European People's Party

European People's Party
President	Donald Tusk (PL)
Secretary-General	Antonio López-Istúriz White MEP (ES)
Group leader	Manfred Weber MEP (DE)
Founded	8 July 1976 (1976-07-08)
Headquarters	Rue du Commerce/Handelsstraat 10, 1000 – Brussels, Belgium (Europe)
Think tank	Martens Centre
Student wing	European Democrat Students
Youth wing	Youth of the European People's Party
Women's wing	Women of the European People's Party
Ideology	Christian democracy Conservatism Liberal conservatism Pro-Europeanism[1]
Political position	Centre-right
International affiliation	Centrist Democrat International[2] International Democrat Union[3]
European Parliament group	European People's Party
Colours	Dark blue   Selective yellow   Sky blue (customary)
European Parliament	175 / 705
European Council	11 / 27
European Commission	10 / 27
European Lower Houses	1,640 / 6,512
European Upper Houses	463 / 1,507
Website
www.epp.eu
Politics of European Union Political parties Elections

The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic,^[4] conservative,^[5][6] and liberal-conservative^[4] member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Christian-democratic parties in 1976, it has since broadened its membership to include liberal-conservative parties and parties with other centre-right political perspectives.^{[6][7][8][9][10]} On 20 November 2019, the party elected as its president the former Prime Minister of Poland and President of the European Council, Donald Tusk.^[11]

The EPP has been the largest party in the European Parliament since 1999 and in the European Council since 2002. It is also the largest party in the current European Commission. The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen is from the EPP. Many of the founding fathers of the European Union were also from parties that later formed the EPP. Outside the EU the party also controls a majority in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

The EPP includes major centre-right parties such as the CDU/CSU of Germany, The Republicans of France, CD&V of Belgium, PNL of Romania, Fine Gael of Ireland, National Coalition Party of Finland, New Democracy of Greece, Forza Italia of Italy, the People's Party (PP) of Spain, the Civic Platform of Poland and the Social Democratic Party of Portugal.

History[]

According to its website, the EPP is "the family of the political centre-right, whose roots run deep in the history and civilisation of the European continent, and [which] has pioneered the European project from its inception".^[12]

The EPP was founded in Luxembourg on 8 July 1976 on the initiative of Jean Seitlinger; Leo Tindemans, then Prime Minister of Belgium, who became the first President of the EPP; and Wilfried Martens, who later became both President of the EPP and Prime Minister of Belgium. It had been preceded by the Secretariat International des partis démocratiques d'inspiration chrétienne, founded in 1925,^[13] the , founded in 1946^[14] (or 1948),^[13] and the European Union of Christian Democrats, founded in 1965.^[14]

In the late 1990s, the Finnish politician Sauli Niinistö negotiated the merger of the European Democrat Union (EDU), of which he was president, into the EPP. In October 2002 the EDU ceased its activities after being formally absorbed by the EPP at a special event in Estoril, Portugal. In recognition of his efforts, Niinistö was elected Honorary President of the EPP the same year.

The EPP has had six Presidents:

No.	Image	Name	Tenure	Party	Member state
1		Leo Tindemans (1922–2014)	1976–1985	CD&V	Belgium
2		Piet Bukman (born 1934)	1985–1987	CDA	Netherlands
3		Jacques Santer (born 1937)	1987–1990	CSV	Luxembourg
4		Wilfried Martens (1936–2013)	1990–2013 [Died]	CD&V	Belgium
5		Joseph Daul (born 1947)	2013–2019	The Republicans	France
6		Donald Tusk (born 1957)	2019–	Civic Platform	Poland

Platform and manifesto[]

Political manifesto and platform[]

During its Congress in Bucharest in 2012, the EPP updated its political platform after 20 years (since its Congress in Athens in 1992) and approved a political manifesto in which it summarised its main values and policies.

