Members of Parliament and Party Leaders from member parties and observers of the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD) and members of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR) Group in the European Parliament will convene for a meeting with lawmakers from Korea from 30 October to 1 November 2002 in Seoul, Korea under the leading theme of “Common Challenges for Liberal Parties in Asia and Europe”.

      The meeting is aimed at discussing the particular challenges liberal parties are facing in the light of important upcoming elections in many Asian and European countries. The participants will tackle the recent political, economic and social trends and development in Asia and Europe as well as challenges and opportunities for liberal and democratic parties. A special session will address the current developments on the Korean Peninsula.

      CALD was founded in 1993 in order to encourage common understanding of the basic principles of liberal democracy and to facilitate appropriate responses to problems of common concern or interest in Asia. Today this unique network provides a forum for liberal and democratic parties from countries in South, Southeast and East Asia for sustained discussion of the changing developments occurring in the respective countries and in the region as a whole and assessing the possibilities for liberal solutions in Asian democracies.

      ELDR was founded in 1976 when the democratic parties in the European Community based on liberal principles decided to establish a federation of the liberal and democratic parties in the EC in order to protect and to promote the rights and freedoms of the individual within the region and across. The European liberal family now brings together 49 political parties from the member states of the European Union and candidate countries from Eastern and Southern Europe. The ELDR is the third largest parliamentary group in the European Parliament. In January 2002 Mr. Pat Cox then President of the ELDR Group was elected Speaker of the European Parliament.

      The CALD - ELDR Meeting which will be held this year for the first time in Korea is sponsored by the Friedrich-Naumann-Foundation and the Millennium Democratic Party.