central principle of Classical Liberalism that employers and employees do NOT have opposed long term interests.
In the late 1960s and the early 1970s, the tensions between the different communities in Belgium rose and there were disagreements within the liberal movement as well. In 1972, the unitary PVV-PLP was split into separate aFlemish and aFrancophone parties. On Flemish side, under the guidance ofFrans Grootjans,Herman Vanderpoorten andWilly De Clercq, the PVV was created, on Walloon sideMilou Jeunehomme became the head of the PLP and Brussels got its own but totally disintegrated liberal party landscape. Willy De Clercq became the first chairman of the independent Party of Freedom and Progress (Dutch:Partij voor Vrijheid en Vooruitgang, PVV). De Clercq, together with Frans Grootjans and Herman Vanderpoorten, set out the lines for the new party. This reform was coupled an Ethical Congress, on which the PVV adopted very progressive and tolerant stances regarding abortion,euthanasia,adultery, homosexuality andgender equality.
In 1982, the 29-year-old reformerGuy Verhofstadt became the chairman of the party, and even was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Budget from 1986 to 1988.Annemie Neyts succeeded him as chairman, becoming the first female party chairman. In 1989, Verhofstadt once more became the chairman of the PVV, after his party had been condemned to the opposition by theChristian People's Party (CVP) in 1987.
In 1992, the PVV was reformed into the Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten, VLD) under the impulse of Verhofstadt. Although the VLD was the successor of the PVV, many politicians with democratic nationalist or socialist roots joined the new party. Notable examples areJaak Gabriëls, then-president of the FlemishPeople's Union, andHugo Coveliers. From the early 1990s, the VLD advanced in every election, only to get in government following the1999 general election when the VLD became the largest party. Guy Verhofstadt becamePrime Minister andPatrick Dewael becameMinister-President of Flanders. They were both at the head of a coalition of liberals, social democrats andgreens.
Before the2007 general election, the VLD participated in a cartel withVivant andLiberal Appeal. In February 2007, it decided to cease the cartel and start operating under the nameOpen VLD. On the 10 June 2007general elections, Open VLD won 18 out of 150 seats in theChamber of Representatives and five out of 40 seats in theSenate.
In the2010 general election, Open VLD won 13 out of 150 seats in theChamber of Representatives. After the longgovernment formation process, on 6 December 2011 theDi Rupo Government was formed, with Open VLD one of the six constituent parties.
At its inception, the Open VLD was aclassical liberal and somewhatright-libertarian party with support for free-markets and deregulation. Former party leader Guy Verhofstadt was compared toMargaret Thatcher in his beliefs during his time as party chairman. In the 1990s, the party switched from a libertarian to a moresocially liberal position underBart Somers. Some of the party's ideological influences have beenKarl Popper,John Stuart Mill,Thomas Paine,Amartya Sen andMartha Nussbaum. The party also contained members from both social democratic and Flemish nationalist liberal-conservative backgrounds who have influenced the VLD's course, such as formerVolksunie leaderJaak Gabriëls andHugo Coveliers falling into the latter camp. Others had ties to the conservative-libertarian organizationNova Civitas, and were open to working with theVlaams Blok and laterVlaams Belang party, although this was strongly opposed by the party leadership as a whole. Presently, the Open VLD retains an economically liberal position by supporting lower taxes and private property ownership while also closing tax loopholes. It supports a Canadian model of migration and for a more inclusive society towards immigrants, but claims not to endorse open borders and wants quicker deportation of illegal immigrants. It also retains a socially liberal stance on matters such as same-sex marriage, LGBT rights and introducing athird gender option on official documents, but also believes the government shouldn't interfere with matters related to sexuality.[14] For a period, the party was considered the main centre-right rival to the Christian DemocraticCD&V in the Flemish region and saw its highest period of support in the late 1990s and early 2000s. However, the emergence of the Flemish nationalistN-VA party and theLDD drew some of the party's conservative leaning voters away and contributed to a decline in votes. Ideological disputes also caused some of the party's more conservative and traditionalist libertarian wing such asBoudewijn Bouckaert,Jean-Marie Dedecker andHugo Coveliers to leave the party. Dedecker later founded the LDD and CoveliersVLOTT while others joined the N-VA.[12]
In 2024, Open VLD (along with MR) blocked Belgium fromrecognizing theState of Palestine.[15]
The party is fairlypro-European,[16] and sits in theRenew Europe group with two MEPs.[17][18]
Then-Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt (VLD) was rejected as a candidate for the presidency of theEuropean Commission in June 2004.
