Young Liberals (Germany)
- Nathalie Meyer ( Programmatic )
- Florian Philipp Ott (Press and Public Relations)
- Nora voivode (Organization)
The Young Liberals (Brief description: JuLis ) is a liberal youth organization in Germany. He is the official youth organization of the FDP, but organizationally and financially independent.
Substantive Profile
The first basic program of the all-German Young Liberals was decided under the heading " Humanistic liberalism " after many years of discussion at the 8th Congress of the Union on March 6, 1994 in Hanover. On the 37th national conference on October 26, 2008 in Pforzheim, was a revision of the policy program of 1994 under the title " Humanistic liberalism - thought for the future," according also a long discussion, including nationwide regional conferences, decided by the delegates. It is mainly on the main topics of holistic liberalism, civil rights and the free market economy.
The positions of the Young Liberals differ usually not in the basic liberal direction, but in individual issues significantly from those of their parent party. Above all, to stand at the Young Liberals civil rights, socio-political and ecological issues clearly in focus as in the FDP. Here the Young Liberals were able to achieve by 2002 that this move back into the focus of the parent party. Thus, the issue of environmental protection in 2006 was picked up by the national party in Rostock and adopted a developed from these guidelines programmatic.
Mostly the Young Liberals also formulate their views clearly more decisively than their parent party. This is especially true for economic policy. Even more than the FDP, see the Young Liberals as guardians of the market economy theory - without consideration for lobbyists, associations and chambers so as to position itself for the abolition of CCI - compulsory membership, and emphasize the liberal basis of a functioning social market economy.
The Young Liberals like to view themselves as the driving force of the FDP. So could the youth organization in the past, the FDP platforms help to shape into some issues. The commitment of the FDP about the ecological market economy, to civil money for the controlled delivery of hard drugs (Münster 1993) and the abolition of conscription (Berlin 2001) often arises with only a narrow majority decided requests its youth organization on FDP national conventions. The Wiesbaden principles of FDP could influence the Young Liberals of their former national chairman Michael Kauch crucial. In addition, the FDP changed at the request of the Young Liberals, the preamble of their basic program: " complacency policy " sees the FDP since not only as a problem in economic policy, but also in the domestic and legal policy ( Wiesbaden Congress, 1997). Another success of JuLis was the separation resolution of the FDP to the Austrian Freedom Party in 1993 under the former national chairman Ralph Long. On the 56th Federal Congress of the FDP in May 2005, the Young Liberals continued under the leadership of the national chairman John Bird a decision to abolish the "Great eavesdropping " by. At the 59th Party Congress, three years later in Munich, called the Young Liberals, a new basic program of the FDP.
Structure
Organization
The Young Liberals nationwide are organized and have more than 11,000 members. The bottom structure is the local chapter, then follows the district association, then to a few national associations of the District Association and the National Association. In urban districts is called the local chapter partially Stadtverband and replaces the district association. Parent the Federation, the Federal Association is a membership organization, some state associations also. The areas of the 16 state associations are identical to the boundaries of the provinces. The same is true mainly for the district and regional associations, which are based generally on the borders of counties or districts. Orts-/Kreis-/Bezirksmitgliederversammlungen as well as district and state conventions and Federal Congresses usually annual select the boards of the respective outline new and are the highest bodies of the association level. Select the country Congresses further year, the delegates of the national associations to the Federal Congress, in some regional associations are also elected delegates to the provincial congresses at county conventions. The conferences at the state and federal level select in the two- year cycle per a state or federal court of arbitration.
The chairmen of the respective JuLi outlines (or specifically chosen by the JuLis representative) are generally co-opted to the board of the corresponding FDP association, that is, they must - usually without voting rights - attend the meetings of the respective FDP Board. The Young Liberals are a member of the International umbrella organizations IFLRY (International Federation of Liberal Youth ), LYMEC (European Liberal Youth ) and LYBS ( Liberal Youth of the Baltic Sea ).
Membership
Anyone can become a member aged 14 to 35 years. With 35 years of membership shall automatically terminate for officials of that age at the end of their function. Depending on the financial or employment situation is to pay a membership fee, which is set and collected by the district associations.
Originally simultaneously mandatory membership in the FDP was abolished after fierce internal debate on the unification congress of the Liberal Youth Action of the GDR in 1990. However, there is the further duty for simultaneous membership in the FDP for the Federal Executive and partly also for the state and county boards. The membership magazine Jung & Liberal of the Federation of Young Liberals is published four times per year.
National associations
History
Since the early 1970s there were young FDP members who did not agree with the politics of the FDP youth organization Young Democrats. While the Young Democrats considered as part of the extra-parliamentary opposition, who was on the march through the institutions ( " The FDP is the agency of the forces that we actually fight " ) supported and the left-liberal wing of the FDP, tended the founders of JuLis more -leaning at that right, classical liberalism, wings. They wanted to form a youth organization of the FDP. First regional liberal youth organizations, which settled by the Young Democrats, created in Enghien -Neckar Hausen ( 1974), in Bonn (1975 ), in Starnberg (1975 ) and Berlin (1978).
On January 21, 1979, July founded under the name of Young Liberal Association in the FDP in Bonn- Kessenich. They chose a coordination committee to summarize the activities of the various groups and adopted a founding manifesto. There regional discussion groups Young Liberals were founded. First National associations followed in June 1980 at the Saarland, in North Rhine -Westphalia, Lower Saxony and Hamburg.
The first national convention of the Young Liberals was held in Bonn -Bad Godesberg on 1 and 2 November 1980. For the first national chairman Hans -Joachim Otto was selected from Frankfurt am Main.
In 1982, the FDP and the Young Democrats increasingly distanced from each other. After the reunification in Bonn, the Young Democrats split up for good by the FDP. The FDP then declared the Young Liberals to their new youth organization. 1983 Guido Westerwelle was elected national chairman of the JuLis. He retained the office until 1988 and later became national chairman of the FDP.
On November 17, 1989, in the GDR the Young Liberals Action, an independent, the Liberal Democratic Party of related youth organization. In it, the Liberal Democratic Youth ( Dresden), the Young Liberals (Jena), PURPLE closed - the Democratic Youth ( Berlin) and the Young Liberals (Potsdam) together. On 24 and February 25, 1990 its founding congress took place in Weimar. The first chairman was Olaf Oßmann, were elected as deputy Ivo Klatte and Bärbel Böttcher. First treasurer was Mario in March, the first Managing Director Andreas Pautzke. The JuliA and the Young Liberals decided at their union congress on 8 and 9 September 1990 at the Reichstag building in Berlin, the fusion to an all-German, liberal youth organization.
In the European elections in 2004 moved with Alexander Alvaro, a JuLi the top candidate into the European Parliament. In the European elections in 2009 Alexander Alvaro also moved as JuLi top candidate again, next to him is also Nadja Hirsch ( Munich) as a member of the Young Liberals in the European Parliament since 2009. In the 2005 federal election a total of eight Young Liberals came as FDP MPs in the Bundestag, including the most recent FDP deputy Florian Toncar. In the general election of 2009, the Young Liberals were represented by 17 representatives in the Bundestag, including the most recent members Florian Schneider Bern. With 17 of 93 FDP deputies the Young Liberals were the personnel most influential youth organization of the party in the 17th Bundestag.
In the 18th German Bundestag no Young Liberals are represented, because the FDP has missed the first time in its history, the re-entry into the Bundestag. In January 2014 saw an unusual campaign photo of the liberal youth organization for numerous headlines in the media: In this report the JuLis federal board based on the APO motion a well-known photo from the Commune I, subtitled "Who would have thought that we once must defend ideals of the 68s? " after.