Welcome to roadip.com on July 4 2009.
This is an internet experiment running to monitor browsing habbits of individuals through wikipedia contents.

European People's Party (European Parliament group)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
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.
European People's Party
European Parliament group
EPP Group logo
Name Group of the European People's Party
English abbr. EPP
(22 June 2009 to present)

EPP-ED[1]
(20 July 1999[2] to 22 June 2009)

EPP[1]
(17 July 1979[3]

to 20 July 1999[2])

CD[2]
(23 June 1953[3] to 17 July 1979[3])
French abbr. PPE
(22 June 2009 to present)

PPE-DE[4]
(20 July 1999[2] to 22 June 2009)

PPE[3]
(17 July 1979[3] to 20 July 1999[2])

DC[3]
(23 June 1953[3] to 17 July 1979[3])
Formal name Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats)
(22 June 2009 to present)

Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats[4][5][6]
(20 July 1999[2] to 22 June 2009)

Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats)[3][7][8]
(17 July 1979[3] to 20 July 1999[2])

Christian Democratic Group (Group of the European People's Party)[3][8]
(14 March 1978[3] to 17 July 1979[3])

Christian Democratic Group[2][8]
(23 June 1953[3] to 14 March 1978[3])
Ideology Christian democracy
Conservatism
Liberal conservatism
European parties European People's Party
From 11 September 1952
(unofficially) [9]
23 June 1953
(officially)[9]
To present
Chaired by Joseph Daul MEP
(16 January 2007[6] to present)
MEP(s) 263 (22 June 2009)
Website http://www.eppgroup.eu/

The Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) (EPP Group) is a centre-right political group of the European Parliament. It is made up of MEPs elected from the lists of member-parties of the European People's Party, plus a few independent MEPs.

From 1999 to 2009, the group was called the European People's Party–European Democrats, as it included the European Democrats (ED), a loose association of Eurosceptic parties including the British Conservative Party and the Czech Civic Democratic Party. The EPP-ED arrangement ended in 2009, when the ED parties left to form the European Conservatives and Reformists group.

The EPP Group 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, as a result of the gradual enlargement of the EPP (party), 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 occurrences of a government-opposition dynamic, such as when the group split with the Socialists to oppose the Santer Commission during the budget crisis.

Contents

[edit] History

The Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community (the predecessor of the present day European Parliament) first met on 10 September 1952[10] and the first Christian Democratic group was unofficially formed the next day, with Maan Sassen as President.[9][11] The group held 38 of the 78 seats, two short of an absolute majority.[9][12] On 16 June 1953 the Common Assembly passed a resolution[13] enabling the official formation of political groups, and on 23 June 1953 the constituent declaration[14] of the group was published and the group was officially formed.[9][12]

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. As the Community expanded into the Union, the centre-right in the new member states were not necessarily Christian Democrat and the EPP (European People's Party, the transnational political party founded in 1976 which all group members are now affiliated to) feared being sidelined. [15] To counter this, the EPP (party) expanded its remit to cover the centre-right regardless of tradition and pursued a policy of integrating Conservative parties.[15]

This policy bore fruit, with the Greek New Democracy and Spanish Partido Popular MEPs joining the group.[15] The British and Danish Conservatives tried to maintain a group of their own called the European Democrats (ED), but lack of support and the problems inherent in maintaining a small group forced ED's collapse in the 1990s, and its members crossed the floor to join the EPP Group[15] (although not the party). This consolidation of the European centre-right continued throughout the 90's with the acquisition of members from the Italian Forza Italia. However, the consolidation was not unalloyed and a split emerged between the different Christian Democrat and Conservative traditions,[15] with Euroscepticism providing the faultline. The Eurosceptic MEPs congregated in a subgroup within the group, also called the European Democrats (ED).

Neverthless the consolidation held through the 1990's, assisted by the group being renamed to the European People's Party–European Democrats (EPP-ED), and the group reclaimed its position as the largest group in the Parliament after the 1999 elections.

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 adopts a government-opposition dynamic with the other groups, notably during the budget crisis when it opposed the Socialists and brought about the resignation of the Santer Commission.

