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 | Update of European parties' number of MEPs following European elections Following EU elections, new Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) will be elected. However, MEPs' membership of European parties is not direct but via their national party, and affiliations are checked and published by the Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations (APPF). The number of MEPs of each European party will therefore be updated via the MEPcountEuropeanParty template once the APPF publishes new official data. |
European People's Party | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | EPP |
| President | Manfred Weber (DE) |
| Secretary-General | Thanasis Bakolas (GR) |
| Founded | 8 July 1976 |
| Headquarters | Rue du Commerce—Handelsstraat (Q69872011) 10, 1000 Brussels, European Quarter, Belgium |
| Think tank | Wilfried 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 | |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| International affiliation | |
| European Parliament group | European People's Party Group |
| Colours |
|
| European Parliament | 169 / 705 |
| European Council | 11 / 27 |
| European Commission | 11 / 27 |
| European Lower Houses | 1,687 / 6,312 |
| European Upper Houses | 463 / 1,498 |
| Website | |
| www | |
The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian democratic,[4] liberal-conservative,[4] and conservative[5][6] 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 31 May 2022, the party elected as its President Manfred Weber, who was also EPP's Spitzenkandidat in 2019.
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 and the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola are from the EPP. Many of the founding fathers of the European Union were also from parties that later formed the EPP.
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, the Social Democratic Party of Portugal and the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria.
History
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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 has pioneered the European project from its inception".[11]
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,[12] the Nouvelles Equipes Internationales, founded in 1946[13] (or 1948),[12] and the European Union of Christian Democrats, founded in 1965.[13]
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 seven Presidents:
| No. | Image | Name | Tenure | Party | Member state |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 
|
Leo Tindemans (1922–2014) |
1976–1985 | CVP |  Belgium
|
| 2 | .jpg)
|
Piet Bukman (1934–2022) |
1985–1987 | CDA |  Netherlands
|
| 3 | 
|
Jacques Santer (born 1937) |
1987–1990 | CSV |  Luxembourg
|
| 4 | 
|
Wilfried Martens (1936–2013) |
1990–2013 |
CD&V | Belgium
|
| 5 | 
|
Joseph Daul (born 1947) |
2013–2019 | The Republicans |  France
|
| 6 | _(cropped).jpg)
|
Donald Tusk (born 1957) |
2019–2022 | Civic Platform |  Poland
|
| 7 | _Brexit_debate_-_Manfred_Weber_(EPP,_Germany)_(48753411591)_(cropped).jpg)
|
Manfred Weber (born 1972) |
2022– | CSU |  Germany
|
Platform and manifesto
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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.[14][failed verification]
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:[15]
- 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.
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The Fidesz crisis
Concerns that the Hungarian ruling party Fidesz[a] 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.[19] 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 place is not in the European People's Party".[20] Orbán's campaigns targeting billionaire George Soros[21] and Jean-Claude Juncker[22] 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.[23]
After years of deferring a decision about the Fidesz issue,[24] 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.[25]
In February 2020, the EPP extended the suspension of Fidesz indefinitely.[26]
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.[27] 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.[28]
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.[29] On 18 March 2021, Fidesz decided to leave the European People's Party.[30]
In June 2024, The Hungarian Christian Democratic People's Party (KDNP) left the European People's Party.[31][32][33][34]
German investigation
In April 2023, Belgian police and German investigators carried out a raid at the EPP headquarters in Brussels as part of an investigation in Germany.[35]
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 members
| Country | Party | Abbr. | Lower house seats | 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 |
 Bulgaria
|
Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria Граждани за европейско развитие на България Grazhdani za evropeĭsko razvitie na Bŭlgariya |
GERB | 64 / 240
|
TBD (Election) | |
| Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria Демократи за силна България Demokrati za silna Bălgarija |
DSB | 8 / 240
|
TBD (Election) | ||
| Union of Democratic Forces Съюз на демократичните сили Sayuz na demokratichnite sili |
SDS | 3 / 240
|
TBD (Election) | ||
| 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 | 55 / 151
|
Government | |
| Croatian Demochristian Party Hrvatska demokršćanska stranka |
HDS | 1 / 151
|
Government | ||