Georges-Louis Bouchez gave a long interview in Paris, during a visit at the invitation of the liberal think tank « Génération Libre », to the French magazine "Le Point" and the newspaper « L’Opinion ». An opportunity for our President to defend the Belgian liberal model as an example of a liberalism that wins and finally speaks to workers.
An unashamed and popular liberalism
At the heart of these interviews, Georges-Louis Bouchez champions an unapologetic liberalism, rooted in pride in being liberal and in the central importance of work. He explains that the MR's electoral success stems from a break with a technocratic liberalism, in order to speak directly to workers who feel crushed by taxes and weary of welfare dependency.
He points out that liberal philosophy is the only one that matches human nature, because it allows everyone to live their life as they see fit, within a clear common framework, rather than in a society of special rights reserved for minorities.
The MR model as an inspiration for Europe
The President details the reforms carried out in French-speaking Belgium and at federal level: time-limiting unemployment benefits, greater flexibility in the labour market, rewarding overtime, expanding flexi-jobs, defending state neutrality, and maintaining and relaunching nuclear power. These measures prove that a liberal party can defend social security, protect essential public services and free up work by cutting spending and taxes, all at the same time.
He also stresses the cultural battle: no longer letting the left define the terms of debate, embracing neutrality in the face of communitarian demands, and reclaiming technological progress (from artificial intelligence to nuclear power) as a lever for prosperity for all, rather than a threat.
A message to the European right
Faced with a left fragmented into contradictory popular fronts and populist forces fuelled by anger, Georges-Louis Bouchez calls in Paris for a liberal right that fully embraces itself, proud of its values, connected to the ground, and able to set the media agenda around work, merit and freedom.