European_Democrats

European People's Party–European Democrats

This article is about the current European Parliament Group and its predecessors dating back to 1952. For the europarty established in 1976, see the European People's Party.

The European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats (EPP-ED) is the current centre-right political group of the European Parliament, comprising the European People's Party and the non-party subgroup European Democrats.

EPP-ED is one of the three oldest Groups, dating its origin back to September 1952 and the first meeting of the Parliament's predecessor, the Common Assembly. Founded as an explicitly Christian Democrat Group, it declined at first but reversed its fortunes in the 80's/90's when it started to pick up members from other centre-right but non-Christian Democrat parties.

As a result, it has become the largest Group in the Parliament but does not have a majority. To guarantee the majorities required by the cooperation procedure, it is a member of the Grand Coalition with the Socialist Group (or the Liberals in the Fifth Parliament), and it is the Grand Coalition that holds a majority and the power in the Parliament. The Grand Coalition has held, although there have been occurences of a government-opposition dynamic, such as when the Group split with the Socialists to oppose the Santer Commission during the budget crisis.

EPP-ED's success has not been unalloyed: the tensions between the Europhile members (mostly Christian Democrat and mostly members of the European People's Party) and the Eurosceptic (mostly Conservative) members has led to the latter congregating within a subgroup called the European Democrats. This subgroup has a very different voting record to the wider Group. The members of the subgroup have threatened to leave EPP-ED after the 2009 elections, although they are not unanimous.

History

The Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community (the predecessor of the present day European Parliament) first met on September 10, 1952 and the first Christian Democratic Group was unofficially formed the next day, with Maan Sassen as President. The Group held 38 of the 78 seats, two short of an absolute majority. On June 23 1953 the founding document of the Group was published and the Group was officially formed.

The Christian Democrat Group was the biggest Group at formation, but as time wore on it lost support and was the second-biggest Group by the time of the 1979 elections. But as the Community expanded into the Union, new countries joined and brought with them not just Christian Democrat parties but other parties of the centre-right. The British and Danish Conservatives tried to maintain a Group of their own called the European Democrats (ED), but other centre-right parties such as the Greek New Democracy and Spanish Partido Popular preferred to join the burgeoning Group, now named after the transnational party European People's Party founded in 1976. By the 1990's, lack of support and the problems inherent in maintaining a small Group forced the collapse of ED and its members crossed the floor to join the EPP Group (although not the party). This consolidation of the European centre-right continued through the 90's with the acquisition of members from the Italian Forza Italia and, after the 1999 elections, the Group reclaimed its position as the largest Group in the Parliament.

Size was not enough, however: the Group did not have a majority. It continued therefore to engage in the Grand Coalition (a coalition with the Socialist Group, or occasionally the Liberals) to generate the majorities required by the cooperation procedure under the Single European Act. This coalition has held, although occasionally the Group does adopt a government-opposition dynamic with the others, notably during the budget crisis when it opposed the Socialists and brought about the resignation of the Santer Commission.

Structure

Subgroups

EPP-ED is a coalition of MEPs from the European centre-right, but the European centre-right is split on the matter of Euroscepticism. The Eurosceptic MEPs congregate within a subgroup within EPP-ED called the European Democrats (ED), the rest are members of the europarty called the European People's Party (EPP), with the latter functioning as a de-facto subgroup.

In 2006, the new leader of the British Conservatives, David Cameron, stated his intention to take his party out of ED and EPP-ED and form their own, more Eurosceptic, Group. At the time that would require 20 MEPs from six countries but his main ally, the Czech Civic Democratic Party indicated it would not leave until after the 2009 elections.

Organisation

EPP-ED is governed by a group of people, (referred to as the Presidency), who allocate tasks. The Presidency consists of the Group Chair and a maximum of ten Vice-Chairs, including the Treasurer. One Vice-Chair is reserved for the leader of the ED subgroup. The day-to-day running of the Group is performed by its secretariat, led by its Secretary-General. The Group runs its own think-tank, the European Ideas Network, which brings together opinion-formers from across Europe to discuss issues facing the European Union from a centre-right perspective.