The manifesto highlights:

• Freedom as a central human right, coupled with responsibility
• Respect for traditions and associations
• Solidarity to help those in need, who in turn should also make an effort to improve their situation
• Ensuring solid public finances
• Preserving a healthy environment
• Subsidiarity
• Pluralist democracy and a social market economy

The manifesto also describes the EPP's priorities for the EU, including:

• European Political Union
• Direct election of the President of the European Commission
• Completion of the European Single Market
• Promotion of the family, improvements in education and health
• Strengthening of the common immigration and asylum policy, and integrating immigrants
• Continuation of enlargement of the EU, enhancement of the European Neighbourhood Policy and special relationship frameworks for countries that cannot, or do not want to, join the EU
• Defining a truly common EU energy policy
• Strengthening European political parties

Electoral manifesto[]

As a central part of its campaign for the European elections in 2009, the EPP approved its election manifesto at its Congress in Warsaw in April that year. The manifesto called for:

• Creation of new jobs, continuing reforms and investment in education, lifelong learning, and employment to create opportunities for everyone.
• Avoidance of protectionism, and coordination of fiscal and monetary policies.
• Increased transparency and surveillance in financial markets.
• Making Europe the market leader in green technology.
• Increasing the share of renewable energy to at least 20 percent of the energy mix by 2020.
• Family-friendly flexibility for working parents, better child care and housing, family-friendly fiscal policies, encouragement of parental leave.
• A new strategy to attract skilled workers from the rest of the world to make Europe's economy more competitive, more dynamic and more knowledge-driven.

The Fidesz crisis[]

Concerns that the Hungarian ruling party Fidesz^{[note 1]} and its leader Viktor Orbán were undermining the rule of law in Hungary caused a split in the EPP in the run-up of the 2019 European Parliament election.^[18] On one hand, the EPP had been reluctant for years to address Fidesz's stance against the rule of law, expressed by the Article 7 proceedings of the European Parliament. On the other hand, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, a prominent EPP-member, stated "I believe his [Fidesz’s] place is not in the European People’s Party".^[19] Orbán's campaigns targeting billionaire George Soros^[20] and Jean-Claude Juncker^[21] carried wide reverberations for Europe questioning the EPP's effort to install its lead candidate Manfred Weber as the next President of the European Commission.^[22]

After years of deferring a decision about the Fidesz issue,^[23] the EPP was eventually compelled to address the problem two months before the 2019 European elections, as 13 outraged member parties requested the Hungarian party's exclusion from the EPP due to its billboard campaign featuring Jean-Claude Juncker. 190 of the 193 EPP delegates supported the common agreement with Fidesz on 20 March 2019 to partially suspend its membership. According to it, Fidesz was "until further notice" excluded from EPP meetings and internal elections, but remained in the European People's Party Group of the European Parliament. Fidesz did not deliver on its earlier promise to leave the EPP in case of a penalty.^[24]

In February 2020, the EPP extended the suspension of Fidesz indefinitely.^[25]

On 2 April 2020, thirteen parties within the EPP issued a joint statement aimed at Donald Tusk, asking him to expunge Fidesz from the party.^[26] Three days before this, the Hungarian Parliament had passed a law, declaring a state of emergency within Hungary, granting Prime Minister Viktor Orbán the right to rule by decree.^[27]

On 3 March 2021, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced that Fidesz would leave the EPP group after it changed its internal rules (to allow suspension and expulsion of multiple deputies and their groups), although Fidesz remained a suspended member of the EPP itself.^[28] On 18 March 2021, Fidesz decided to leave the European People's Party.^[29]

Governance[]

The EPP operates as an international non-profit association under Belgian law according to its by-laws, the Statutes of the European People's Party (Statuts du Parti Populaire Européen), originally adopted 29 April 1976.

Presidency[]

The Presidency is the executive body of the party. It decides on the general political guidelines of the EPP and presides over its Political Assembly. The Presidency is composed of the President, ten Vice-Presidents, the Honorary Presidents, the Secretary General and the Treasurer. The Chairperson of the EPP Group in the European Parliament, the Presidents of the Commission, the Parliament and the Council, and the High Representative (if they are a member of an EPP member party) are all ex officio Vice-Presidents.

