European Christian Political Movement
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European Christian Political Movement | |
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| File:Ecpm political logo.png | |
| President | Branislav Škripek |
| Founded | November 2002 |
| Headquarters | Bergstraat 33, 3811 NG Amersfoort, Netherlands |
| Ideology | Christian democracy[1] Christian right[2] Social conservatism[2] |
| Political position | Centre-right to right-wing |
| European Parliament group | European Conservatives and Reformists[2] European People's Party (ChristianUnion, 1 MEP) |
| Colours | Green and blue |
| European Parliament | 4 / 705 |
| Website | |
| www | |
The European Christian Political Movement (ECPM) is the only explicitly Christian European political party that unites national parties from across Europe that share policies influenced by Christianity, generally following the ideals of Christian democracy or the Christian right. The member parties are generally more socially conservative and Eurosceptic.
The party was founded in November 2002 in Lakitelek, Hungary. It elected its first board in January 2005, and was registered in the Netherlands in September 2005. The first ECPM president was Peeter Võsu of the Party of Estonian Christian Democrats. The movement brings together over fifty Christian-Democratic political parties, NGOs, think-tanks and individual politicians from over twenty countries within EU and beyond. Youth movements are united in ECPYouth. The youth organisation started in 2004 and elected its first board in the summer of 2005.
During the 2014–2019 term, ECPM had six Members of the European Parliament: Peter van Dalen of ChristianUnion (NL), Bas Belder of the Dutch Reformed Party (SGP) (NL), Branislav Škripek of Kresťanská únia (SK), Arne Gericke of Bündnis C (DE), Marek Jurek of Right Wing of the Republic (PL) and Kazimierz Ujazdowski (PL). All six MEPs sat with the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group.
After the most recent 2019 European Parliament election, the party got 3 seats in the EP:: Peter Van Dalen of the ChristianUnion, Bert-Jan Ruissen of the SGP, and Helmut Geuking of the Family Party of Germany. Peter Van Dalen sits with the European People's Party Group while the others sit with the ECR. A fourth MEP, Cristian Terheș, elected on the Social Democratic Party list in Romania, joined the party in May 2020.[3]
History
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The ECPM started as a platform in November 2002 when representatives of political parties from more than 15 countries decided to examine new chances for Christian politics in Europe at the conference "For a Christian Europe" at Lakitelek, Hungary.
The ECPM started with parties and organisations regardless of their denominative background. Parties from within and from outside the EU participated in those first years and made it possible to create a movement that is steadily growing from one year to the next. In 2003 the ECPM adopted eight Guiding Principles in the Lakitelek declaration "Values for Europe", which shaped ECPM's vision on Europe. In January 2005 in Tallinn, Estonia the ECPM elected its first board. On 15 September 2005 ECPM was officially registered with statutes as an association under Dutch law. In 2010 ECPM was officially recognised as a European political party by the European Parliament.[4] In 2014 ECPM took part in the European Elections for the first time as a European Party. The ECPM board was chaired by MP Peter Östman from 2013 to 2016 and since 2016, by MEP Branislav Škripek.
Foundation
Sallux is the official think-tank of ECPM.
Member parties
Full members
This table contains a list of full member parties of the ECPM.[5]
Associate members
Armenia
Belgium
Bulgaria
France
Germany
Italy
Ireland
Republic of Moldova
- European Foundation of Moldova
- Foundation for Christian Democracy of Moldova
Netherlands
- Research Institute ChristianUnion
- Stichting Crown Financial Ministries
- Stichting vormingsactiviteiten Oost-Europa
- The Schuman Centre for European Studies
Romania
- Areopagus Centru de Educaţie Creştină şi Cultură Contemporană (Areopagus Center for Christian Studies and Contemporary Culture)
- Asociaţia PRO VITA – Filiala Bucureşti (Pro-vita Association – Bucharest Branch)
- Christian Center for Roma
- Christian Democratic Association
- Romanian Foundation for Democracy
- Worldteach Association
Serbia
United Kingdom
Organisation
Congresses
The ECPM organises two General Assemblies per year. An annual member congress is held as well where specific themes are discussed. The ECPM also organises regional conferences and other events all over Europe.
Presidents
- Peeter Võsu, 2005–2013
- Peter Östman, 2013–2016
- Branislav Škripek, 2016–present
See also
References
- ^ Costa, Olivier; Brack, Nathalie (29 April 2016). How the EU Really Works. Routledge. p. 120. ISBN 9781317120735.
- ^ a b c Nordsieck, Wolfram (2019). "European Union". Parties and Elections in Europe. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
- ^ "PSD a pierdut un europarlamentar. Cristian Terheș a trecut la grupul extremiștilor din Parlamentul European". www.digi24.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 12 May 2020.
- ^ "Grants from the European Parliament to political parties at European level 2004–2012", November 2012, from http://www.europarl.europa.eu/. Retrieved 25 January 2013
- ^ "Our members and associates". ECPM.
- ^ "List of registered European Political Parties and European Political Foundations". Europa (web portal). Archived from the original on 16 October 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2017.