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-"). 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 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,ALDE Group in the European Parliament : Home as well as the Electoral Manifestos of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party;European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party Manifestos the forum of Germany's Free Democratic Party, which is relatively unmoderated, and illustrates grassroots liberal concerns. Sites of other Liberal parties, such as Britain's Liberal Democrats, or the Netherlands' Democrats 66, are more heavily moderated and therefore more representative for the policy of liberal parties; the Belgian website/think tank Liberales.be, 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. Liberalism in the European context is distinct from liberalism in the United States. In the United States, people who are called liberals generally advocate for a larger government, some forms of protectionism, and more economic interventionism, 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.
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; however, some consider classical liberals (economic liberals) to also be conservative liberals.R.T. Allen, Beyond Liberalism, p. 2.
European Union European liberalists tend to support the European Union. 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. Some prominent European liberalists, such as Guy Verhofstadt (former Prime Minister of Belgium), Viviane Reading (current Vice-President of the European Commission),Europa – Press Release – Why we need a United States of Europe now and Matteo Renzi (former Prime Minister of Italy), 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.Cracking open the numbers in the same-sex marriage vote , YLE 28 November 2014, accessed 5 November 2014.
Parties
Government CountrySymbolPartiesHead of stateHead of governmentUpper/ Lower houseFoundedLeader/FounderFormer partyEuropean/ International afflictionIdeology/ Political positionOpen Flemish Liberals and Democrats
Flemish
Open Vlaamse Liberalen en DemocratenPrime Minister
Alexander De CrooChamber of Representatives (Lower House)
Senate (Upper House)
Coalition1992 (VLD)
2007 (Open VLD)Leader
Egbert LachaertPreceded by
Party for Freedom and ProgressEuropean
Renew Europe
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE)
International
Liberal International (LI)Ideology
Liberalism (Belgium)
Conservative liberalism
Pro-Europeanism
Political position
Centre-rightReformist Movement
French
Mouvement RéformateurN/AChamber of Representatives (Lower House)
Senate (Upper House)
Coalition21 March 2002Leader
Georges-Louis BouchezPreceded by
Liberal Reformist Party
Citizens' Movement for ChangeEuropean
Renew Europe
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE)
International
Liberal International (LI)Ideology
Liberalism (Belgium)
Pro-Europeanism
Political position
Centre-rightCroatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats (HNS – LD)
Croatian
Hrvatska narodna stranka – Liberalni demokrati (HNS – LD)N/ASabor
Coalition
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 Independents13 October 1990Leader
Predrag Štromar
Founder
Savka Dabčević-KučarPreceded by
Coalition of People's AccordRegional
Liberal South East European Network
European
Renew Europe
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE)Ideology
Social liberalism
Pro-Europeanism
Political positionCentre Party
Finnish
Suomen Keskusta, Kesk
Swedish
Centern i FinlandDeputy Prime Minister
Annika SaarikkoParliamentEuropean ParliamentCoalition
Social Democratic Party
Centre Party
Green League
Left Alliance
Swedish People's Party1906Leader
Annika SaarikkoPreceded by
Annika SaarikkoEuropean
Renew Europe
International
Liberal International (LI)Ideology
Political position
CentreSwedish People's Party of Finland
Swedish
Svenska folkpartiet i Finland
Finnish
Suomen ruotsalainen kansanpuolueN/AParliamentEuropean ParliamentCoalition
Social Democratic Party
Centre Party
Green League
Left Alliance
Swedish People's Party1906Leader
Anna-Maja Henriksson
Founder
Axel Lille
Axel Olof FreudenthalPreceded by
Svecoman movementEuropean
Renew Europe
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE)
International
Liberal International (LI)Ideology
Swedish-speaking minority interests
Liberalism (Finland)
Pro-Europeanism
Political position
CentreLa République En Marche!President
Emmanuel Macron
Prime Minister
Jean CastexNational Assembly (Lower House)
Senate (Upper House)
European Parliament
Coalition
LREM
MoDem
MR
Agir
TDP6 April 2016Leader
Stanislas Guerini
Founder
Emmanuel MacronEuropean
Renew EuropeIdeology
Liberalism (France)
Classical liberalism
Pro-Europeanism
Political position
CentreAgirMinister of Europe and Foreign Affairs
Franck RiesterNational Assembly (Lower House)
Senate (Upper House)
European Parliament
Coalition
LREM
MoDem
MR
Agir
TDP6 April 2016Leader
Franck RiesterEuropean
Renew EuropeIdeology
Conservative liberalism
Christian democracy
Pro-Europeanism
Political position
Centre-rightFree Democratic PartySecretary of the Treasury
Christian LindnerBundestag
State Parliaments
European Parliament
Coalition
SPD
Grüne
FPD6 April 2016Chairman
Christian Lindner
General Secretary
Volker WissingEuropean
Renew EuropeIdeology
Liberalism (Germany)
Classical liberalism
Conservative liberalism
Pro-Europeanism
Political position
Centre to centre-rightGo Italy Italian Forza ItaliaN/AChamber of Deputies (Lower House)
Senate of the Republic (Upper House)
European Parliament16 November 2013Leader
Silvio Berlusconi
Founder
Silvio BerlusconiEuropean
European People's Party (EPP)Ideology
Liberalism (Italy)
Liberal conservatism
Conservative liberalism
Berlusconism
Political position
Centre-rightLiberal Initiative Portuguese Iniciativa LiberalN/AParliament13 December 2017Leader
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)
Notes