Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
LIBERTAS
New Libertas is a publication of European Liberal Youth Issue no.9, year 2010.
Liberal economy
Too much intervention is deregulation
Igor Caldeira
Alexander Plahr
Chief editor
Slaven Klobučar
Managing editor and art direction
Majda Zeherović
Editor
Issue no. 9
Vedrana Gujić
Editor
Liberal economy
An economic government for Europe, really? Lilliputian banks not the solution
Article by Aloys Rigaut, President of LYMEC Article by Sophie in ‘t Veld, leader D66 European Parliament Group and
Ivo Thijssen, Jonge Democraten financial economist
‘’What would an EU “We are presenting ourselves as an economic look at the credibility of national economic ‘’The members of Smaller banks // It has recently been mooted that Thus, the quality of the European banking sector
economic government government of 27 countries” recently said Angela policies. In other terms: if a country follows a bad the Economic and fifteen banks in Europe are too big to be saved by is not determined by the service and profitability
mean anyway in Merkel, after a European Council informal economic policy (overspending), this will affect Financial Affairs Council their national governments, but also too big too which exist today, but the borders of the past.
practice? Since we don’t meeting aimed at discussing the Greek public its public finances, which will eventually have (ECOFIN) were very fail. According to many, including Mervyn King,
even have a European finances wreckage. A U-turn, some commentators spillover effects for the whole Eurozone through pleased with the EU governor of the Bank of England, the solution is Risky business // The current patchwork system
government, it is a financial supervision to create smaller banks. We believe that the size should be replaced by a single European regulator,
said, but in fact not really. True, the new president money market speculation and interest rates.
somewhat difficult to deal. Sophie in ‘t Veld of a bank in Europe should be determined by the
of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, Fair enough, but what is the alternative? Having which is free to use the necessary tools, and do so
conceptualize…“ and Ivo Thijssen beg to
had called prior to that meeting for an “economic the EU imposing decisions on Member States as quality it offers to consumers and shareholders, free from political interference. Risk taking is part
differ.“
government”. But on the other hand, he underlined regards key economic decisions such as structural not by national borders. of any business and banks should be able to fail.
that “whether it is called coordination of policies reforms? We saw the results with Greece: the To avoid presenting the cheque to the taxpayers
or economic government” does not matter, what FOA, a Danish trade union which represents most Lilliputians and Gulliver // The European every time that happens, losses should primarily
matters is that delivers a “common strategy of the country’s public sector workers, warned common Market has led to a tremendous growth be borne by the shareholders and creditors. This
for more growth and jobs” - understand the that the European Commission’s demands for in the banking sector. Conversely, its supervisory has to be accompanied by a stronger position of
famous EU2020 strategy. And in the end Angela pay-cuts could force them to recommend a no- bodies and their instruments have not been kept shareholders across Europe.
Merkel probably did not mean anything else. vote in a future referendum on euro membership. in line with these European developments, and
What would an EU economic government mean EU citizens would simply not accept having have remained national. It is a bit like Gulliver Taboos // Moreover, the national savings
anyway in practice? Since we don’t even have a “Brussels” imposing decisions on them on such being constrained by the Lilliputians. As a result guarantees are outdated. Iceland’s experience has
European government, it is a somewhat difficult issues as welfare benefits or taxation, and who of their international operations, the fifteen banks, shown that these are inadequate in the settlement
to conceptualize… An EU economic government could blame them? This goes against subsidiarity. such as Santander (Spain), Barclays (UK) and of cross-border insolvencies. A European
should indeed normally mean a government with So what is this fuss all about? “Businesses need ING (Netherlands), have larger assets than their guarantee scheme must be paid for by the market
democratically elected ministers taking decisions a stable legal and macro economic framework in national home economies. Consequently, their itself and the fees must be risk-based e.g. based
for the whole of the EU economy. But since there which to thrive and invest. A single market and a national governments will not be able to bail them on the solvency level of the bank. These measures
is no such EU government and since we only have single currency inevitably require some common out should one of these banking giants collapse. would ensure a financial sector with more self
a European Commission nominated by Member approaches to broader macro-economic policy There are two solutions: creating smaller banks or criticism, which is forced to build larger capital
States, we are already drifting away from that. But planning” recently commented ALDE leader Guy switching from national supervision and toolkits buffers. In the event that we do need to save a
anyhow, what kind of economic decisions are we Verhofstadt, regretting that the so-called ‘open to a European approach. Dutch Labour Party bank because its collapse threatens to spill over
talking about? method of coordination’ reduces the role of the leader Wouter Bos, Deputy Prime Minister and to the European financial system, it will be up to
EU “from an economic locomotive to a quasi think Minister of Finance, chooses the Lilliputian banks, the European regulator to split the bill over the
Economic policy refers to the actions that tank that compares one Member State economy he believes banks should shrink to a size that is still European continent. The taboo on a European
governments take in the economic field. Of course with another”, just like the OECD. And here is the manageable for national governments. While this rescue fund or mechanism needs to be lifted
one immediately thinks about fiscal policy (taxes, dilemma: how to give more credibility to the euro means less risk, it would also mean diminishing urgently. There are no more national players in
social welfare, etc.), but public investments and and its public finances foundations, i.e. more teeth economic benefits. a common European market, why should saving
economic regulation are obviously also part of in the end to the Stability and Growth Pact, but them be a national competence?
