The Young Liberals (german: Junge Liberale, JuLis), is a political youth organisation in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is the financially and organisationally independent youth wing of the Free Democratic Party (FDP). The JuLis claim about 13,000 members,we are''
About Young Liberals making it the third largest youth organisation in Germany.

Political profile

The current policy statement of the JuLis was passed in 2008. It is a revision of the policy statement of 1994, and is called "Humanistic Liberalism - thought for the future". It focuses on the

market economy A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand, where all suppliers and consumers ...

and

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...

, being supplemented by the democratic resolutions of regular congresses. The political objectives of the JuLis mostly aim to the same general objectives as the FDP, however they often differ in details. The Young Liberals advocate civil liberties, sociopolitics and an

ecologically Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

sustainable Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livin ...

social market economy The social market economy (SOME; german: soziale Marktwirtschaft), also called Rhine capitalism, Rhine-Alpine capitalism, the Rhenish model, and social capitalism, is a socioeconomic model combining a free-market capitalist economic system alon ...

. The JuLis focus on

political freedom Political freedom (also known as political autonomy or political agency) is a central concept in history and political thought and one of the most important features of democratic societies.Hannah Arendt, "What is Freedom?", ''Between Past and F ...

, self-responsibility,

equal opportunity Equal opportunity is a state of fairness in which individuals are treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers, prejudices, or preferences, except when particular distinctions can be explicitly justified. The intent is that the important ...

deregulation Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...

and reducing the state's influence to its core competences such as the prevention from economic

cartel A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. Cartels are usually associations in the same sphere of business, and thus an alliance of rivals. Mos ...

s. The Young Liberals often perceive themselves as the policy making stimulus of the FDP and try to propose innovations into the party, sometimes succeeding e.g. in the FDP's decision to challenge the abandonment of the German compulsory military service, to support of the concept of an ecologically-sustainable social market economy, and replacement of existing social

welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...

benefits with a

basic income Universal basic income (UBI) is a social welfare proposal in which all citizens of a given population regularly receive an unconditional transfer payment, that is, without a means test or need to work. It would be received independently of a ...

called ''Bürgergeld''.

History

The JuLis were founded in 1980, and was recognized as the official FDP youth wing in 1983. Prior to 1982, Jungdemokraten (Young Democrats) had been the FDP youth organisation.

Persons

Chairpersons

* Hans-Joachim Otto (1980–1983) *

Guido Westerwelle Guido Westerwelle (; 27 December 1961 – 18 March 2016) was a German politician who served as Foreign Minister in the second cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel and Vice-Chancellor of Germany from 2009 to 2011, being the first openly gay person ...

(1983–1988) *

Georg Neubauer Georg may refer to: * ''Georg'' (film), 1997 *Georg (musical), Estonian musical * Georg (given name) * Georg (surname) * , a Kriegsmarine coastal tanker See also * George (disambiguation) George may refer to: People * George (given name) * ...

(1988–1989) *

Hermann Brem Hermann or Herrmann may refer to: * Hermann (name), list of people with this name * Arminius, chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci tribe in the 1st century, known as Hermann in the German language * Éditions Hermann, French publisher * Hermann, Mis ...

(1989) *

Birgit Homburger Birgit is a female given name, a short form of Birgitta and ultimately a Germanic form of the Gaelic name Bridget. Notable people with the name include: * Birgit Brüel, Danish singer and actress * Birgit Collin-Langen, German politician * Bi ...

(1990–1993) *

Ralph Lange Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

(1993–1995) *

Michael Kauch Michael Kauch (born 4 May 1967, in Dortmund) is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party who served as Member of the Bundestag between 2003 and 2013. Early life and education Kauch was born in Dortmund and attended the ''Helmholtz-Gymna ...

(1995–1999) *

Daniel Bahr Daniel Bahr (; born 4 November 1976) is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who served as Federal Minister of Health from 2011 to 2013. His party failed to get a seat in Bundestag at the 2013 federal elections, and he star ...

(1999–2004) *

Jan Dittrich Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numb ...

(2004–2005) * Johannes Vogel (2005–2010) *

Lasse Becker Lasse is a common masculine given name in Nordic countries. It is also often a nickname for people named Lars or Lauri. People Notable people named Lasse include: * Lasse Aasland (1926–2001), Norwegian politician *Lasse Åberg (born 1940), S ...

(2010–2013) *Alexander Hahn (2013–2014) *

Konstantin Kuhle Konstantin Elias Kuhle (born 11 February 1989) is a German lawyer and politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Lower Saxony since 2017. Since 2023, he has been chairing the ...

(2014–2018) *

Ria Schröder Ria Schröder (born 7 March 1992) is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has been a member of the Bundestag since 2021. Schröder was the federal chairwoman of the FDP-affiliated youth organization Young Liberals (''Jun ...

(2018–2020) * Jens Teutrine (2020–2021) * Franziska Brandmann (2021–)

International relations

The JuLis is a full member organisation of the

European Liberal Youth European Liberal Youth (abbreviated as LYMEC) is an international organisation of liberal youth movements – mostly the youth wings of members of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party but also individual members. LYMEC holds ...

(LYMEC), a pan-

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an umbrella of

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

youth organisations. On the international level, the JuLis are the German member of the

International Federation of Liberal Youth The International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY) is an international liberal youth organization. It consists of a global membership of national youth organizations. These are often but not exclusively affiliated with political parties that ...

(IFLRY).

References

External links

Young Liberals (JuLis)
official site (in German)
Program and resolutions
(in German) {{authority control Youth wings of liberal parties Youth wings of political parties in Germany Free Democratic Party (Germany)