As of November 2019 the Presidency^[30] of the EPP is (Vice Presidents in the order of votes received at the EPP Congress in Zagreb):

• Donald Tusk – President (former Prime Minister and President of the European Council)
• Antonio Lopez-Isturiz White – Secretary General (MEP)
• Mariya Gabriel – Vice President (EU Commissioner)
• David McAllister – Vice President (MEP, former Minister-President)
• Helen McEntee – Vice President (Minister)
• Johannes Hahn – Vice President (EU Commissioner)
• Esther de Lange – Vice President (MEP)
• Antonio Tajani – Vice President (MEP, former European Parliament President, former Commission Vice President)
• Siegfried Mureșan – Vice President (MEP)
• Franck Proust – Vice President (former MEP)
• Paulo Rangel – Vice President (MEP)
• Petteri Orpo – Vice President (Leader of Kokoomus, former Finance Minister)
• Christian Schmidt – Treasurer (MP, former Minister)
• Ursula von der Leyen – Ex officio Vice-President (President of the European Commission)
• Manfred Weber – Ex officio Vice-President (Chairperson of the EPP Group in European Parliament)
• Sauli Niinistö – Honorary President (President of Finland)

EPP Political Assembly[]

The Political Assembly defines the political positions of the EPP between Congresses and decides on membership applications, political guidelines and the budget. The Political Assembly is composed of designated delegates from EPP member parties, associated parties, member associations, and other affiliated groups. The Political Assembly meets at least three times a year.

Congress[]

The Congress is the highest decision-making body of the EPP. It is composed of delegates from member parties, EPP associations, EPP Group MEPs, the EPP Presidency, national heads of party and government, and European Commissioners who belong to a member party, with the numbers of delegates being weighted according to the EPP's share of MEPs, and individual delegates being elected by member parties according to member parties' rules.^[31]

Under the EPP's statutes, the Congress must meet once every three years, but it also meets normally during the years of elections for the European Parliament (every five years), and extraordinary Congresses have also been summoned. The Congress elects the EPP Presidency every three years, decides on the main policy documents and electoral programmes, and provides a platform for the EPP's heads of government and party leaders.

Activities within the party[]

Summit[]

EPP leaders meet for the EPP Summit a few hours before each meeting of the European Council in order to formulate common positions. Invitations are sent by the EPP President and attendees include, besides the members of the EPP's presidency, all Presidents and Prime Ministers who are members of the European Council and belong to the EPP; the Presidents of the European Parliament, the European Commission and the European Council, as well as the High Representative for Foreign Affairs, provided that they belong to the EPP; Deputy Prime Ministers or other ministers in those cases where the Prime Minister of a country does not belong to an EPP member party; and, where no EPP member party is part of a government, the leaders of the main EPP opposition party.

Ministerial meetings[]

Following the pattern of the EPP Summit the party also organises regular EPP Ministerial meetings before each meeting of the Council of the European Union, with ministers, deputy ministers, secretaries of state and MEPs in the specific policy field attending:

• General Affairs
• Foreign Affairs
• Economy and Finance
• Home Affairs
• Justice
• Defence
• Employment and Social Affairs
• Industry
• Agriculture
• Energy
• Environment^[32]

Other activities[]

The EPP also organises working groups on different issues on an ad hoc basis, as well as meetings with its affiliated members in the European Commission. It also invites individual Commissioners to the EPP Summit meetings and to EPP Ministerial meetings.

Following amendments to the EU Regulation that governs europarties in 2007, the EPP, like the other European political parties, is responsible for organising a pan-European campaign for the European elections every five years. According to the Lisbon Treaty, the parties must present candidates for President of the European Commission, but the EPP had already done this by endorsing José Manuel Barroso for a second term in April 2009.

The year 2014 saw the first fully-fledged campaign of the EPP ahead of the European elections of that year. The party nominated former Luxembourgish Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker as its candidate for President of the European Commission and led a pan-European campaign in coordination with the national campaigns of all its member parties.

Activities within European institutions[]

As of December 2019, the EPP will hold the Presidency of the European Commission with Ursula von der Leyen (CDU).

Overview of the European institutions[]

Organisation	Institution	Number of seats
European Union	European Parliament	187 / 705
	Committee of the Regions	125 / 350
	European Commission	10 / 27
	European Council (Heads of Government)	11 / 27
	Council of the European Union (Participation in Government)	11 / 27

European Commission[]

Following EPP's victory in the 2019 European Parliament election, Ursula von der Leyen was nominated by the EPP as Commission President. She was endorsed by the European Council and elected by an absolute majority in the European Parliament. On 1 December 2019, the von der Leyen Commission officially took office. It includes 10 EPP officeholders out of 27 European Commissioners.