economic policy, and in that latter sense, we without having the EU dictating national fiscal A European approach // Even Eurosceptics admit
already have an EU economic government, policy decisions and in the end being the scapegoat that one of the biggest advantages of European European ambitions //Although finance ministers
looking at Internal Market regulations or at trans- for painful decisions? The path is narrow but not integration is the common market. We have all all across Europe expressed their satisfaction
European infrastructures (TEN) investment plans. impossible: more controls through regular audits gained from the European banking giants one with the weak agreement on European financial
Yes, the real hidden agenda is therefore about a of national public finances, better surveillance of way or another. Additionally, in a united Europe, supervision, they will have to step up their
common EU fiscal policy: constraining national major macroeconomic imbalances at EU level, and it is absurd to base the maximum size of banks by European ambitions to continue benefiting from
public finances through a binding framework, the use of sweeteners such as added cohesion and national borders. Isn’t it strange that ING is now the common financial market. Lilliputian banks
coordinating national taxation and welfare research funding for high-performing Member too large for the Netherlands, but could simply are cute and safe, but provide no more than
policies. The next question is obviously: do we States. Does that make it a European economic continue in Germany? This system leads to less Lilliputian prosperity. You can bank on that.
really need that? Some will say that we cannot government? No, just some nice little fine-tuning. competition because a mediocre bank from a Europe is better off with a strong a competitive
avoid it. We have a common monetary policy Again a big empty package, but this time we large country like France will absorb banks from financial sector and a strong system of European
and the Euro will suffer if we don’t take a closer cannot complain. smaller member states. supervision.
managers) may suffer severe losses. That is good. path, by the next financial crisis we will still be win, the others will
That is how markets regulate themselves. Those paying the debts of the present one. loose. “
are its checks and balances.
‘’There are many reasons With the new financial crisis many voices were arrangement within companies, one of the capi-
for State intervention, heard: it is now! This is the final proof that capi- talist’s worse enemies. I will not develop Gal-
natural monopolies, talism is wrong, that capitalism is ill and that, braith’s argument, but I would like to discuss
externalities, etc. In the shortly, capitalism will be dead. Marx was right! a problem that Hayek considered vital: “the
financial market, such Such enthusiasm should be a little bit refrained. apathy and lack of influence of the stockholder
rationales find very dif-
As the Marxist or post-marxist authors belong- is largely the result of an in stitutional set-up
ficult grounds. So why
ing to the French théorie de la régulation know which we have come to regard as the obvious
should we ask for State
intervention?“ only too well, the success of capitalism has been or only possible one” (part IV of the article “The
the ability to answer all of its crisis and thus sur- Corporation in a Democratic Society”).
vive. Something that socialism was, not surpris-
ingly, unable to do. Simultaneously, and that is Instead of blaming the market for financial cri-
true, when there is a crisis, something must have sis, what people should be thinking is if the mar-
gone wrong. ket is really working. Can a market work if no
consequences follow a misdeed? Can anything,
The common answer to this is that the markets for that matter, work? What interventionists are
were too deregulated. Banks could do whatever saying is that companies, managers and inves-
they wanted because there is no really work- tors have been acting in a socially irresponsible
ing supervising institutions. At the same time, way. And so, we must pay for their actions. I
a broad catch-all coalition says that now that the find this quite surprising. Does throwing mon-
deed is done, we must fix it – meaning, the State, ey into a fire put it away, or fuel it? In the end,
meaning, taxpayers – must either nationalize blaming liberalism for such a spiral of economic
banks (Northern Rock, Fortis, etc.) or lend im- irresponsibility and public debt is even more
mense sums of money that will in any case have surprising. After all, liberalism stands, on eco-
dramatic consequences on governmental (more nomical grounds, first of all for a well function-
and more deficitary) budgets. ing market.