The senior staff of EPP-ED as of 18 September 2008 are as follows:

Member	Position	Source
Joseph Daul	Chair
Marianne Thyssen	Vice-Chair
Othmar Karas	Treasurer
Struan Stevenson	Vice-Chair
Jaime Mayor Oreja	Vice-Chair
Vito Bonsignore	Vice-Chair
Gunnar Hökmark	Vice-Chair
József Szájer	Vice-Chair
Hartmut Nassauer	Vice-Chair
João de Deus Pinheiro	Vice-Chair
Marian-Jean Marinescu	Vice-Chair
Martin Kamp	Secretary-General

The chairs of EPP-ED and its predecessors from 1952 to September 18 2008 are as follows:

From	To	Chair	Member State	National party
1953	1958	Maan Sassen		Katholieke Volkspartij (Catholic People's Party)
1958	1958	Pierre Wigny		Parti Social-Chrétien (Social Christian Party)
1958	1966	Alain Poher		Mouvement Républicain Populaire (Popular Republican Movement)
1966	1969	Joseph Illerhaus		Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands (Christian Democratic Union of Germany)
1969	1975	Hans Lücker		Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands (Christian Democratic Union of Germany)
1975	1977	Alfred Bertrand		Christelijke Volkspartij (Christian People's Party)
1977	1982	Egon Klepsch		Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands (Christian Democratic Union of Germany)
1982	1984	Paolo Barbi		Democrazia Cristiana (Christian Democracy)
1984	1992	Egon Klepsch	/	Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands (Christian Democratic Union of Germany)
1992	1994	Leo Tindemans		Christelijke Volkspartij (Christian People's Party)
1994	1999	Wilfried Martens		Christelijke Volkspartij (Christian People's Party)
1999	2007	Hans-Gert Pöttering		Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands (Christian Democratic Union of Germany)
2007	present	Joseph Daul		Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement)

Membership

Current membership by country

A December 2007 European Parliament document gave the percentage of MEPs for each Group and member state at that date. The results for EPP-ED are given on the diagram on the right.

The document shows that EPP-ED draws its MEPs from each member state. It has widespread support throughout the EU. Its smallest support is in Denmark, (where the right-wing vote is split between UEN,IND/DEM and EPP-ED), and only 7% of Danish MEPs sit with EPP-ED. Its stronghold is in Eastern Europe, with three of the four Visegrad Group member states having more than 50% of its MEPs sitting with EPP-ED. Member states which have 40% or over of its MEPs sitting with EPP-ED include Malta, Romania, Spain, Greece, Germany, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic.

Current membership by party

The national parties that are members of EPP-ED at 18 September 2008 are as follows:

Party name (local)	Abbr.	Party name (Eng.)	Member state	Subgroup	Date joined
Österreichische Volkspartei	ÖVP	Austrian Peoples Party	Austria	EPP
Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie	N-VA	New-Flemish Alliance	Belgium	ED	?
Christlich-Soziale Partei	CSP	Christian Social Party	Belgium	ED
Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams	CD&V	Christian Democratic & Flemish	Belgium	EPP
Centre Démocrate Humaniste	CDH	Humanist Democratic Centre	Belgium	EPP
Sajuz na svobodnite demokrati	SSD	Union of Free Democrats	Bulgaria	ED
Demokrati za Silna Balgarija	DSB	Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria	Bulgaria	EPP
Grazhdani za evropeysko razvitie na Balgariya	GERB	Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria	Bulgaria	EPP
Sajoez na demokratichnite sili	UDF	Union of the Democratic Forces	Bulgaria	EPP
Dimokratikós Sinayermós	DISY	Democratic Rally	Cyprus	EPP	?
SNK Evropští demokraté)	SNK	SNK European Democrats	Czech Republic	ED
Občanská demokratická strana	ODS	Civic Democratic Party	Czech Republic	ED
Krestanská a demokratická unie - Ceskoslovenská strana lidová	KDU-CSL	Christian and Democratic Union - Czechoslovak People's Party	Czech Republic	EPP	?
Det Konservative Folkeparti	KF	Conservative People's Party	Denmark	EPP
Isamaa ja Res Publica Liit	IRL	Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica	Estonia	EPP	?
Kansallinen Kokoomus	KOK	National Coalition Party	Finland	EPP
Union pour un Mouvement Populaire	UMP	Union for a Popular Movement	France	EPP
Christlich Demokratische Union	CDU	Christian Democratic Union	Germany	EPP
Christlich-Soziale Union in Bayern	CSU	Christian Social Union of Bavaria	Germany	EPP
Néa Dimokratía	ND	New Democracy	Greece	EPP
Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség	?	Hungarian Civic Union	Hungary	EPP	?
Magyar Demokrata Fórum	MDF	Hungarian Democratic Forum	Hungary	EPP
Fine Gael	FG	The United Ireland Party	Ireland	EPP
Südtiroler Volkspartei	SVP	South Tyrolese People's Party	Italy	EPP	?
Partito Pensionati	PP	Pensioners' Party	Italy	ED
Forza Italia	FI	Italy Forward	Italy	EPP
Popolari-UDEUR	UDEUR	Democratic Union for Europe	Italy	EPP
Unione Democratici Cristiani di Centro	UDC	Union of Christian and Centre Democrats	Italy	EPP
Jaunais Laiks	JL	New Era	Latvia	EPP	?
Tautas Partija	TP	People's Party	Latvia	EPP	?
Tevynes sajunga - Lietuvos konservatoriai	TS-LK	Homeland Union - Lithuanian Conservative Party	Lithuania	EPP	?
Chrëschtlech Sozial Vollekspartei	CSV	Christian-Social People's Party	Luxembourg	EPP
Partit Nazzjonalista	PN	Nationalist Party	Malta	EPP	?
Christen-Democratisch Appèl	CDA	Christian Democratic Appeal	Netherlands	EPP
Platforma Obywatelska	PO	Civic Platform	Poland	EPP	?
Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe	PSL	Polish Peasant Party	Poland	EPP	?
Centro Democrático e Social / Partido Popular	CDS/PP	Democratic and Social Center / People's Party	Portugal	ED
Partido Social Democrata	PSD	Social Democratic Party	Portugal	EPP
Partidul Democrat-Liberal	PD-L	Democratic Liberal Party	Romania	EPP
Romániai Magyar Demokrata Szövetség	UDMR	Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania	Romania	EPP
Krestanskodemokraticke hnutie	KDH	Christian Democratic Movement of Slovakia	Slovakia	EPP
Slovenská demokratická a krestanská únia - Demokratická strana	SDKÚ-DS	Slovak Democratic and Christian Union - Democratic Party	Slovakia	EPP
Magyar Koalíció Pártja/Strana madarskej koalície	SMK	Party of Hungarian Coalition	Slovakia	EPP	?
Nova Slovenija Kršcanska ljudska stranka	NSi	New Slovenia	Slovenia	EPP	?
Slovenska demokratska stranka	SDS	Slovenian Democratic Party	Slovenia	EPP	?
Partido Popular	PP	People's Party	Spain	EPP
Kristdemokraterna	KD	Christian Democrats	Sweden	EPP
Moderata samlingspartiet	M or MSP	Moderate Party	Sweden	EPP
Conservative Party	?	Conservative Party	United Kingdom	ED	?
Ulster Unionist Party	UUP	Ulster Unionist Party	United Kingdom	ED	?