State	Commissioner	Portfolio	Political party	Portrait
Germany	von der LeyenUrsula von der Leyen	President	CDU
Latvia	DombrovskisValdis Dombrovskis	Executive Vice President – An Economy that Works for the People, Trade	Unity
Croatia	ŠuicaDubravka Šuica	Vice President – Democracy and Demography	HDZ
Greece	SchinasMargaritis Schinas	Vice President – Promoting the European Way of Life	ND
Austria	HahnJohannes Hahn	Commissioner for Budget and Administration	ÖVP
Ireland	McGuinnessMairead McGuinness	Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union	FG
Bulgaria	GabrielMariya Gabriel	Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth	GERB
Cyprus	KyriakidesStella Kyriakides	Commissioner for Health and Food Safety	DISY
Romania	VăleanAdina-Ioana Vălean	Commissioner for Transport	PNL
Hungary	VárhelyiOlivér Várhelyi	Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement	EPP (Independent on the national level, but affiliated with EPP at the EU level)

European Parliament[]

The EPP has the largest group in the European Parliament: the EPP Group. It currently has 182 Members of the European Parliament and its chairman is the German MEP Manfred Weber.

In every election for the European Parliament candidates elected on lists of member parties of the EPP are obliged to join the EPP Group in the European Parliament.

The EPP Group holds five of the fourteen vice-presidencies of the European Parliament.

European Council[]

The EPP has 9 out of the 27 EU heads of state or government attending the EPP summit meetings in preparation of the European Council (as of Mar 2021):

Member state	Representative	Title	Political party	Member of the Council since	Portrait
Austria	Sebastian Kurz	Chancellor	ÖVP	7 January 2020
Bulgaria	Boyko Borissov	Prime Minister	GERB	7 November 2014
Croatia	Andrej Plenković	Prime Minister	HDZ	19 October 2016
Cyprus	Nicos Anastasiades	President	DISY	28 February 2013
Germany	Angela Merkel	Chancellor	CDU	22 November 2005
Greece	Kyriakos Mitsotakis	Prime Minister	ND	8 July 2019
Latvia	Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš	Prime Minister	Unity	23 January 2019
Romania	Klaus Iohannis	President	PNL	21 December 2014
Slovakia	Eduard Heger	Prime Minister	OĽaNO	1 April 2021
Slovenia	Janez Janša	Prime minister	SDS	13 March 2020

National legislatures[]

Country	Institution	Number of seats
Austria	National Council Lower house	71 / 183
	Federal Council Upper house	22 / 61
Belgium	Chamber of Representatives Lower house	17 / 150
	Senate Upper house	7 / 60
Bulgaria	National Assembly	83 / 240
Croatia	Sabor	62 / 151
Cyprus	House of Representatives	18 / 56
Czech Republic	Chamber of Deputies Lower house	23 / 200
	Senate Upper house	34 / 81
Denmark	The Folketing	13 / 179
Estonia	Riigikogu	12 / 101
Finland	Parliament	38 / 200
France	National Assembly Lower house	104 / 577
	Senate Upper house	148 / 348
Germany	Bundestag	245 / 709
Greece	Parliament	158 / 300
Hungary	Országgyűlés	17 / 199
Ireland	Dáil Lower house	35 / 160
	Seanad Upper house	15 / 60
Italy	Chamber of Deputies Lower house	88 / 630
	Senate Upper house	55 / 321
Latvia	Saeima	9 / 100
Lithuania	Seimas	50 / 141
Luxembourg	Chamber of Deputies	21 / 60
Malta	House of Representatives	28 / 67
Netherlands	House of Representatives Lower house	15 / 150
	Senate Upper house	9 / 75
Poland	Sejm Lower house	129 / 460
	Senate Upper house	43 / 100
Portugal	Assembly of the Republic	84 / 230
Romania	Chamber of Deputies Lower house	113 / 330
	Senate Upper house	50 / 136
Slovakia	National Council	0 / 150
Slovenia	National Assembly	33 / 90
Spain	Congress of Deputies Lower house	88 / 350
	Senate Upper house	97 / 265
Sweden	Riksdag	92 / 349