In theEuropean Committee of the Regions, Open VLD sits in theRenew Europe CoR group, with one alternate members for the 2025-2030 mandate.[19][20] Jean-Luc Vanraes is Coordinator in the CIVEX Commission.[21]
| European Parliament | |
|---|---|
| Name | Committees |
| Guy Verhofstadt | Constitutional Affairs[22] |
| Hilde Vautmans | Foreign Affairs Women's Rights and Gender Equality[23] |
| Chamber of Representatives | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Notes | Name | Notes |
 Maggie De Block | Faction leader | Goedele Liekens | |
| Tim Vandenput | Mayor ofHoeilaart |  Patrick Dewael | Mayor ofTongeren |
 Christian Leysen | Marianne Verhaert | ||
 Egbert Lachaert | Party President | Tania De Jonge | |
| Katja Gabriëls | Mayor ofBerlare | Robby De Caluwé | Mayor ofMoerbeke |
 Jasper Pillen | Kathleen Verhelst | ||
| Senate | ||
|---|---|---|
| Type | Name | Notes |
| Co-opted Senator | Rik Daems | Faction leader |
| Community Senator |  Els Ampe [nl] | |
| Community Senator | Tom Ongena | |
| Community Senator | Steven Coenegrachts | |
| Community Senator | Stephanie D'Hose | President of the Senate |
| Belgian FederalDe Croo Government | ||
|---|---|---|
| Public Office | Name | Function |
| Prime Minister | Alexander De Croo | |
| Deputy Prime Minister | Vincent Van Quickenborne | Justice and theNorth Sea |
| Secretary of State | Eva de Bleeker [nl] | Budget and Consumer Protection |
| Flemish Parliament | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Notes | Name | Notes | ||
| Willem-Frederik Schiltz | Fraction Leader | Tom Ongena | Community Senator | ||
| Gwendolyn Rutten | Former Party President mayor ofAarschot | Gwenny De Vroe | |||
| Maurits Vande Reyde [nl] | Els Ampe | Community Senator | |||
| Steven Coenegrachts | Community Senator | Marino Keulen | Mayor ofLanaken | ||
| Stephanie D'Hose | President of theSenate | Jean-Jacques De Gucht | Son ofKarel De Gucht | ||
| Freya Saeys | Bart Van Hulle | ||||
| Bart Tommelein | FormerFlemish minister mayor ofOstend | Emmily Talpe | Mayor ofYpres | ||
| Flemish GovernmentJambon | ||
|---|---|---|
| Public Office | Name | Function |
| ViceMinister-President | Bart Somers | Internal Affairs, Administrative Affairs, Integration, and Equal Opportunities |
| Minister | Lydia Peeters | Mobility and Public Works |
| Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Notes | ||
| Carla Dejonghe | Faction Leader | ||
| Guy Vanhengel | Former federal minister | ||
| Khadija Zamouri | |||
| Brussels Regional GovernmentVervoort II | ||
|---|---|---|
| Public Office | Name | Function |
| Minister | Sven Gatz | Finance, Budget, Civil Service, Promotion of Multilingualism, Tourism, Statistics, Urbanism, Heritage, the image ofBrussels and bicultural issues of regional importance |
| Provincial Council | ||
|---|---|---|
| Province | Percentage | Seats |
 Antwerp | 4.7% | 0 / 36 |
 Limburg | 12.7% | 3 / 31 |
 East Flanders | 11.3% | 4 / 36 |
 Flemish Brabant | 10.7% | 4 / 36 |
 West Flanders | 8% | 2 / 36 |
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/- | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 392,130 | 7.4 | 19 / 212 | Opposition(1971-1973) | |
| Coalition(1973-1974) | |||||
| 1974[a] | 798,818 | 15.2 | 21 / 212 |  2 | Coalition |
| 1977 | 475,917 | 8.5 | 17 / 212 | 4 | Opposition |
| 1978 | 573,387 | 10.4 | 22 / 212 | 5 | Opposition(1978-1980) |
| Coalition(1980) | |||||
| Opposition(1980-1981) | |||||
| 1981 | 776,871 | 12.9 | 28 / 212 | 6 | Coalition |
| 1985 | 651,806 | 10.7 | 22 / 212 | 6 | Coalition |
| 1987 | 709,758 | 11.5 | 25 / 212 | 3 | Opposition |
| 1991 | 738,016 | 12.0 | 26 / 212 | 1 | Opposition |