Meanwhile the parties in the ED subgroup were growing restless[16] and finally left following the 2009 elections, when the Czech Civic Democratic Party and United Kingdom Conservatives formed their own European Conservatives and Reformists group on 22 June 2009, abolishing the ED subgroup from that date. The EPP-ED Group reverted to its original name - EPP Group - almost immediately.

The EPP Group remains the largest group in the European Parliament.

[edit] Structure

[edit] Organisation

The group is governed by a collective (referred to as the Presidency) that allocates tasks. The Presidency consists of the Group Chair and a maximum of ten Vice-Chairs, including the Treasurer. 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,[17] which brings together opinion-formers from across Europe to discuss issues facing the European Union from a centre-right perspective.

The group Presidency includes:

The chairs of the group and its predecessors from 1952 to 18 September 2008 are as follows:

[edit] Membership

[edit] Current membership by country

EPP-ED percentage of MEPs by member state December 2007 (see description for sources).
     0% to 1%      1% to 5%      5% to 10%      10% to 20%      20% to 30%      30% to 40%      40% to 50%      50% plus

A December 2007 European Parliament document[20] gave the percentage of MEPs for each group and member state at that date. The results for the group are given on the diagram on the right.

The document shows that the group 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 the group. Member states which have 40% or over of its MEPs sitting with the group include Malta, Romania, Spain, Greece, Germany, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic.

[edit] Current membership by party

The national parties that are members of the group at 18 September 2008 are as follows:

[edit] Membership at formation

The 38 members in the group on 11 September 1952 were as follows:

[edit] Activities

[edit] In the news

Activities performed by the group in the period between June 2004 and June 2008 include monitoring elections in Palestine[28] and the Ukraine[29]; encouraging transeuropean rail travel, [30] telecoms deregulation,[31] energy security[32], a common energy policy[33], the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Union[34], partial reform of the CAP[35] and attempts to tackle illegal immigration; [36][37][38]; denouncing Russian involvement in South Ossetia[39][40][41][42][43]; supporting the Constitution Treaty[44][45][46] and the Lisbon Treaty[47][48]; debating globalisation,[33][49] relations with China,[50] and Taiwan;[51]; backing plans to outlaw Holocaust denial; [52]; nominating Anna Politkovskaya for the 2007 Sakharov Prize[53]; expelling Daniel Hannan from the Group[54]; the discussion about whether ED MEPs should remain within EPP-ED or form a group of their own[55][56][57]; criticisms of the group's approach to tackle low turnout for the 2009 elections[58] and the group's use of the two-President arrangement.[59]

[edit] Parliamentary activity profile

Group parliamentary activity profile, 1 August 2004 to 1 August 2008 (see description for sources).
     EPP-ED: 659 motions

The debates and votes in the European Parliament are tracked by its website[60] 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 1 August 2004 to 1 August 2008 in the Sixth Parliament is given on the diagram on the right. The group is denoted in blue.

The website shows the group as participating in 659 motions, making it the third most active group during the period.

[edit] Publications

The group produces many publications, which can be found on its website.[61] 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.

[edit] Academic analysis

Main article: Academic studies of the political groups of the European Parliament