This presents two very problematic issues. One There are many reasons for State intervention,
is a quite obvious one. More expenditure, more natural monopolies, externalities, etc. In the fi-
deficit – and of course, future generations will nancial market, such rationales find very diffi-
have to pay for the present folly. It is the other cult grounds. So why should we ask for State
one I would like to approach. Both common intervention? We are not facing a market-absent
citizens and politicians, in times like these, need environment. We have multiple players; compe- In some European countries there are no liberal youth organisations that could provide
scapegoats. They did not find strange for many tition can in fact be rather violent in it (good for young liberally minded people the access to LYMEC. Also, some European idealists also
years that companies could have ever-increas- the consumer!). Instead of thinking what more
ing results in stockmarkets independently from can the State do to regulate financial markets, would like to work directly on the level of European politics even if they are already
long-term value creation, nor did they avoid in- we should be asking ourselves if State interven- members of their national liberal youth organisations. To those people the Individual
vesting in financial products with suspiciously tion is not deregulating markets. Surprisingly
high return rates. it may seem for some statist minds, markets do Members’ Section (IMS) is a great opportunity to get direct access to LYMEC and its events.
have rules.
In the end, the fault belongs to “neoliberals”,
always allied with the greedy managers. Nev- When a company is not good enough to stay in Individual members, together with the Member organizations form the backbone of liberal
ertheless, going back to authors such as Hayek the market, it dies.Good managers and good in-
or Friedman, I find nothing that can support vestors, without the ever-present taxpayer prize
youth politics in Europe. They elect their delegates to the congress via an online election
such connection between liberalism and what for incompetence, will win, the others will loose. in advance to the congress. All individual members that have paid their membership fee
Galbraith, in The New Industrial State called the After making errors, people tend to learn and so
“technostructure”. As this economist tells us, the to improve their future performance. They will can vote at this election of the IMS-delegates to the LYMEC congress. The amount of IMS-
manager is in fact, in our contemporary power certainly be more cautious. delegates depends on the membership figures of the IMS.
06 issue no.9 year 2010.
Europe & Croatia The potential of Croatia being a possible South crimes, which have increased intensively during “Prime Minister dr. Ivo
Eastern tiger, and joining the European Union the postwar years most notably during the priva- Sanader and his failure
is huge, even though it economically ranks as a tization of former state property. Of which severe to return to govern-
“mostly un free” country. Measures are being consequences we feel today. The past, which has ment and rule from
taken to eliminate unresolved causes for this low restricted the country from moving forward, has the shadow, Croatia
ranking such as freedom of work, corruption and now been transformed into a battle for a better is again on track to
fighting corruption and
the protection of ownership rights. Today in Cro- future for Croatia and its citizens. I sincerely be-
dominance of a few
atia, we are facing tough days. Since the resigna- lieve that in today’s Europe there is no place for powerful individuals. “
tion of Croatia’s former prejudice and hypocrisy of accepting differences,
Marijana Milić
Germany is participating in the stabilization of ment envisaged in the Lisbon Treaty provides the
the end but, rather, the
Afghanistan and many other peace missions on option of moving ahead together with individual
beginning.. “
the basis of a UN mandate. The UN can only be EU member states in order to further develop Eu-
as strong as its member states allow it to be. For rope’s vision. The EU Common Security and De-
us, however, it provides an essential, overarching fence Policy project will act as a motor for greater
framework for international security. Germany re- European integration. We want strong European
mains just as committed to the ideals of the UN as crisis management. This is not intended to replace
it does to providing concrete support in mastering other security structures. More Europe is not a
the challenges named by the Secretary-General. strategy directed against anyone. No one has any
reason to fear Europe, but everyone should be
EU needs a common army to become able to depend on Europe.The Common Security
a global player and Defence Policy is Europe’s answer to global-
ization. It is our contribution to the Euro-Atlantic
European integration was the lesson we learned security partnership.
Call for an European Army from the catastrophe brought on us by national-
ism, from the self-destruction of our continent NATO, too, is searching for new answers to glo-
Article by Dr. Guido Westerwelle, German Foreign Minister
which Germany caused. We helped to shape this balization. We support its work on a new Strate-
cooperation model, and it has shaped us. How- gic Concept that views security within a compre-
ever, its success is not a given. When it comes to hensive political context. This will also bolster the
‘’Wherever problems The world in which we formulate our policies is for German policy for decades because they are Europe, many talk about the cost. We should talk Euro-Atlantic security partnership.
become more global, marked by globalization. Globalization is a fact. more than clubs whose members have similar more about what it is worth to us. United Europe
responsibility also has to It is not something we can ignore or opt out of. interests. First and foremost, the EU and NATO will only be secure if my generation, which has Peace policy
be spread more globally. We still tend to focus on the economic aspects of are alliances based on values. never experienced war, suffering or hunger, is
This is the only way to this globalization. That’s half the truth at best. strongly committed to European integration. And Today the uncontrolled proliferation of nuclear
prevent the intercon- my generation has a chance to extend this cooper- weapons is probably the most serious threat to our
Values and knowledge are globalizing. Insights The transatlantic friendship and partnership
nectedness which has
and views. Lifestyles are globalizing, and cer- are part of the firm ground on which we stand. ation model far beyond Western Europe, perhaps security. The signing of the nuclear Non-Prolifera-
evolved due to globaliza-
tion from becoming a tainly not always to our own liking. For often We have created an area of shared fundamental even to the whole of the European continent. tion Treaty in the 1960s was an act that aimed
threat to our security. “ enough, this process also entails cultural losses. values across the Atlantic. What unites us is the
special importance we attach to the freedom of
The balance in international politics is shifting. the individual.