Activities beyond the European Union[]

In third countries[]

Through its associate and observer parties the EPP has four head of state or government in non-EU countries:

State	Representatives	Title	Political party	In power since	Portrait
Norway	Erna Solberg	Prime Minister	Høyre	16 October 2013
Serbia	Aleksandar Vučić	President	SNS	31 May 2017
Serbia	Ana Brnabić	Prime Minister	SNS	29 June 2017
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Šefik Džaferović	Bosniak Member of the Presidency	SDA	20 November 2018
Moldova	Maia Sandu	President	PAS	24 December 2020
Moldova	Natalia Gavrilița	Prime Minister	PAS	6 August 2021

In the Council of Europe[]

The Group of the EPP in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe defends freedom of expression and information, as well as freedom of movement of ideas and religious tolerance. It promotes the principle of subsidiarity and local autonomy, as well as the defence of national, social, and other minorities. The EPP/CD Group is led by Aleksander Pociej, a member of the Polish Civic Platform.

The EPP/CD group also includes members from parties that are not related to the EPP itself, including members of the Patriotic Union (Liechtenstein), the Progressive Citizens' Party (Liechtenstein), and the National and Democratic Union (Monaco).^[33]

In the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe[]

The "EPP and like-minded Group" in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the most active political group in that body. The Group meets regularly and promotes the EPP's positions. The members of the EPP Group also participate in the election-monitoring missions of the OSCE.

The Group is chaired by Walburga Habsburg Douglas (Sweden), and its Vice-Presidents are Consiglio Di Nino (Canada), Vilija Aleknaitė Abramikiene (Lithuania), Laura Allegrini (Italy), and George Tsereteli (Georgia).

The Group also includes members of parties not related to the EPP, accounting for the "like-minded" part of its name. Among them are members of the Patriotic Union (Liechtenstein), the Union for the Principality (Monaco), the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom, the Conservative Party of Canada, and the Republican Party of the United States.

In the North Atlantic Treaty Organization[]

The EPP is also present and active in the Parliamentary Assembly of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and forms the "EPP and Associated Members" Group there. It is led by the German CDU politician Karl Lamers, who is also the current President of the Assembly. The Group also included members of the Conservative Party of Canada and the Republican Party of the United States, but now they're members of the Conservative Group

Relations with the United States[]

The EPP has close relations with the International Republican Institute (IRI), an organisation funded by the U.S. government especially to promote democracy and democratisation. The EPP and the IRI cooperate within the framework of the European Partnership Initiative.^[34]

The EPP's late President, Wilfried Martens, endorsed Senator John McCain, the Republican nominee for president, in the presidential election in 2008.^[35] McCain was also Chairman of the IRI. In 2011 Martens and McCain made joint press statements expressing their concern about the state of democracy in Ukraine.^[36][37]

Global networks[]

The EPP is the European wing of two global centre-right organisations, the International Democrat Union (IDU) and the Christian Democrat International (CDI).

Martens Centre[]

Following the revision in 2007 of the EU Regulation that governs European political parties, allowing the creation of European foundations affiliated to Europarties, the EPP established in the same year its official foundation/think tank, the Centre for European Studies (CES), which was later renamed as the Martens Centre. It includes as members all the major national think tanks and foundations affiliated to EPP member parties: the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (CDU), the Hanns Seidel Foundation (CSU), the Foundation for Analysis and Social Studies (PP), the Constantinos Karamanlis Institute for Democracy (ND), the Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation (MOD), the Political Academy of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) and others. During the European Parliament election campaign in 2009, the Centre launched a web-based campaign module, tellbarroso.eu, to support Jose Manuel Barroso, the EPP's candidate for re-election as Commission President.

In 2014, to honour Wilfried Martens – the late President of the EPP who also founded the CES – changed its name to Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies or simply Martens Centre.

The current President of the Martens Centre is former Slovak Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda.

The Budapest-based Robert Schuman Institute and the Luxembourg-based Robert Schuman Foundation are also affiliated with the European People's Party.^{[citation needed]}

EPP associations[]

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The EPP is linked to several specific associations that focus on specific groups and organise seminars, forums, publications, and other activities.