| 1995 | 798,363 | 13.1 | 21 / 150 | 5 | Opposition |
| 1999 | 888,973 | 14.3 | 23 / 150 | 2 | Coalition |
| 2003 | 1,009,223 | 15.4 | 25 / 150 | 2 | Coalition |
| 2007 | 789,445 | 11.8 | 18 / 150 | 7 | Coalition |
| 2010 | 563,873 | 8.6 | 13 / 150 | 5 | Coalition |
| 2014 | 659,582 | 9.8 | 14 / 150 | 1 | Coalition |
| 2019 | 579,334 | 8.5 | 12 / 150 | 2 | Coalition |
| 2024 | 380,659 | 5.5 | 8 / 150 | 4 | Opposition |
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971[a] | 776,514 | 14.9 | 6 / 106 | |
| 1974[a] | 755,694 | 14.6 | 10 / 106 | 4 |
| 1977 | 472,645 | 8.5 | 9 / 106 | 1 |
| 1978 | 572,535 | 10.4 | 11 / 106 | 2 |
| 1981 | 781,137 | 13.1 | 14 / 106 | 3 |
| 1985 | 637,776 | 10.5 | 11 / 106 | 3 |
| 1987 | 686,440 | 11.3 | 11 / 106 |  0 |
| 1991 | 713,542 | 11.7 | 13 / 106 | 2 |
| 1995 | 796,154 | 13.3 | 6 / 40 | 7 |
| 1999 | 952,116 | 15.4 | 6 / 40 | 0 |
| 2003 | 1,007,868 | 15.4 | 7 / 40 | 1 |
| 2007 | 821,980 | 12.4 | 5 / 40 | 2 |
| 2010 | 533,124 | 8.24 | 4 / 40 | 1 |
| 2014 | N/A | N/A | 5 / 60 | 1 |
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/- | Government | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D.E.C. | Overall | |||||
| 1989 | 12,143 | 2.8 (#8) | 2 / 75 | Opposition | ||
| 1995 | 11,034 | 2.7 (#8) | 2 / 75 | 0 | Opposition | |
| 1999[b] | 13,729 | 22.7 (#3) | 3.2 (#7) | 2 / 75 | 0 | Coalition |
| 2004[c] | 12,433 | 19.9 (#2) | 2.7 (#7) | 4 / 89 | 2 | Coalition |
| 2009 | 11,957 | 23.1 (#1) | 2.6 (#5) | 4 / 89 | 0 | Coalition |
| 2014 | 14,296 | 26.7 (#1) | 3.1 (#7) | 5 / 89 | 1 | Coalition |
| 2019 | 11,051 | 15.8 (#3) | 2.4 (#9) | 3 / 89 | 2 | Coalition |
| 2024 | 8,537 | 10.6 (#4) | 1.7 (#10) | 2 / 89 | 1 | TBA |
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/- | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 761,262 | 20.2 (#2) | 26 / 124 | Opposition | |
| 1999 | 855,867 | 21.7 (#2) | 27 / 124 | 1 | Coalition |
| 2004[c] | 804,578 | 19.8 (#3) | 25 / 124 | 2 | Coalition |
| 2009 | 616,610 | 15.0 (#4) | 21 / 124 | 4 | Opposition |
| 2014 | 594,469 | 14.2 (#3) | 19 / 124 | 2 | Coalition |
| 2019 | 556,630 | 13.1 (#4) | 16 / 124 | 3 | Coalition |
| 2024 | 364,609 | 8.3 (#5) | 9 / 124 | 7 | Opposition |
| Election | Votes | % | Councilors | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 708,769 | 84 / 401 | ||
| 2000 | 909,428 | 106 / 411 | 22 | |
| 2006 | 745,952 | 18.9 | 80 / 411 | 26 |
| 2012 | 595,932 | 14.6 | 54 / 351 | 26 |
| 2018 | 570,601 | 13.7 | 23 / 175 | 31 |
| Election | List leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/- | EP Group | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D.E.C. | Overall | ||||||
| 1994 | Willy De Clercq | 678,421 | 18.36 (#2) | 11.37 | 3 / 25 | New | ELDR |
| 1999 | Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck | 847,099 | 21.88 (#2) | 13.61 | 3 / 25 | 0 | |
| 2004[c] | Guy Verhofstadt | 880,279 | 21.91 (#2) | 13.56 | 3 / 24 | 0 | ALDE |
| 2009 | 837,834 | 20.56 (#2) | 12.75 | 3 / 22 | 0 | ||
| 2014 | 858,872 | 20.40 (#2) | 12.84 | 3 / 21 | 0 | ||
| 2019 | 678,051 | 15.95 (#3) | 10.07 | 2 / 21 | 1 | RE | |
| 2024 | Hilde Vautmans | 410,743 | 9.11 (#4) | 5.76 | 1 / 22 | 1 | |
The party is a member of theLiberal International, which was co-chaired byAnnemie Neyts, member of Open VLD.
Media related toOpen Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten at Wikimedia Commons
Member parties of international liberal organisations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Member parties |
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leadership |
| ||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