That has happened time and again in history.
However, it has never happened before at such Germany’s commitment to the universality of
speed. human rights is part of this. However, this is not
a policy of moral admonition. The principle of
Globalization is thus also altering the frame- the inviolability of human dignity enshrined in
work for our national and international security. our Basic Law is proof that we’ve learned the
Many people in this country are perhaps not lessons of our own history. Protecting human
quite sure where to find Afghanistan or Yemen dignity is the duty of all state authority. Persist-
on a map. However, developments there have a ing in our efforts to promote it and championing
direct impact on us. Responsible foreign policy it all over the world is and will remain an obli-
must address these conflicts. gation of Germany’s foreign policy.
Wherever problems become more global, re- I consider the development of new partnerships
sponsibility also has to be spread more globally. based on our solid foundation of values to be
This is the only way to prevent the intercon- the key to a successful foreign and security pol-
nectedness which has evolved due to globaliza- icy in the age of globalization.
tion from becoming a threat to our security. We
therefore have to find common answers to the I’m delighted that my colleague Yang Jiechi
risks created by the proliferation of weapons of came to Munich yesterday, thus becoming the
mass destruction, to radical, fundamental ideol- first ever Chinese Foreign Minister to attend this
ogies, to terrorism, fanaticism and failing states. Conference. And I’m also pleased to have my
colleague Sergey Lavrov next to me today. The
Globalization makes these problems both more strategic partnership with Russia is not only one The Lisbon Treaty opened a new chapter. The Eu- at more than just codifying the status quo. Today
visible and more difficult to comprehend. A of the keys to European security but also vital ropean Union has become more democratic and it still contains a reciprocal promise: the commit-
clear compass as well as jointly agreed and bind- for resolving global problems. We want this parliamentary. Lisbon is not the end but, rather, ment to non-proliferation, matched by the nuclear
ing rules are therefore more necessary than ever partnership and we want to develop it further the beginning. powers’ commitment to disarmament. One com-
for a far sighted foreign and security policy. I’d in those areas where we have common interests. mitment aims to prevent the proliferation of the
like to comment on three aspects of Germany’s This includes a substantive discussion on the For instance, the Treaty outlines a common secu- capability to produce nuclear weapons, the other
compass. proposals on European security put forward by rity and defence policy. The German Government aims to reduce existing arsenals of these weapons.
President Medvedev. wants to advance along this path. The long-term
Foreign policy based on values goal is the establishment of a European army That is why the controversy over the Iranian
With other emerging powers such as Brazil, In- under full parliamentary control. The European nuclear programme is not just a regional matter,
This is evident from the institutional foundation dia or South Africa, we are linked by common Union must live up to its political role as a global but rather an issue with global repercussions.
of Germany’s foreign and security policy. The interests and challenges, from which we have to player. It must be able to manage crises indepen- Iran has a treaty-based right to the peaceful use of
European Union and the North Atlantic Alli- forge stable partnerships. In London last week, dently. It must be able to respond quickly, flexibly nuclear energy. The E3+3 group has even offered
ance have provided such a reliable foundation we reached agreement with the Gulf States on and to take a united stand. Iran extensive support in this field if, in return, it
Balkan stars
purpose. That is why,
actions. An agreement with the International nuclear weapons, about “global zero”, must
through talks with our
Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna on the issue also take conventional arms control and dis-
partners and allies, we,
the German Government, of the Tehran Research Reactor would be a con- armament into account. We will actively work
fidence building step. to prevent an erosion of the Treaty on conven-
Vedrana Gujić
are working to create
the conditions for their tional armed forces in Europe (CFE Treaty). For
removal. “ It would not be a substitute, however, for ne- nuclear and conventional disarmament must go
gotiations to ensure the civilian character of hand in hand.
the Iranian nuclear program. A nuclear armed
Iran is unacceptable for us. Such a development Vision for the future
could lead to the destabilization of the entire re-
gion and to a potentially fatal impairment of the Many people may regard the vision of a world
non-proliferation regime. without nuclear weapons as naïve. But it is in-
sistence on the status quo and overlooking the
The other side of the coin is reducing existing new risks that it produces that is irresponsible
arsenals of nuclear weapons. We therefore sup-
port the current US-Russian negotiations on
– not disarmament. Of course disarmament will
not happen overnight, but why shouldn’t it be
The rising stars of the Western Balkans
strategic arms reduction. Success on this issue possible?
