Liberalism in Europe

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Sidebar with collapsible lists Liberalism in Europe is a political movement that supports a broad tradition of individual liberties and constitutionally-limited and democratically accountable government. These European derivatives of classical liberalism are found in centrist movements and parties, as well as some parties on the centre-left and the centre-right.

Most liberalism in Europe is conservative or classical whilst European social liberalism and progressivism is rooted in classical radicalism, a left-wing classical liberal idea. Liberalism in Europe is broadly divided into two groups: "social" (or "left-") and "conservative" (or "right-").<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This differs from the USA's method of dividing liberalism into "modern" (simply liberal) and "classical" (or libertarian, albeit there is some disagreement), although the two groups are very similar to their European counterparts.

Liberal practices

Emmanuel Macron, President of France, is often described as the strongest advocate for liberalism in Europe.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Liberal political parties have specific policies, which the social scientist can either read from party manifestos, or infer from actual actions and laws passed by ostensibly liberal parties. The sources listed below serve to illustrate some of the current liberal attitudes in Europe:

• the policies of liberal parties in government, including those in coalition arrangements (taking into mind that coalition partners make compromises), since they show what liberals are prepared to accept, as well as the policies of liberal parties in opposition;
• the positions of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe faction in the European Parliament,<ref>ALDE Group in the European Parliament : HomeTemplate:Dead link</ref> as well as the Electoral Manifestos of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party;<ref>European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party Manifestos</ref>
• the forum of Germany's Free Democratic Party,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> which is relatively unmoderated, and illustrates grassroots liberal concerns. Sites of other Liberal parties, such as Britain's Liberal Democrats,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> or the Netherlands' Democrats 66,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> are more heavily moderated and therefore more representative for the policy of liberal parties;

• the Belgian website/think tank Liberales.be,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> which has longer essays on new liberal policies;

• the views and policies of the Open Society Institute, since they explicitly claim to derive from the principles of the major liberal philosopher Karl Popper;
• the Lisbon Strategy of the European Union, since it is strongly supported by the liberal parties, and sets out a vision of a future Europe.

Additionally, liberal value preferences can be inferred from the liberalisation programmes and policies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The liberalism visible in these sources emphasizes in comparison with other ideologies more belief in individual development as a motor for society and the state providing a social safety net. The liberal policies differ from country to country and from party to party.

Ideology

European liberalism is largely divided into classical (in practical terms, liberalism as it is applied to the economy), social, and conservative.<ref name="Close2019"/> Liberalism in the European context is distinct from liberalism in the United States.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> In the United States, people who are called liberals generally advocate for a larger government, some forms of protectionism, and more economic interventionism,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and are sometimes also called social democrats, or even leftists. In contrast, European liberals usually favor limited government, free trade, and adhere to economic liberalism.<ref name=":0" />

In the context of European politics, a liberal (when the word is used without a modifier) is generally understood to refer to a classical liberal, who may be either centre-left or centre-right. As a result, a European classical liberal usually refers to a centre-right person with prominent economically liberal tendencies; Germany's Free Democratic Party, for example, follows classical liberalism in this sense. Under one interpretation, a European mainstream conservative liberal (a proponent of ordoliberalism or Christian democracy) usually has weaker economically liberal tendencies than a social liberal;<ref name="Close2019" /> however, some consider classical liberals (economic liberals) to also be conservative liberals.<ref>R.T. Allen, Beyond Liberalism, p. 2.</ref><ref name="Hayek">Template:Cite book</ref>

European Union

European liberalists tend to support the European Union.<ref name=":6">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="expat2" /><ref name="Program" /><ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Edwards2">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite encyclopediaTemplate:Dead link</ref> One example is Emmanuel Macron, the incumbent president of France, who campaigned against Marine Le Pen, a candidate from the far-right, nationalist, and Eurosceptic party known as the National Rally.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Some prominent European liberalists, such as Guy Verhofstadt (former Prime Minister of Belgium),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Viviane Reading (current Vice-President of the European Commission),<ref>Europa – Press Release – Why we need a United States of Europe now</ref> and Matteo Renzi (former Prime Minister of Italy),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> are proponents of a future federalisation of the European Union.

Social issues

Among European liberals, classical liberals and social liberals support cultural liberalism, for example LGBT rights issues including same-sex marriage, legalization of some drugs, opening immigration, etc., while most conservative liberals, including ordoliberals, Christian democrats, and some agrarians, take a moderate-to-conservative stance on cultural issues. For example, Finland's Centre Party, a Nordic agrarian party, follows conservative liberalism in this sense.<ref name="Kaleva.fi">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Cracking open the numbers in the same-sex marriage vote Template:Webarchive, YLE 28 November 2014, accessed 5 November 2014.</ref>

