Steven Van Hecke

Polity-Building in the Constitutional Convention: Transnational Party Groups in European Union Institutional Reform

The abundant literature on the European Constitution has largely overlooked the role party politics played in the European Convention. This article fills this gap by analyzing transnational party groups: how they were organized and which purposes they served. It shows that they mattered, but in unexpected ways due to the particular set�?up of the Convention. For instance, they helped to bring MEPs and MNPs closer to each other. Overall, the analysis contributes to a better understanding of how parties operate at the transnational level and helps to explain the way in which polity�?building in the European Unions multi�?level system takes place.

Christian Democracy and Conservatism on demography: some explorations

Although demography has never figured prominently in contemporary political ideologies, there may be a great need to include such issues as demographic changes accelerate. This article seeks to offer a framework within the ideology of Christian Democracy and Conservatism for demographic change. The authors argument centres on divergent and shared characteristics of Christian Democracy and Conservatism which would provide a window of understanding on demography policies. What these two ideologies appear to have in common on demographic issues are their shared support for individual human rights, their subscription to the primacy of the community and their pragmatic viewpoint.

Chapter Thirteen: The EPP’s Relationship to the Group in the European Parliament

The relationship of the party to the Group in the European Parliament (EP)has been central to the founding and development of the European People’s Party (EPP). For a long time, the party heavily depended on the Group with regard to both resources and exposure: there was no party outside the Group.271 Changes at various levels have altered this situation. Parties and groups now behave in a much more ‘adult’ way. They need to work together,particularly prior to and during EP elections, but some tension between them will continue to exist.

Annex 3: ‘A Union of Values’, Basic Document Adopted by the Fourteenth EPP Congress in Berlin on 11–13 January 2001

The last decade of the 20th century saw, at least in Europe, the triumph of liberty, democracy and the rule of law. The 21st century poses new challenges to our values. Globalization, the new economy, the Information Society and new technologies demand new answers. The EPP will respond on the basis of our traditional values. These have to be reaffirmed, rethought, and modernised in order to make them applicable in the 21st century. Pragmatism, efficiency, or some undefined ’third way’ do not address people’s real concerns. The European model is based on values, culture, and history. That is where the answers to the new questions come from. That is the starting point for us as Christian Democrats, moderates, and centrists, members of the EPP. And that is the European People´;s Party’s new vision of a Union of Values. The 21st century offers Europe the chance to build a European Union worthy of the name - a Europe that is whole, free, and prosperous. The human person must and will be at the very centre of our politics.

Chapter Two: The Founding of the EPP

The first steps towards creating the European People’s Party (EPP) were taken by the Christian Democratic Group in the European Parliament (EP).In order to meet the challenge of establishing a European party organisation in the run-up to the first direct elections of the EP, a Political Committee was established within the European Union of Christian Democrats(EUCD).

Chapter Seven: The Political Assembly and the Presidency

The daily business of the European People’s Party (EPP) is not handled by the Congress, which meets only every two years or so, but by the Political Assembly and the Presidency. The EPP statutes describe the Political Assembly,formerly known as the Political Bureau, as ‘the strategic organ’ of the party, while the Presidency – often referred to by its Latin name, Presidium – is ‘the executive organ’. These two compose, so to speak, the parliament and the government of the EPP. Both party bodies are chaired by the EPP President.

Chapter Nine: The General Secretariat

The General Secretariat is the backbone of the party; it delivers indispensable support for the political leadership of the European People’s Party(EPP). The activities of the General Secretariat cover a great variety of tasks: administrative, financial, material and organisational support (particularly for meetings of the Presidency, the Political Assembly, the Summit and the Congress), as well as policy advice in a wide range of areas(competences and countries). It also maintains the EPP’s contacts with its member parties and plays an important role in European election campaigns.Based in Brussels, the General Secretariat is composed of a multinational staff and is led by the Secretary General.

Chapter One: Paving the Way: The SIPDIC, NEI and EUCD

The European People’s Party (EPP) did not appear out of the blue in 1976.It developed out of diverse forms of cooperation that had long existed among Christian Democrats in Western Europe. The first institutionalised cooperation dates back to the early twentieth century, when the International Secretariat of Christian-inspired Democratic Parties (Secretariat internationaldes partis democratiques d’inspiration chretienne, SIPDIC)provided opportunities for contact among Christian Democratic politicians from Germany, France, Italy and the Benelux. After the Second World War the SIPDIC was replaced by the New International Teams (Nouvelles equipes internationales, NEI). Representatives were grouped into national equipes (teams) that represented one or more parties from a given country.In 1965 the NEI renamed itself the European Union of Christian Democrats(EUCD). As an organisation of national political parties from various European countries, it was the immediate forerunner of the EPP.

Chapter Six: The Congress

The European People’s Party (EPP) Congress is the highlight of the party’s activities. Held at least once every three years, in different venues, it is the forum for agreeing on the political line or programme, for deciding about changes to the statutes and for introducing the party’s leadership and members to one another. The agenda is normally centred on the adoption of a general political manifesto, either pertaining to an upcoming election or dealing with a more specific policy area, and is sometimes accompanied by internal elections.

Chapter Eleven: Statute and Financing

Political parties are essential to democracy. Democracy is hardly imaginable without the notion of party democracy. Nevertheless, at the European level, political parties are relatively new, compared for instance with the party groups in the European Parliament (EP) and its forerunner, the General Assembly. It took a while for European political parties to be officially founded; it was another political generation before their role was eventually enshrined in the Treaties. As a result of the Treaties, since 2004 European parties have at their disposal some essential resources to develop activities inside and outside Brussels. The work is not finished,however, as the road towards a truly European party system is bumpy and long.