The Institute of European Democrats (IED) - ASBL, is a non-profit association based in Brussels and has been established in September 2007 as an independent Research Institute. The Institute of European Democrats is an innovative European political and cultural Research Institute that offers fresh political ideas as well as a strong and respected cultural background to the European Democratic Party (EDP) to which it is formally affiliated.

As the political foundation formally affiliated to the European Democratic Party (EDP), the Institute of European Democrats is formally recognised and directly funded by the European Parliament through annual grants. Like all political foundations at the European level formally recognised by the European Parliament, the IED was established with the support of the European institutions in order to be a political think tank.