Article by Vedrana Gujić, HNS Croatia
will also have a positive effect on the upcoming
review of the Non-Proliferation Treaty in May. I was born in 1961. At that time, the Wall was
being built right through the centre of Berlin ‘’The membership Looking back on what we’ve done in 2009, agreement has not yet been ratified, due to
Disarmament is not an unrealistic dream; in and Germany. Some people had long given up applications of there is nothing much to be proud at. It was the Dutch veto bound by Serbian inability to arrest
the context of globalization it is a necessity. Just all hope of reunification. Montenegro, Albania peak of economic crisis, recession and political refugee general Mladić, Serbian self-determi-
a few days ago, we had a discussion in Berlin and Serbia, taking turmoil. The EU was in a period of transition nation to take a path in a direction of a full EU
with Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Helmut Schmidt, And yet before I turned 30, the determination of place in a politically from one mandate of the European parliament membership should be preserved as a positive
Richard von Weizsäcker – unfortunately Egon millions of people to achieve freedom brought sensible year for the EU, and Commission to another, from one Treaty signal. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo,
Bahr was not able to attend due to illness – and the Wall tumbling down. Visions are not policy, proved there is still high to a new Lisbon Treaty, finally in force. While even though the furthest from the full member-
their American counterparts Henry Kissinger, but it is impossible to shape policy without vi- attractiveness of the we were busy saving our economies and nego- ship, also enjoy the European perspective. Bos-
integration concept and nia and Herzegovina urgently needs to speed
Sam Nunn, William Perry and George Shultz on sion. tiating the names of our future leaders, almost
highly expected positive
how, as a next step, not only the number, but unnoticed alterations happened in our neigh- up key reforms and determine its constitutional
effects of the integration
also the military importance of nuclear weapons We find ourselves at the start of a new decade. on the new applicants.” bourhood. Just a glance at current enlargement settlement to meet the conditions for applicant
could be reduced. With this, we hope to open The German Government will do all it can to en- map shows that the Western Balkans made a status, whilst Kosovo is still challenged by po-
the window of opportunity even wider. sure that it becomes a decade of disarmament. shy, but important step towards EU. In the very litical and security instabilities and lack of rec-
same year of 2009, the majority of the countries ognition of its status by several member states.
of the Western Balkans filed applications for the While Croatian accession negotiations are final-
EU membership. Montenegro was the first one, ly entering its final phase, enabled by the finali-
applying in December 2008. It was followed by sation of bilateral agreement with neighbouring
Albanian application in April 2009, while Serbia Slovenia on the handling of the border issue, we
did the same at the end of the Swedish presi- can soon expect the opening of Macedonian ac-
dency in late December. Three important appli- cession negotiation, due to recent positive rec-
cations immediately changed the colour of the ommendation by the Commission to start the
“black hole” of Europe. With Croatia and Mace- negotiation talks with Skopje. However, the
donia already holding the status of candidate name dispute is still a big diplomatic obstacle
countries and Montenegro, Albania and Serbia in front of Macedonian EU and NATO member-
as applicants, the future of the Western Balkans ship. Following the membership applications of
looks much brighter. the Western Balkan’s countries, the EU recipro-
cally decided to open its doors for their citizens
The membership applications of Montenegro, from 1.1.2010. The barriers for Macedonia, Mon-
Albania and Serbia, taking place in a politically tenegro and Serbia are lifted from the beginning
sensible year for the EU, proved there is still of 2010, while the Commission will table pro-
high attractiveness of the integration concept posals for Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina
and highly expected positive effects of the inte- by mid-2010, provided these countries meet the
gration on the new applicants. Montenegro ap- necessary conditions. Visa liberalisation for the
plied for EU membership in December 2008 and Western Balkans is a major step forward for the
the Commission is currently preparing an Opin- region and an additional encouragement for
ion as requested by the Council. Albania filed the countries to intensify their efforts to reach
At the political level, we also aim to achieve a an application in April, but the Commission’s the EU criteria. Latest positive developments in
“peace dividend” for Germany in the context Opinion will be drafted following the stabilisa- the Western Balkans are a success story for both
of such a strategy. The last remaining nuclear tion of political situation in the country. Main the EU and the region. The applying countries
weapons in Germany are a relic of the Cold War. challenges ahead of both countries are con- formed a group for the next big South-eastern
They no longer serve a military purpose. That is solidation of the rule of law, stabilisation of the enlargement and have clearly set their reform
why, through talks with our partners and allies, state institutions (especially judiciary) and fight paths towards meeting the European standards.
we, the German Government, are working to Shortened speech by Federal Minister Dr. Guido against corruption. Serbia has clearly demon- On the other side, the EU revived its attractive-
create the conditions for their removal. As part Westerwelle at the 46th Munich Conference on Se- strated its intention to move closer to the EU by ness and enforced its role of a drive of a change
of this process, we also want to discuss confi- curity Policy 06.02.2010. Courtesy of Auswärtiges applying for its membership in December 2009. and progress in its neighbourhood. The EU is
dence building measures with Russia as well as Amt – Federal Foreign Office of Germany. Title and Even though the Stabilisation and Association still the universe our Balkan stars are striving at.
a reduction of its weapons. subtitles by the editors.