Membership at formation

The 38 members in the Christian Democratic Group on 11 September 1952 were as follows:

Member state	MEPs	Party	MEPs	Notes
Belgium	5	Social Christian Party	5	Théodore Lefevre Paul Struye Pierre Wigny Pierre De Smet Alfred Bertrand
France	5	Christian People's Party (Saar)	2	Franz Singer Erwin Mueller
France	5	Republican People's Movement	3	François De Menthon Pierre Henri Teitgen Alain Poher
Germany	8	Christian Democratic Union Party and Christian Social Union Party	7	Günter Henle Eugen Gerstenmaier Heinrich Von Brentano Hermann Pünder Franz Josef Strauss Georg Pelster Hermann Kopf
Germany	8	Federal Union Party	1	Helmut Bertram
Italy	12	Christian Democratic Party	12	Pietro Campilli Antonio Azara Lodovico Benvenuti Mario Cingolani Francesco Dominedo Lodovico Montini Angelo Giacomo Mott Italo Mario Sacco Vinicio Ziino Giuseppe Togni Antonio Boggiano-Pico Sabatini (Armando Sabatini?)
Luxembourg	2	Christian Social Party	2	Fernand Loesch Nicolas Margue
Netherlands	6	Anti-Revolutionary Party	2	J. A. H. J. S. Bruis Slot W. Rip
		Catholic People's Party	3	M. A. M. Klompe or Lompe E. M. J. A. Sassen P. A. Blaisse
		Christian Historical Union	1	G. Vixseboxe

Activities

In the news

Activities performed by EPP-ED in the period between June 1 2004 and June 1 2008 that resulted in an entry on Google News include:

monitoring elections in Palestine and the Ukraine;

encouraging transeuropean rail travel, telecoms deregulation, energy security, a common energy policy, the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Union, partial reform of the CAP, and attempts to tackle illegal immigration;

denouncing Russian involvement in South Ossetia;

supporting the Constitution Treaty,and the Lisbon Treaty;

debating globalisation, relations with China, and Taiwan;

backing plans to outlaw Holocaust denial;

nominating Anna Politkovskaya for the 2007 Sakharov Prize;

expelling Daniel Hannan from the Group;

the ongoing discussion about whether ED MEPs should remain within EPP-ED or form a Group of their own;

criticisms of the Group's approach to tackle low turnout for the 2009 elections and the Group's use of the two-President arrangement.