Small and Medium Entrepreneurs Europe (SME Europe)[]

SME Europe is the official business organisation of the EPP and serves as a network for pro-business politicians and political organisations. Its main objective is to shape EU policy in a more SME-friendly way in close cooperation with the SME Circle of the EPP Group in the European Parliament, the DG Enterprise and the pro-business organisations of the EPP's member parties. Its top priorities are to reform the legal framework for SMEs all over Europe and to promote and support the interests of small and medium-sized enterprises. SME Europe was founded in May 2012 by three Members of the European Parliament, Paul Rübig, Nadezhda Neynsky, and Bendt Bendtsen.

European Democrat Students[]

European Democrat Students (EDS) is now the official students' organisation of the EPP, though it was founded in 1961, 15 years before the EPP itself. Led by Virgilio Falco, EDS has 40 member organisations, representing nearly 1,600,000 students and young people^[38] in 31 countries, including Belarus and Georgia. Every year EDS hosts Summer and Winter "universities", and several seminars. It also regularly publishes a magazine, Bullseye, and organises topical campaigns.

European Seniors' Union[]

Founded in Madrid in 1995 and led by Ann Hermans of the CD&V, the European Seniors' Union (ESU) is the largest political senior citizens' organisation in Europe. The ESU is represented in 26 states with 45 organisations and about 500,000 members.

European Union of Christian Democratic Workers[]

The European Union of Christian Democratic Workers (EUCDW) is the labour organisation of the EPP, with 24 member organisations in 18 different countries. As the officially recognised EPP association of workers, the EUCDW is led by Elmar Brok, MEP. It aims at the political unification of a democratic Europe, the development of the EPP based on Christian social teaching, and the defence of workers' interests in European policy-making.

Women of the European People’s Party[]

The Women of the European People's Party (EPP Women) is recognised by the EPP as the official association of women from all like-minded political parties of Europe. EPP Women has more than 40 member organisations from countries of the European Union and beyond. All of them are women's organisations of political parties that are members of the EPP. EPP Women is led by Doris Pack.

Youth of the European People’s Party[]

The Youth of the European People's Party (YEPP), led by Lídia Pereira, is the EPP's official youth organisation. It has 64 member organisations, bringing together between one and two million young people in 40 countries.

Membership[]

Within the EPP there are three kinds of member organisations: full members, associate members and observers. Full members are parties from EU states. They have absolute rights to vote in all the EPP's organs and on all matters. Associate members have the same voting rights as full members except for matters concerning the EU's structure or policies. These associate members are parties from EU candidate countries and EFTA countries. Observer parties can participate in all the activities of the EPP, and attend the Congresses and Political Assemblies, but they do not have any voting rights.

Special status of "supporting member" is granted by the Presidency to individuals and associations. Although they do not have voting rights, they can be invited by the President to attend meetings of certain organs of the party.

Full member parties[]