‘’Over the years we have The main objective of Young Liberals is together LYMEC. For the past few years we were able to
organised a series of ac- with its partners to be strongly involved in cre- strenghten our relations with the domestic and
tivities and commented ating liberal thinking and a long liberal tradition foreign youth organisations, increase the num-
on social and political in Slovakia. Young Liberals were born in spring ber of our members and supporters and estab-
developments in Slova- 2002, that time as the Liberal Youth of Slovakia. lish a cooperation with the new political party
kia. Last year we and our
In 2006 we transformed into its current form of Freedom and Solidarity (Sloboda a Solidarita
foreign colleagues have
organisation with more than 200 member net- – SaS).
organised an interna-
tional workshop on Civil work of young liberals in all regions. In par-
liberties. “ ticular we cooperate with the German Friedrich Political reality for a Liberal party in Slovakia
Naumann Foundation and Slovak think-tank F. from a long-term perspective was ingenerous.
A. Hayek Foundation and Liberal Society Foun- Until now the liberal parties survived only one
dation, as well as with right-wing youth organi- term. They have gradually vanished, as they
sations. were rather entities created for a special pur-
pose. After a long considerations about a further
In Slovakia we founded Liberal clubs, informal existence of liberal politics, we have decided in
discussion groups for the dissemination of liber- the spirit of strenghtening the organised liberal-
al ideas in various regions. After the recent left- ism in Slovakia a year and a half ago to coop-
ist and populistic government got to power, we erate closely with the reformer Richard Sulik in Slovakia
became the largest youth advocates of pension founding the political party SaS.
saving (e.g. „Save the pensions“ initiative, „2nd
pillar Youth Forum“ with José Piñera). We knew that if a serious subject is to be found- The Slovak Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe with a population of over five million and an area of about 49000
ed, it must be associated with an author of a flat square kilometres (19,000 sq mi). Slovakia borders the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to
In addition to our basic objectives it is our ambi- tax, which brought positive changes in Slovakia. the east and Hungary to the south. The largest city is its capital, Bratislava. The second largest city is Košice. Slovakia is a mem-
tion to provide forum for young liberal-minded We were with him in a constant contact since ber state of the European Union, NATO, UN, OECD, WTO, UNESCO and other international organizations.
people, who want to actively engage in politics 2004, when he publicly presented his proposals
and professionaly shape themselves at specific on the „Contribution bonus“. Like the flat tax, The Slavs arrived in the territory of present day Slovakia in the fifth and sixth centuries AD during the Migration Period. In the
economic and social problems and pressing is- retirement savings, as well as the Slovak version course of history, various parts of today’s Slovakia belonged to Samo’s Empire (the first known political unit of Slavs), Great
sues. Thus giving the opportunity to earn ex- of the negative tax was a concept, which we sup- Moravia, Kingdom of Hungary, the Austro-Hungarian Empire or Habsburg Empire, and Czechoslovakia. An independent Slo-
perience from the high politics and municipial ported from the beginning. After the 2006 elec- vak state briefly existed during World War II, during which Slovakia was a dependency of the Nazi Germany 1939–1944. From
policies and work in their professional growth. tions our goal was to be a serious platform not 1945 Slovakia once again became a part of Czechoslovakia. The present-day Slovakia became an independent state on January
only for young people, but for all liberals since 1, 1993 after the peaceful dissolution of its federation with the Czech Republic.
Over the years we have organised a series of ac- we thought a liberal political party did not exist
tivities and commented on social and political in Slovakia. Slovakia is a high-income advanced economy with one of the fastest growth rates in the EU and OECD. The country joined the
developments in Slovakia. Last year we and our European Union in 2004 and the Eurozone on January 1, 2009. As of 2010, Slovakia together with Slovenia are the only former
foreign colleagues have organised an interna- We have noticed that there is a last chance in Communist nations to be part of European Union, Eurozone, Schengen Area and NATO simultaneously.The Slovak head of
tional workshop on Civil liberties. We organised the forthcoming parliamentary elections to es- state is the president (currently Ivan Gašparovič), elected by direct popular vote for a five-year term. Most executive power lies
essay competition with the topic: „Separation of tablish a consistant liberal party. Second chance with the head of government, the prime minister (currently Robert Fico), who is usually the leader of the winning party, but
church and state separation from church law“. to establish a liberal subject would be only after he/she needs to form a majority coalition in the parliament. The prime minister is appointed by the president. The remainder
a few years, when the society and the economy of the cabinet is appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister.
