Manifesto “We, the Liberals”
We, the Liberals
Political Declaration of INICIATIVA LIBERAL, presented in 2019 to the European liberal parties congress (ALDE)
1. We, the liberals, who believe that the forces of free markets and competition are the best ways to achieve prosperity and development, cannot shield nation states from those same forces. We should not impose a unique taxation and economic model across Europe. Eliminating tax competition within the EU would be an ingredient of tyranny and poverty.
2. We, the liberals, who believe that free trade is a main source of wealth creation and well-being, should strive to continue bringing down barriers to free trade all over the world. We should be united against those who see international trade as a zero-sum game.
3. We, the liberals, who believe in freedom of enterprise and technological progress, should be the political shield protecting entrepreneurs and innovators from the paralyzing forces of industry lobbies. Freedom of enterprise (not subsidies) and free markets (not protectionism) should be at the core of our economic development model.
4. We, the liberals, who fight bureaucracy at the national level, must reject European bureaucracy as well. We should defend relentlessly less interference from all levels of government.
5. We, the liberals, who believe that the individual is at the core of our political action, should not proactively transfer power from closer to distant levels of government. Rather than concentrating power in central governments and unaccountable technocracies, we should return it to individuals and local communities.
6. We, the liberals, who believe that free speech is an essential individual freedom, must stand against any means of censorship, enforced by law or technical means. A proper communication of European values, as well as individual rights and responsibilities, is the only weapon that will protect us from populism and extremist ideologies
7. We, the liberals, who believe in human dignity and have strong memory of Europe’s history, must not side with those that reject the basic human obligation of welcoming and protecting refugees during times of war. We should not fall in the populist trap of mixing refugee and migration policies.
8. We, the liberals, who believe in the European cultural values, should not stand for an immigration and integration policy that jeopardizes those values in the long term. We should not follow an immigration policy that rewards human smugglers.
9. We, the liberals, who reject fascism and communism equally, should understand the needs of those who find in these failed political ideologies the answers to their problems. We should get out of the Brussels political bubble and address those who feel they have so little to lose that don’t care about voting for such destructive political forces.
10. We, the liberals, who believe the individual is the one key identity, should avoid at all costs identity politics. Should never forget that the smallest, most attacked and unprotected minority of all is the individual.