Europe / Liberals, the Tradition that Comes from the North

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The results of the recent European parliamentary elections (June 13 1999) in the 15 states of the Union show the different weight of national liberal parties. They are strong virtually only in the north of Europe, very weak in the Germanic area and virtually absent in Latin and Mediterranean Europe. Against this background a debate is raging on the European constitutional space; it hinges round the adoption of a Charter of Fundamental Rights in the definition of which, according to the liberal group at the European Parliament (eldr), the Parliament itself ought to have a crucial role. Liberal Europeanism sums up the history of the minority ideas in the century which has experienced the worst totalitarianisms; continuing that history, the Bill of Rights should consecrate the superiority of the individual over collective fetishes, establishing the association between the civil and political rights of the liberal tradition and social rights for inclusive citizenship.