Parties

Government

Country	Symbol	Parties	Head of state Head of government	Upper/ Lower house	Founded	Leader/Founder	Former party	European/ International affliction	Ideology/ Political position
Template:Flag		Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats Flemish Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten	Prime Minister Alexander De Croo	Chamber of Representatives (Lower House) Template:Composition barSenate (Upper House) Coalition	1992 (VLD) 2007 (Open VLD)	Leader Egbert Lachaert	Preceded by Party for Freedom and Progress	European Renew Europe Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) International Liberal International (LI)	Ideology Liberalism (Belgium)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Liberal parties and elections">Template:Cite book</ref> Conservative liberalism<ref name="Slomp, Hans, 1945–2011">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Starke, Peter, 1977–2013">Template:Cite book</ref> Pro-Europeanism<ref name=":6" /> Political position Centre-right<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
		Reformist Movement French Mouvement Réformateur	N/A	Chamber of Representatives (Lower House) Template:Composition barSenate (Upper House) Coalition	21 March 2002	Leader Georges-Louis Bouchez	Preceded by Liberal Reformist Party Citizens' Movement for Change	European Renew Europe Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) International Liberal International (LI)	Ideology Liberalism (Belgium)<ref name="Liberal parties and elections"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Pro-Europeanism Political position Centre-right<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Template:Flag		Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats (HNS – LD) Croatian Hrvatska narodna stranka – Liberalni demokrati (HNS – LD)	N/A	Sabor Template:Composition barCoalition Croatian Democratic Union Independent Democratic Serb Party with support from HSLS, HDS, HDSSB, HNS, Reformists, Democratic Union of Hungarians, Kali Sara, Union of Albanians and Independents	13 October 1990	Leader Predrag Štromar Founder Savka Dabčević-Kučar	Preceded by Coalition of People's Accord	Regional Liberal South East European Network European Renew Europe Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE)	Ideology Social liberalism<ref name="Close2">Template:Cite book</ref> Pro-Europeanism<ref name="expat2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> Political position
Template:Flag		Centre Party Finnish Suomen Keskusta, Kesk Swedish Centern i Finland	Deputy Prime Minister Annika Saarikko	ParliamentTemplate:Composition barEuropean ParliamentTemplate:Composition barCoalition Social Democratic Party Centre Party Green League Left Alliance Swedish People's Party	1906	Leader Annika Saarikko	Preceded by Annika Saarikko	European Renew Europe International Liberal International (LI)	Ideology Political position Centre<ref name="Nordsieck 2015" /><ref name="Colomer2008">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Nordlund2007">Template:Cite book</ref>
		Swedish People's Party of Finland Swedish Svenska folkpartiet i Finland Finnish Suomen ruotsalainen kansanpuolue	N/A	ParliamentTemplate:Composition barEuropean ParliamentTemplate:Composition barCoalition Social Democratic Party Centre Party Green League Left Alliance Swedish People's Party	1906	Leader Anna-Maja Henriksson Founder Axel Lille Axel Olof Freudenthal	Preceded by Svecoman movement	European Renew Europe Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) International Liberal International (LI)	Ideology Swedish-speaking minority interests<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> Liberalism (Finland)<ref name="Bergqvist1999">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Pro-Europeanism<ref name="Program">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> Political position Centre<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Template:Flag		La République En Marche!	President Emmanuel Macron Prime Minister Jean Castex	National Assembly (Lower House) Senate (Upper House) Template:Composition barEuropean Parliament Template:Composition barCoalition LREM MoDem MR Agir TDP	6 April 2016	Leader Stanislas Guerini Founder Emmanuel Macron		European Renew Europe	Ideology Liberalism (France) Classical liberalism Pro-Europeanism Political position Centre
		Agir	Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Franck Riester	National Assembly (Lower House) Senate (Upper House) Template:Composition barEuropean Parliament Template:Composition barCoalition LREM MoDem MR Agir TDP	6 April 2016	Leader Franck Riester		European Renew Europe	Ideology Conservative liberalism Christian democracy Pro-Europeanism Political position Centre-right<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flag		Free Democratic Party	Secretary of the Treasury Christian Lindner	Bundestag State Parliaments European Parliament Coalition SPD Grüne FPD	6 April 2016	Chairman Christian Lindner General Secretary Volker Wissing		European Renew Europe	Ideology Liberalism (Germany) Classical liberalism Conservative liberalism<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Pro-Europeanism Political position Centre to centre-right
Template:Flag		Go Italy Italian Forza Italia	N/A	Chamber of Deputies (Lower House) Senate of the Republic (Upper House) European Parliament	16 November 2013	Leader Silvio Berlusconi Founder Silvio Berlusconi		European European People's Party (EPP)	Ideology Liberalism (Italy) Liberal conservatism Conservative liberalism<ref name="Blome2016">Template:Cite book</ref> Berlusconism Political position Centre-right
Template:Flag		Liberal Initiative Portuguese Iniciativa Liberal	N/A	Parliament	13 December 2017	Leader João Cotrim de Figueiredo Founder Alexandre Krauss Bruno Horta Soares Rodrigo Dias Saraiva (and others)		European Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE)	Ideology Liberalism (Portugal) Classical liberalism Right-libertarianism Pro-Europeanism Political position Centre-right

See also

• Liberalism by country for discussion of individual states of Europe
• Classical liberalism (mainly economic liberalism)
• Conservative liberalism (right-liberalism)
  • Liberal conservatism
• Social liberalism (left-liberalism)
  • Liberal socialism
• Libertarianism
• Ordoliberalism
• Radicalism (historical)