Liberalism and the European Union

The great ideas of political philosophy are often difficult to grasp in our mind, and few are examples so concrete that when we try to find the meaning of liberalism. The idea of this concept relates to its history and its complicated role in the political culture of Europe and North America. Liberalism includes a broad spectrum of political philosophies that view individual freedom as the most important political goal and highlight individual rights and equality of opportunity. Although most liberals would claim that a government is necessary to protect rights, different forms of liberalisation can propose very different policies. However, they are generally united with their support for a number of principles, including freedom of thought and freedom of speech, restrictions on governments' power, implementation of rule of law, market economy (or a mixed economy with private and state companies) and a transparent and democratic system of government.

Trying to find today a reflection of the liberal ideal in one of the most powerful international institutions ever created, we can truthfully say that the European Union is a triumph of liberalisation, directly implying that it is a responsible organisation for removing restrictions on personal freedom. Schengen is a classic example of this liberal regime that collects borders among Europeans. Of course, saying that is somewhat strange in the current political climate in Europe. For many European countries, when talking about policies “liberal”, it's about a classic harsh liberalisation or neoliberal globalisation schemes. This is not entirely unfair, since the European Union seems to have many neoliberal tendencies, especially in the ways it develops in the wider world, but it seems that this element ignores how wide liberal ideology is currently.

Back in time, during the 20th century, liberalisation was an economic-political doctrine related to free trade and limited government. These two elements were closely related to each other as the government often provided income through import tariffs, thus interfering with trade. In the case of the United Kingdom, the upper classes protected these fees as they helped preserve the price of agricultural products. In the end this situation resulted in a humanitarian and political crisis where the poor were hungry, and an urgent solution was. This led to the abolition of so - called corn laws. The free traders triumphed, and the result was the formation of a political party that engaged in free trade, the Liberal Party.

While liberalization now affects changing the character of Western society in other ways, although its contribution in this respect has not always been marked by the effects of modernization, technological changes, and increased living standards. For example, landing in the more developed countries of early restrictions on contraception, divorce, abortion, and homosexuality was partly inspired by traditional liberal insistence on individual choice both within and outside the community states of the European Union. Today, for the EU the free movement of persons, goods, services and capitals continues to be the pillars of the European spirit and what it has always wanted to express. Also, the EU has promoted a set of values. These values are listed in Article 2 of the Treaty for the European Union (TBE) among which we might mention: Human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. She has tried to expand these values to other parts of the world.

Europe's reformation after the Cold War ended based on partnership between the EU and (led by the US) NATO. Both organisations have played a vital role in the integration of new democratic states of Central Europe into the Western community. The EU's great achievement is the creation of a <x0 service state” unifying as the rate across the continent. Such a state views its mission as a service to its citizens, failing to dominate them, co-operating with other states and not detecting them. The genius of European Community founders was to understand that a market economy led by law was the means for this purpose, and this would be achieved by forcing the disrepute interventions of each state on the market, thus creating predictability and stability for all. These were liberal ideas (in its traditional European sense) promoting the ideas of post-war thinkers and policymakers of Germany, such as Ludwig Erhard. The major benefits of EU liberalisation are these, such as the customs union; competition policy; the common market; the removal of exchange controls; and the creation of a common currency managed by an independent central bank. Meanwhile, the market economy is not the only liberal idea embedded in the EU, it is also representative democracy.

Liberalism was not the only basis for a possible union of Europe, but it was the only basis for voluntary union. Unification through war, luckily, failed. Intervention of <x0concerns” in successive European wars was the element that made sure this union did not come between war. This story puts in context one of the most common proposals regarding the EU, how it has ensured peace. Europe did not create the conditions for postwar peace, nor did it preserve it. American power did both. However, prosperity created by European integration, under the American umbrella, made the West free and democratic and turned it into a massive magnet for birth.