On November 21, 2025, the European Democratic Party (EDP) will meet in Bilbao for its annual congress, at a crucial moment for democracy in Europe and around the world.
Democracy
• • •
Bilbao
• • •
Freedom
• • •
AI
Friday, November 21, 2025
At 1:45 p.m., statutory session; at 4 p.m., session open to the public with final reception
Bilbao Exhibition Centre (BEC), Bilbao, Azkue Kalea 1, San Vicente de Barakaldo, Bizkaia
From Istanbul, where Ekrem İmamoğlu was imprisoned for challenging Erdoğan, to Belgrade, where students are threatened by those in power, to the young digital creators in America and Europe who are fighting against extremism and authoritarian movements, movements defending freedom, rights, and pluralism are growing everywhere. In a word, they are defending democracy.
Defending freedom
The Congress will be dedicated to this dual movement: on the one hand, the new forms of participation and protest discussed in the first panel, and on the other, the need for a new global alliance between democracies, the theme of the second panel, with voices from three continents committed to defending freedom.
The challenges ahead of us
Two keynote speeches will guide the discussion: one by Paolo Benanti on the relationship between artificial intelligence, ethics, and human freedom, and one by Thierry Breton on the need for a more autonomous, sovereign, and courageous Europe capable of facing the industrial and technological challenges of the future.
All European countries
The Congress will be attended by delegations from almost all European countries, including four new parties of the EDP and delegations from three observer parties, reflecting the expansion and deepening roots of the European democratic project. During the public session, Sarah El Haïry and Sandro Gozi will present the EDP's new campaign for a European childhood policy, a concrete commitment to put children and young people at the heart of European democratic priorities.
High-profil political speeches
The proceedings will conclude with three high-profile political speeches: Aitor Esteban, president of the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), Sandro Gozi, secretary general of EDP, and François Bayrou, president of EDP, who will sum up a day dedicated to the defense and relaunch of the European democratic project.
Bilbao will thus be a meeting point between generations and countries: a congress that does not just talk about democracy, but sets it in motion again.
Friday, November 21, 2025
At 1:45 p.m., statutory session; at 4 p.m., session open to the public with final reception
Bilbao Exhibition Centre (BEC), Bilbao, Azkue Kalea 1, San Vicente de Barakaldo, Bizkaia