Liberalism in Belgium

• 1846: Liberals formed the Liberal Party (Parti Libéral)
• 1887: A radical faction seceded as the ⇒ Progressive Party
• 1900: The ⇒ Progressive Party rejoined the party
• The party name gradually included the Dutch version Liberale Partij (LP/PL)
• 1961: The LP/PL is reorganised into Party for Freedom and Progress (Partij voor Vrijheid en Vooruitgang/Parti pour la Liberté et le Progrès) (PVV/PLP)
• 1972: The PVV/PLP fell apart in three parties with the same name in the three state languages (French, Dutch and German)

Progressive Party

• 1887: A radical faction of the ⇒ Liberal Party formed the Progressive Party (Parti Progressiste)
  • 1900: The PP merged into the ⇒ Liberal Party

(Flemish) Party for Freedom and Progress/Flemish Liberals and Democrats

• 1972: The Flemish section of the ⇒ PVV/PLP formed the Party for Freedom and Progress (Partij voor Vrijheid en Vooruitgang)
• 1992: The PVV is reorganised into the
  Flemish Liberals and Democrats
  (Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten or VLD)
• 2007: VLD is regorganised into the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten, or open vld)

(Francophone) Party for Freedom and Progress/Liberal Reformist Party

• 1972: The francophone section of the ⇒ PVV/PLP became the Party for Freedom and Progress (Parti pour la Liberté et le Progrès)
• 1973: The Brussels section of the PLP formed the ⇒ Liberal Party
• 1976: The PLP merged with a faction of the Walloon Rally (Rassemblement Wallon) into the Party for Reforms and Freedom of Wallonia (Parti pour les Réformes et la Liberté de Wallonie)
• 1979: The party merged with the ⇒ Liberal Party into the
  Reformist Liberal Party
  (Parti Réformateur Libéral)
• 2002: The PRL is reorganised into the present-day Reformist Movement (Mouvement Réformateur or MR)

(Brussels) Liberal Party

• 1973: The Brussels section of the ⇒ PLP formed the Liberal Party (Parti Libéral)
• 1979: The Liberal Party merged into the ⇒ Liberal Reform Party

(German speaking) Party for Freedom and Progress

• 1976: The German-speaking section of the ⇒ PLP became the present-day Party for Freedom and Progress (Partei für Freiheit und Fortschritt)
• 2002: The PFF became affiliated to the ⇒ Reformist Movement
• 2023: The PFP is renamed into Perspectives. Freedom. Progress. (Perspektiven. Freiheit. Fortschritt.)

Libertine party during the 1990s

• 1991: ROSSEM was founded around Jean-Pierre Van Rossem.
• 1994: ROSSEM collapsed.
• 1995: A group centered around Roland Duchâtelet splits from ROSSEM and found BANAAN.
• 1995: A group centered around Jan Decorte splits from ROSSEM and found HOERA, which vanishes in the same year.
• 1997: BANAAN merges into Vivant (social-liberalism).
• 2004: Vivant becomes cartel partner of the VLD.
• 2007: Flemish Vivant gets absorbed into ⇒ Open Vld and becomes de facto a German-speaking party.
• 2009: ROSSEM is re-founded under the new full name Party of the Future.
• 2014: ROSSEM is renamed into Anderz.
• 2014: Anderz dissolves.

Right-liberal parties

• Liberal Appeal (2002–2007), cartel partner of the VLD; merged into ⇒ Open Vld.
• Veilig Blauw (Safe Blue), local party, defunct.
• Verstandig Rechts (Smart Right), local party, defunct, led by Willy Vermeulen.
• VLOTT (2006–2012), cartel partner of the Vlaams Belang.
• List Dedecker
  (populist right-liberalism) founded in 2007.
• Libéral Démocrate [fr], local party led by Rudy Aernoudt, cartel partner of the MR.
• People's Party, far-right liberal party (2009–2019), founded by Rudy Aernoudt and Mischaël Modrikamen, merged into ⇒ Chez Nous.
• Liberal Democrats, founded in 2019 in inspiration by New Flemish Alliance.

Other liberal parties formed in the 2000s

• Different Socialist Party
  .

Liberal leaders

• Parti Libéral
  • Charles Rogier
  • Walthère Frère-Orban (1812-1896), wrote the first charter of the liberal party
  • Paul Janson
  • Paul Hymans
  • Paul-Emile Janson
• Mouvement Réformateur
  • Charles Michel
• Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten
  • Guy Verhofstadt

Liberal thinkers

In the

• Dirk Verhofstadt (born 1955)
• Boudewijn Bouckaert

References

• Liberal Archive
• History of Belgium
• Politics of Belgium
• List of political parties in Belgium