In the Netherlands, where Christian parties have been influencing the work of the government since the beginning of the twentieth century, the influential center-right conservative party Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) holds a powerful position. Having overcome the confessional differences between Catholics and Protestants in the 1980s, the party became the most powerful force in the country, gaining 35.3% of the vote.
However, the party soon began to lose support, and in 1994, for the first time in 76 years, the Christian Democrats failed to enter the government. Many obituaries were written for the Dutch Christian Democrats in those days, but in the early 2000s the Christian Democratic Appeal became the largest party in parliament again. In 2006, the party regained 80% of its 1989 parliamentary seats, and took a key position in coalition formation.
The Christian Democratic Appeal party has proposed a modernized political platform that is rooted in the Christian democratic tradition, but also includes mainstream conservative, market-liberal proposals. The Dutch Christian Democracy was a response to social democracy, creating a special welfare state regime that systematically differs from both social democratic and conservative-liberal types of social policy. Its main features are the provision of privileges to families rather than individuals, the semi-state nature of the main aspects of social policy management and implementation rather than their centralization and state control, and the reproduction of social status rather than changes in the social structure. The system was aimed at protecting households, and social policy was mainly based on the principle of industrial insurance against occupational risks, financed by targeted contributions from employers’ and employees’ salaries. The main policy goal was to restore social cohesion and a social welfare regime based on transfers, insurance, and the privileged family.
In its latest political program, the Dutch party Christian Democratic Appeal declared its focus on a fair economy based on the principles of the Rhine model of cooperation, as opposed to the Anglo-Saxon model of competition and struggle. In the economic sphere, the party proposes to create a system of relief for small entrepreneurs during the quarantine in the form of incentives and compensation for losses
An important point of the party program is a call to stimulate women’s entrepreneurship through better access to knowledge and innovation, loans and subsidies. Significantly, the party advocates for the protection of European entrepreneurs within the framework of the Made in Europe strategy to increase strategic autonomy and limit dependence on third countries (China). Much attention is paid primarily to supporting hereditary family businesses and simplifying taxation and bureaucracy. The tax burden should not exceed the top rate of 49.5% anywhere.
The fundamental difference between the Christian Democratic Appeal and the left-wing Christian parties is its attitude toward big business. “Large companies and multinationals are indispensable for our prosperity and employment. They enhance the international image of our economy and act as a driver. For this reason, it is necessary to strengthen and maintain a good business climate for these companies in order to protect the economy and employment of citizens,” the Christian Democratic Call program states.
The party proposes simplifying the tax incentive system and a strategy to overcome the crisis through a combination of investing in economic recovery and increasing the resilience of companies and households. The party has declared a regime to facilitate business start-ups, encourage companies to hire employees on a long-term basis, support entrepreneurs who help people with disabilities to find jobs, and fight discrimination. To control the free development of entrepreneurship, it is proposed to introduce an independent tax ombudsman with the authority to investigate and help civilians who are in conflict with tax authorities. “The Christian Democratic Appeal shows concern for the general population and initiates part-time unemployment assistance programs.
“The Christian Democratic Call is a member of the government coalition. In the last parliamentary elections, the party won 21 seats out of 75 in the first chamber and 21 seats out of 150 in the second chamber of the General States. In addition, the Christian Democrats have 5 seats out of 25 allocated to the Netherlands in the European Parliament, where the party is a member of the European People’s Party faction.
Author: Valeriy Maydanyuk