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 <!-- :Category:Centrist parties in Europe -->[[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
thumb|[[Emmanuel Macron, President of France, is often described as the strongest advocate for liberalism in Europe.]]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, as well as the Electoral Manifestos of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party;
- 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. 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.
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), 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.
Parties
Government
{| class="wikitable"
!Country
!Symbol
!Parties
!Head of state<br/>Head of government
!Upper/ Lower house
!Founded
!Leader/Founder
!Former party
!European/ International affliction
!Ideology/ Political position
|-
| rowspan="2" |
|150px
|
Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats
Flemish
Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten
|Prime Minister
Alexander De Croo
|Chamber of Representatives (Lower House)
Senate (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)
Conservative liberalism
Pro-Europeanism
|-
|150px
|Reformist Movement
French
Mouvement Réformateur
|N/A
|
Chamber of Representatives (Lower House)
Senate (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
<!-- MR is more social liberal than Open Vld, but there is also a conservative liberal tendency. Social liberalism and conservative liberalism are contradictory ideologies. Don't add a Conservative liberalism and Social liberalism -->Liberalism (Belgium)
Pro-Europeanism
Political position
Centre-right
|-
|
|150px
|Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats (HNS – LD)
Croatian
Hrvatska narodna stranka – Liberalni demokrati (HNS – LD)
|N/A
|Sabor
Coalition
Croatian Democratic Union
Independent Democratic Serb Party
<small>with support from HSLS, HDS, HDSSB, HNS, Reformists, Democratic Union of Hungarians, Kali Sara, Union of Albanians and Independents</small>
|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
Pro-Europeanism
Political position
|-
| rowspan="2" |
|
|Centre Party
Finnish
Suomen Keskusta, Kesk
Swedish
Centern i Finland
|Deputy Prime Minister
Annika Saarikko
|ParliamentEuropean ParliamentCoalition
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
|-
|
|Swedish People's Party of Finland
Swedish
Svenska folkpartiet i Finland
Finnish
Suomen ruotsalainen kansanpuolue
|N/A
|ParliamentEuropean ParliamentCoalition
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
Liberalism (Finland)
Pro-Europeanism
Political position
Centre
|-
| rowspan="2" |
|150px
|La République En Marche!
|President
Emmanuel Macron
Prime Minister
Jean Castex
|National Assembly (Lower House)
Senate (Upper House)
European Parliament
Coalition
LREM
MoDem
MR
Agir
TDP
|6 April 2016
|Leader
Stanislas Guerini
Founder
Emmanuel Macron
|
|European
Renew Europe
|Ideology
Liberalism (France)
<!-- LREM is also evaluated as Economic liberalism or Social liberalism, but do not describe it here because the two ideologies contradict each other.-->Classical liberalism
Pro-Europeanism
Political position
Centre
|-
|150px
|Agir
|Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs
Franck Riester
|National Assembly (Lower House)
Senate (Upper House)
European Parliament
Coalition
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
|-
|
|150px
|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
Pro-Europeanism
Political position
Centre to centre-right
|-
|
|150px
|Go Italy
Italian <br>
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
Berlusconism
Political position
Centre-right
|-
|
|150px
|Liberal Initiative
Portuguese <br>
Iniciativa Liberal
|N/A
|Parliament
|13 December 2017
|Leader
João Cotrim de Figueiredo
Founder
Alexandre Krauss <br> Bruno Horta Soares <br> Rodrigo Dias Saraiva
<small>(and others)</small>
|
|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)