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What is the reason why libertarian and other economic freedom parties have not much support in European Union countries?

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    In my opinion, Libertarianism is rooted in distrust of government. Europeans have a more friendly view of government in general, seeing government as playing an important role in job creation, healthcare and quality of life. I'm not European myself, so that's kind of a guess.
    – userLTK
    Aug 21, 2015 at 7:15
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    How do you define "libertarian party" in the first place? The term "liberal" or "libertarian" is frequently misused.
    – Philipp ♦
    Aug 21, 2015 at 15:00
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    Libertarian in this meaning: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarianism
    – Krzysztof Majewski
    Aug 21, 2015 at 15:33
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    @KrzysztofMajewski: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarianism#U.S._libertarianism or en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…?
    – Martin Schröder
    Aug 24, 2015 at 20:37
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    European term is "Classical liberal". Though given modern confused terminology, it may not help much.
    – user4012
    Sep 1, 2015 at 19:16

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These are a few of the many political fronts in Europe:

  • Conservative Christians
  • Far-Right
  • Nationalists/Ruralists
  • Right-Liberals
  • Center-Right/Neoliberals
  • Center-Left/Socialists
  • Left-Liberals
  • Greens
  • Communists

What you describe as "libertarianism" would fall under the "liberal" label in Europe. It's heavily equated with liberal economics and the financial community.

It's actually quite popular in Europe, particularly among the youth, and it's probably what the center-right/conservatives are morphing into... economically liberal, socially liberal, but conservative on immigration and multiculturalism.

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  • This answer should be backed up. Can you reference some kind of analysis or expert sources to back up this answer?
    – indigochild
    May 9, 2017 at 17:36
  • Considering the question is about the EU, the answer is wrong. Liberals are not two political fronts, but one: ALDE.
    – MSalters
    Jul 27, 2018 at 12:32
  • @MSalters Hard to call ALDE libertarian: they consistently vote in favor of increasing EU's power.
    – Sjoerd
    Feb 4, 2019 at 1:23
  • @Sjoerd: Liberal, and European liberal at that. Don't apply US labels. Libertarians are pretty much a US-only problem.
    – MSalters
    Feb 4, 2019 at 7:58
  • @MSalters I don't think most self-described libertarians in the US (with some exceptions) are actually very libertarian; more like communists who like pot and bitcoin
    – gillonba
    Feb 7, 2019 at 21:03

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