Country	Party name	Abbr.	Legislature lower house seats	Legislature upper house Seats	Status
Austria	Austrian People's Party Österreichische Volkspartei	ÖVP	71 / 183	22 / 61	Government
Belgium	Christian Democratic and Flemish Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams	CD&V	12 / 150	5 / 60	Government
	Humanist Democratic Centre Centre démocrate humaniste	cdH	5 / 150	2 / 60	Opposition
Bulgaria	Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria Граждани за европейско развитие на България Grazhdani za evropeĭsko razvitie na Bŭlgariya	GERB	73 / 240		Government
	Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria Демократи за силна България Demokrati za silna Bălgarija	DSB	8 / 240		Extra-parliamentary
	Union of Democratic Forces Съюз на демократичните сили Sayuz na demokratichnite sili	SDS	2 / 240		Extra-parliamentary
	Democratic Party Демократическа партия Demokraticheska partia	DP	0 / 240		Extra-parliamentary
	Movement "Bulgaria of the Citizens" Движение „България на гражданите“ Dvizhenie „Bulgariya na grazhdanite“	BCM	0 / 240		Extra-parliamentary
Croatia	Croatian Democratic Union Hrvatska demokratska zajednica	HDZ	62 / 151		Government
Cyprus	Democratic Rally Δημοκρατικός Συναγερμός Dimokratikós Sinagermós	DISY	18 / 56		Government
Czech Republic	Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party Křesťanská a demokratická unie – Československá strana lidová	KDU–ČSL	10 / 200	12 / 81	Opposition
	TOP 09		7 / 200	5 / 81	Opposition
	Mayors and Independents Starostové a Nezávislí	STAN	6 / 200	17 / 81	Opposition
Denmark	Conservative People's Party Det Konservative Folkeparti	C	13 / 179		Opposition
	Christian Democrats Kristendemokraterne	KD	0 / 179		Extra-parliamentary
Estonia	Pro Patria Isamaa	I	12 / 101		Opposition
Finland	National Coalition Party Kansallinen Kokoomus Samlingspartiet	KOK	38 / 200		Opposition
	Christian Democrats Kristillisdemokraatit Kristdemokraterna	KD	5 / 200		Opposition
France	The Republicans Les Républicains	LR	104 / 577	148 / 348	Opposition
Germany	Christian Democratic Union Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands	CDU	200 / 709		Government
	Christian Social Union in Bavaria Christlich-Soziale Union in Bayern	CSU	45 / 709		Government
Greece	New Democracy Νέα Δημοκρατία Nea Dimokratia	ND	158 / 300		Government
Hungary	Christian Democratic People's Party Kereszténydemokrata Néppárt	KDNP	17 / 199		Government
Ireland	Fine Gael	FG	35 / 160	15 / 60	Government
Italy	Forza Italia	FI	84 / 630	49 / 321	Government
	South Tyrolean People's Party Südtiroler Volkspartei	SVP	3 / 630	3 / 321	Confidence and supply
	Union of the Centre Unione di Centro	UdC	0 / 630	3 / 321	Government
	Trentino Tyrolean Autonomist Party Partito Autonomista Trentino Tirolese	PATT	1 / 630	0 / 321	Confidence and supply
	Popular Alternative Alternativa Popolare	AP	0 / 630	0 / 321	Extra-parliamentary
	Populars for Italy Popolari per l'Italia	PpI	0 / 630	0 / 321	Extra-parliamentary
Latvia	Unity Vienotība	V	9 / 100		Government
Lithuania	Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats Tėvynės sąjunga – Lietuvos krikščionys demokratai	TS-LKD	50 / 141		Government
Luxembourg	Christian Social People's Party Chrëschtlech Sozial Vollekspartei Parti populaire chrétien social Christlich Soziale Volkspartei	CSV/PCS	21 / 60		Opposition
Malta	Nationalist Party Partit Nazzjonalista	PN	28 / 67		Opposition
Netherlands	Christian Democratic Appeal Christen-Democratisch Appèl	CDA	15 / 150	9 / 75	Government
Poland	Civic Platform Platforma Obywatelska	PO	110 / 460	41 / 100	Opposition
	Polish People's Party Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe	PSL	19 / 460	2 / 100	Opposition
Portugal	Social Democratic Party Partido Social Democrata	PSD	79 / 230		Opposition
	Democratic and Social Centre – People's Party Centro Democrático e Social – Partido Popular	CDS-PP	5 / 230		Opposition
Romania	National Liberal Party Partidul Național Liberal	PNL	93 / 330	41 / 136	Government
	Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania Romániai Magyar Demokrata Szövetség Uniunea Democrată Maghiară din România	UDMR	20 / 330	9 / 136	Government
	People's Movement Party Partidul Mișcarea Populară	PMP	0 / 330	0 / 136	Extra-parliamentary
Slovakia	Christian Democratic Movement Kresťanskodemokratické hnutie	KDH	0 / 150		Extra-parliamentary
	Most–Híd		0 / 150		Extra-parliamentary
	TOGETHER - Civic Democracy SPOLU - Občianska demokracia	SPOLU	0 / 150		Extra-parliamentary
	Party of the Hungarian Community Magyar Közösség Pártja Strana maďarskej komunity	SMK/MKP	0 / 150		Extra-parliamentary
Slovenia	Slovenian Democratic Party Slovenska demokratska stranka	SDS	26 / 90		Government
	Slovenian People's Party Slovenska ljudska stranka	SLS	0 / 90		Extra-parliamentary
	New Slovenia–Christian Democrats Nova Slovenija – Krščanski demokrati	NSi	7 / 90		Government
Spain	People's Party Partido Popular	PP	88 / 350	97 / 265	Opposition
Sweden	Moderate Party Moderata samlingspartiet	M	70 / 349		Opposition
	Christian Democrats Kristdemokraterna	KD	22 / 349		Opposition