Along with the other political groups, the group has been analysed by academics on its positions regarding various issues. Those positions are summarized in this article. That article characterizes the group as a three-quarter male group that, prior to ED's departure, was only 80% cohesive and split between centre-right Europhiles (the larger EPP subgroup) and right-wing Eurosceptics (the smaller ED subgroup). That article characterized the group as a whole as ambiguous on hypothetical EU taxes, against taxation, Green issues, social liberal issues (homosexual equality, abortion, euthanasia) and full Turkish accession to the European Union, and for a deeper Federal Europe, deregulation, the Common Foreign and Security Policy and controlling migration into the EU.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Democracy in the European Parliament
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Political Groups of the European Parliament
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o EPP-ED on Europe Politique
  4. ^ a b Political Groups Annual Accounts 2001-2006
  5. ^ European Parliament archive entry for Hans-Gert Pöttering (incl. Membership)
  6. ^ a b European Parliament archive entry for Joseph Daul (incl. Membership)
  7. ^ Group names 1999
  8. ^ a b c European Parliament archive entry for Egon Klepsch (incl. Membership)
  9. ^ a b c d e EPP-ED Chronology 02
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Composition of the Common Assembly (10-13 September 1952)
  11. ^ Sassen, Emanuel Marie Joseph Anthony (1911-1995)
  12. ^ a b Chronology of European Integration 1945-2006
  13. ^ "Assemblée commune, Résolution insérant dans le Règlement une disposition relative à la constitution des Groupes politiques (16 juin 1953)", in Journal officiel de la CECA, 21 July 1953, S. 155
  14. ^ Statement of formation of the Christian-Democratic Group (23 June 1953)
  15. ^ a b c d e "Shaping Europe - 25 years of the European People’s Party" by Wilfried Martens, President of the European People's Party
  16. ^ BBC News article 5169268
  17. ^ http://www.europeanideasnetwork.com/
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h i j EPP-ED Group structure
  19. ^ EPP-ED Staff
  20. ^ http://www.europarl.europa.eu/pdf/welcome_brochures/faces/ep_faces_2007_09_en.pdf
  21. ^ a b c d e f g h EPP-ED Chronology 06
  22. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw EPP-ED Parties
  23. ^ a b c d EPP-ED Chronology 04
  24. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab EPP-ED Chronology 07
  25. ^ a b EPP-ED Chronology 05
  26. ^ http://www.uup.org/newsrooms/latest-news/conference/speech-by-jim-nicholson-mep-to-the-ulster-unionist-conference.php
  27. ^ a b c d e f g h i j EPP-ED Member List
  28. ^ European Parliament website document 20041208
  29. ^ The Parliament Magazine article "eu-parliament-group-demands-ukraine-election-observers"
  30. ^ The Parliament Magazine article "epp-ed-group-backs-eu-rail-shake-up"
  31. ^ The Parliament Magazine article "epp-ed-backs-eu-telecoms-shake-up"
  32. ^ EGOV document 10363
  33. ^ a b Scoop article S00580
  34. ^ European Commission article 290906 EN
  35. ^ EurActiv article 112860
  36. ^ MaltaMedia Online Network article 2582
  37. ^ MaltaMedia Online Network article 2912
  38. ^ MaltaMedia Online Network article 2257
  39. ^ The Parliament Magazine article "epp-ed-chief-slams-russian-recognition-of-georgian-regions"
  40. ^ The Parliament Magazine article "meps-brok-and-karas-sent-to-georgia-to-report-on-developments"
  41. ^ The Parliament Magazine article "top-mep-brands-moscow-brutal-over-georgia"
  42. ^ The Parliament Magazine article "eu-aid-to-georgia-too-slow-says-mep"
  43. ^ The Parliament Magazine article "meps-call-on-eu-leaders-to-condemn-russian-intimidation"
  44. ^ The Parliament Magazine article "meps-call-for-eu-constitution-re-run-in-france"
  45. ^ EurActiv article 140105
  46. ^ Forbes article 2081969
  47. ^ The Parliament Magazine article "meps-appeal-to-irish-to-back-eu-reform-treaty"
  48. ^ The Parliament Magazine article "meps-kosovo-and-lisbon-treaty-should-top-eu-agenda"
  49. ^ The Parliament Magazine article "eu-debates-21st-century-globalisation"
  50. ^ People's Daily article 6401313
  51. ^ The Parliament Magazine article "more-meps-call-for-taiwans-membership-of-un-agencies"
  52. ^ The Parliament Magazine article "eu-plans-to-outlaw-holocaust-denial"
  53. ^ European Parliament website document 20070906FCS10161
  54. ^ EurActiv article 170049
  55. ^ Independent on Sunday article 407730
  56. ^ BBC News article 5053682
  57. ^ Times article 766719
  58. ^ EurActiv article 171155
  59. ^ Deutsche Welle article 1272316
  60. ^ http://www.europarl.europa.eu/activities/plenary/motion/search.do?language=EN
  61. ^ http://www.epp-ed.eu/Activities/en/publica.asp

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Political groups of the European Parliament
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_People%27s_Party_(European_Parliament_group)"
Personal tools
Visit joltnews for the latest headlines
Visit bloit.com for company information
Geed Media does computer consulting on long island.
This page viewed times. See Logs