Few of us attended the „Academy of right-wing would necessarily need responsible solutions,
politics“, „Summer school of Economics“, „Lib- after another post-election socialist devastation. Slovakia’s highest legislative body is the 150-seat unicameral National Council of the Slovak Republic (Národná rada Slovenskej
eral weekend“, projects organised jointly with Given the current negative trends in the society, republiky). Delegates are elected for a four-year term on the basis of proportional representation. Slovakia’s highest judicial
our partner F.A. Hayek Foundation. We assisted political rudeness and cynicism, populism and body is the Constitutional Court of Slovakia (Ústavný súd), which rules on constitutional issues. The 13 members of this court
in organising the international seminar „Free- nationalism, a series of non-liberal government are appointed by the president from a slate of candidates nominated by parliament.
dom and Civil Society“. Young Liberals became measures and the continuous deterioration
part of the European Liberal Forum (ELF) via of business environment, we will continue to
EUROPEAN COURT
OF AUDITORS EUROPEAN
COUNCIL
Meetings of Heads of State and Government twice a year
with the President of the European Commission and with
the participation of the High Representative of the Union for
Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
After the country’s coalition government collapsed mid-February due to sharp differences over extending the military mission
in Afghanistan, a snap general election has been called for June 9.
When people miss liberalism NATO had asked the Netherlands to extend its four-year-old Afghanistan mission by one year to August 2011, though in a
Article by Martina Monti and Ermanno Martignetti different form - a request two of the governing parties, Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and Christian Union (CU), had
wanted to discuss. But the third one, PvdA Labour Party, said it would not support an extension under any circumstances,
resulting in a public coalition spat as the party was accused of abusing the issue for political gain ahead of March 3 municipal
elections.
‘’When there’s no Some people, when explaining the meaning of see themselves more as consumers than as citi-
liberalism, people liberalism, generally start from the idea of ‘’lib- zens. In other words people, even feeling the LYMEC wishes both our member organizations in the Netherlands, JOVD and JD, best of luck in supporting the liberal cause
strongly feel its absence, eral’’, from the philosophic theory and from its lack of personal freedom, are still not interested during the upcoming election campaign!
and even if they don’t main characteristics. in political matters and do not contribute to the
know the philosophical necessary change in the society. This fact has
or political theory, they
But what is liberalism in its practical meaning? relevant consequences on the style of political
unconsciously look for
its own principles and
What happens when there’s no liberalism? communication as well on the contents of the JuLis Austria: Street action against video
communication itself, that becomes no more an
some of them fight for
In most EU countries, people feel liberal ideas expression of values, but is just marketing and
surveillance
freedom of individual.“
as the basis of their own life and as the founda- entertainment.
tion of everyone’s society; they often don’t real-
On the first weekend of February, the state branch Vienna suc-
ize how their individuality is being respected, Taking care of all that, what does it mean to be
cessfully raised the problematic issue of video surveillance in
mainly because they are used to freedom. liberal and to offer liberal strategies to an ill so-
public spaces. Some JuLis discussed with passers-by while
ciety like the Italian one?
others “filmed” the scene with dummy CCTV cameras, thus
When I use the term ‘’freedom’’ I mean freedom
making people object to it and thereby starting a process of
of information, freedom of love, freedom of re- The history teaches us that usually liberalism is
reflection in the minds of many citizens.
search, freedom of religion, respect of different first of all a constitutional theory about power
ideas, etc. and ways to limit it – the famous Locke’s for-
mula of checks and balances – and about the
When there’s no liberalism, people strongly feel citizenship. That theory was incorporated in
its absence, and even if they don’t know the the Italian Constitution, but it more and more
philosophical or political theory, they uncon- showed all the inconveniences that every con-
sciously look for its own principles and some of cretization of abstract systems presents.
them fight for freedom of individual.
That is the reason why liberalism sometimes has LHG elects new board
In Italy, the leading party of the country claims to leave its theoretical level to be put into prac-
itself as a liberal party, the party that preserves tice in an easy and immediate way to be well un-
freedom and respect. Taking care of that, I should derstood by people who are not used to political On their 43rd federal congress (22nd-24th January) the
deduce that is the reason why in Italy law for- terms. In this way, and only with people’s ef- German Federal Association of Liberal Students Groups
bids marriage to a couple of the same sex; that forts to spread the concept of personal freedom, (LHG) elected their new board. As in the previous year,
is the reason why in Italy, when you read dif- opening minds that were previously blurred Johannes Knewitz (27) will lead the liberal as well as sec-
ferent newspapers, you read different informa- by television shows and fake information, the ond biggest -in absolute numbers- student organization
tion about the same topic and you don’t know change will be possible. of Germany. Sonja Worch was confirmed as treasurer.