Associate members[]

 Albania

• Democratic Party of Albania (PDSh)

 North Macedonia

• Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization – Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO–DPMNE)

 Norway

• Conservative Party (H)

 Serbia

• Serbian Progressive Party (SNS)
• Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (VMSZ/SVM)

  Switzerland

• The Centre

Observer members[]

 Armenia

• Republican Party of Armenia (HHK)
• Rule of Law (OEK)
• Heritage

 Belarus

• Belarusian Christian Democracy (BCD)
• United Civic Party of Belarus (AHP)
•  [be-tarask] (The Movement for Freedom; MFF)^[39]

 Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Party of Democratic Action (SDA)
• Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HDZ BiH)
• Party of Democratic Progress (PDP)
• Croatian Democratic Union 1990 (HDZ 1990)

 Georgia

• United National Movement (UNM)
• European Georgia

 Kosovo

• Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK)

 Moldova

• Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova (PLDM)
• Dignity and Truth Platform Party (PPDA)
• Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS)

 Montenegro

• Democratic Montenegro (DCG)
• Bosniak Party (BS)

 Norway

• Christian People's Party (KrF)

 San Marino

• Sammarinese Christian Democratic Party (PDCS)

 Ukraine

• Democratic Alliance^{[citation needed]}
• European Solidarity^[40]
• Fatherland (since 2008)
• Self Reliance (since 2019)^[41]
• Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform (UDAR)

Former members[]

 Belarus

• Belarusian Popular Front (BNF), observer member until 2017

 France

• Centre of Social Democrats^[42]
• Union for French Democracy^[42]
• Rally for the Republic^[42]
• Union for a Popular Movement^[42]

 Croatia

• Croatian Peasant Party (HSS), member until withdrawal May 2019.

 Hungary

• Fidesz, suspended from March 20, 2019.^[43] Left EPP on March 18, 2021.^[44]

 Italy

• Christian Democracy^[42]
• Italian People's Party^[42]
• Christian Democratic Centre^[42]
• United Christian Democrats^[42]
• Italian Renewal^[42]
• Forza Italia^[42]
• Union of Democrats for Europe^[42]
• The People of Freedom^[42]
• New Centre-Right

 Romania

• Democratic Party (PD)
• Democratic Liberal Party (PDL)
• Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNȚ-CD)

 Slovakia

• Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party (SDKÚ-DS)

 Spain

• Basque Nationalist Party^[42]
• People's Democratic Party^[42]

 Turkey

• Justice and Development Party (observer)

 Ukraine

• People's Movement of Ukraine (observer)
• Our Ukraine (observer)

See also[]

Notes[]

References[]

Bibliography[]

• Jansen, Thomas (1998). The European People's Party: Origins and Development. MacMillans.
• Jansen, Thomas; Van Hecke, Steven (2011). At Europe's Service: The Origins and Evolution of the European People's Party. Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-19414-6. ISBN 978-3-642-19413-9. LCCN 2011927265.
• Kaiser, Wolfram (2004). Michael Gehler; Wolfram Kaiser (eds.). Transnational Christian Democracy: From the Nouvelles Equipes Internationales to the European People's Party. Christian Democracy in Europe since 1945. Routledge. pp. 194–208. ISBN 0-7146-5662-3.
• Herman, L., Hoerner, J., & Lacey, J. (2021). "Why does the European Right accommodate backsliding states? An analysis of 24 European People’s Party votes (2011–2019)." European Political Science Review

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to European People's Party.

• Official website
• Martens Centre the EPP think-tank
• EPP Group in the European Parliament
• EPP Group in the Committee of the Regions
• EPP Group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
• EPP Youth (YEPP)
• EPP Students (EDS)
• EPP Women
• EPP Seniors (ESU)
• EPP SME Union
• EPP Workers (EUCDW)