Parliamentary activity profile

The debates and votes in the European Parliament are tracked by its website and categorized by the Groups that participate in them and the rule of procedure that they fall into. The results give a profile for each Group by category and the total indicates the Group's level of participation in Parliamentary debates. The activity profile for each Group for the period August 1 2004 to August 1 2008 in the Sixth Parliament is given on the diagram on the right. EPP-ED is denoted in blue.

The website shows EPP-ED as participating in 659 motions, making it the third most active Group during the period.

Publications

EPP-ED produces many publications, which can be found here on its website. Documents produced in 2008 cover subjects such as dialogue with the Orthodox Church, study days, its strategy for 2008-09, Euro-Mediterranean relations, and the Treaty of Lisbon. It also publishes a yearbook and irregularly publishes a presentation, a two-page summary of the Group.

Analysis

Hix and Nouri (part 1)

A 2008 working paper from the London School of Economics/Free University of Brussels by Hix and Nouri considered the positions of the Groups by analysing their roll-call votes. The results for each Group are given in the diagram on the right. The vertical scale is anti-pro Europe spectrum, (0% = extremely anti-Europe, 100% = extremely pro), and the horizontal scale is economic left-right spectrum, (0% = extremely economically left-wing, 100% = extremely economically right-wing). The EPP subgroup is denoted by a blue square, the ED subgroup is denoted by a dark-blue square.

The paper shows the EPP subgroup as being centre-right Europhiles, and the ED subgroup as being right-wing Eurosceptics.

Hix and Nouri (part 2)

The same paper gave figures for the level of cooperation between each Group: how many times they vote with a Group, and how many times they vote against. The paper's figures for EPP-ED are given below.

Issue	Position	Notes
Cooperation with EUL/NGL	39.6%	0% = never votes with, 100% = always votes with
Cooperation with G/EFA	47.4%	0% = never votes with, 100% = always votes with
Cooperation with PES	68.4%	0% = never votes with, 100% = always votes with
Cooperation with ALDE	78.0%	0% = never votes with, 100% = always votes with
Cooperation with UEN	71.2%	0% = never votes with, 100% = always votes with
Cooperation with IND/DEM	52.0%	0% = never votes with, 100% = always votes with
Cooperation with NI	68.2%	0% = never votes with, 100% = always votes with

McElroy and Benoit

A 2005 discussion paper from the Institute for International Integration Studies by Gail McElroy and Kenneth Benoit gave these figures for EPP-ED in July 2004:

Issue	Position	Notes
Left-right spectrum	63%	0% = extremely left-wing, 100% = extremely right-wing
Tax vs. spending	33%	0% = extremely against tax, 100% = extremely for
Deeper Europe	63%	0% = extremely against internal EU authority, 100% = extremely for
Federal Europe	63%	0% = extremely against a federal Europe, 100% = extremely for
Deregulation	67.5%	0% = extremely against deregulation, 100% = extremely for
Superpower Europe	70%	0% = extremely against a common defence and security policy, 100% = extremely for
Fortress Europe	60%	0% = extremely against controlling migration into the EU, 100% = extremely for
Green Europe	39.5%	0% = extremely against environment, 100% = extremely for
Liberal Europe	30.5%	0% = extremely against homosexual equality, abortion, and euthanasia, 100% = extremely for

Heinemann et al.

An April 2008 discussion paper from the Centre for European Economic Research by Heinemann et al. analysed each Group's stance on a hypothetical generalised EU tax. The results for each Group are given in the diagram on the right. The horizontal scale denotes their stance (-100% = totally against, 0% = neutral, 100% = totally for). EPP-ED is denoted in blue.

The paper shows EPP-ED as being slightly in favour of a hypothetical generalised EU tax.

Faas

Cohesion is the term used to define whether a Group is united or divided amongst itself. A 2002 paper from European Integration online Papers (EIoP) by Thorsten Faas analysed the Groups as they stood in 2002. The results for each Group are given in the diagram on the right. The horizontal scale denotes cohesion (0% = totally split, 100% = totally united). EPP-ED is denoted in blue.

The paper shows EPP-ED as being the fourth most cohesive Group in 2002.

Stokes

The March 2006 edition of \\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Social Europe: the journal of the European Left included a chapter called \\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Women and Social Democratic Politics\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" by Wendy Stokes. That chapter gave the proportion of female MEPs in each Group in the European Parliament. The results for each Group are given in the diagram on the right. The horizontal scale denotes gender balance (0% = totally male, 100% = totally female, but no Group has a female majority, so the scale stops at 50%). EPP-ED is denoted in blue.

The chapter shows EPP-ED as being the third most unbalanced Group in 2006 in terms of gender balance.