what is real and what is fake (keeping in mind Further board members are Kristina Kämpfer, Benjamin
that in Italy, the main newspaper headlines and Italy is just an example, and surely is not the Blumenthal and Berthold Haustein.
the main tv channels are owned by politicians); only case of a society in a difficult situation, so
that is the reason why in Italy, after the ratifi- this ideas should be extended to each reality They will be supported by cooptations Sahba Afradi
cation of ‘’law 40’’, when two people want to that needs more freedom, more liberalism and and Kai Kreisköther. The new board has expressed that
have a baby with artificial insemination because more tolerance. it wants to focus on developing and support the local
of personal problems of fertility, they face so university structures of the LHG and to strenghten their
many problems that the most of couples have to position in the public debate about the vehemently dis-
put themselves into the hands of a foreign clinic. cussed process of Bologna. For their congress in Göttin-
The real problem is that Italian politics are built gen, LHG could welcome over 80 students from almost
around the personality of charismatic leaders, 40 universities.
and it is hard to say that today political ideas
in general could interest voters, accustomed to
LYMEC President Aloys Rigaut stated: ‘The Stability and Growth Pact’s rules of a maximum deficit of 3% of GDP
and a national debt below 60% GDP are there for a good reason. This discipline is necessary for the stability of
the Euro, for low interest rates, for the credibility of our economic policy, and the free-riding of certain Member
States is in this respect totally irresponsible.
Who will pay for this spending frenzy? Yes us, the young generation. Demographic ageing is already a sufficient
Parliament for the first time exercised its new powers under the Treaty of Lisbon, rejecting this scandalous And every single cent is a heavy burden on coming generations, which will have to repay all that debts by their
agreement which would have given away the privacy of the very citizens they represent. taxes. We therefore call for more intergenerational fairness and more seriousness when dealing with the stabil-
ity of our currency. This rising State debt is a time bomb that needs to be defused fast. Politicians will finally
We applaud the Parliamentarians who across party line opposed this dubious proposal. We are especially have to learn to say no to calls for subsidies or company rescue packages in order to consolidate their budgets.’
proud of the role liberals played in shaping this broad majority, not least based on the critical report of liberal
rapporteur Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.”
LYMEC Vice President Alexander Plahr added: “This is a great development! For the next months, European
banking data will be secure again. However, we must remain vigilant, since a permanent agreement will be
proposed by the Commission later this year.
It is highly doubtful that such a deal is necessary, since there already today is excellent judicial cooperation
between the EU and the US. Any future agreements in the area of law enforcement must therefore continue to
be based on the presumption of innocence, reciprocity, strict data protection and recourse to the courts.”
Reacting to the news, Aloys Rigaut, President of the European Recently, the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR) assembled in Barcelona to hold its 30th Con-
Liberal Youth LYMEC stated: “We are happy that now finally the gress. The European Liberal Youth (LYMEC) attended the Congress with ten delegates as well as having many
time of standstill is over - the Treaty of Lisbon is in force and active LYMEC members in the other party delegations active in Barcelona. Congress reelected Annemie Neyts
last year’s EP elections.” wish them every success. With the entry into force of the Lisbon treaty, democratic control and strong European
parties are now more needed than ever. The main challenge for the ELDR will be to continue transforming itself
LYMEC Vice President Alexander Plahr adds: ‘The composition from an European umbrella organization into a true political party, directed towards gaining influence on the
of the Commission is a good one for liberals! With eight Com- decision-making in order to implement its policies.” Besides the Bureau elections, it was the programmatic
missioners we have nearly a third of the Commission coming debate that dominated the Congress in Barcelona. LYMEC proved to be a strong force for political debate within
from our camp – as many as never before. In the future liberals ELDR while discussing the theme resolution “Liberal Answers For A New Prosperity”.
will determine the course of the Union in such important areas
as economy, currency, research and home affairs. LYMEC Vice President and delegation leader Alexander Plahr commented: “We managed to improve the theme
resolution further, making it an excellent document dealing with liberal economy. We can also be extremely
Furthermore, MEPs voted on the so-called interinstitutional proud that we managed to convince ELDR delegates of LYMEC policies in many other areas: ELDR now officially
agreement, which for the first time opens the door for a true opposes automatic transfer of SWIFT banking data to the United States of America, is in favour of genetically
right of initiative of Parliament, something liberals and have modified crops and calls for a stronger commitment towards European Citizenship. LYMEC has proved that it is
been demanding for decades. This means more democracy for the programmatic force of ELDR. We now look forward to our mother party implementing those policies in their
all of us!’ statements and events.”