Christian democrats are active in international politics, and among the international structures that unite Christian democrats in their ranks are the Christian Democratic International (CDI), a worldwide organization of Christian democratic parties, the European People’s Party, and the World Confederation of Labor (formerly the International Federation of Christian Unions).
In Europe, the first association of Christian democrats was formed in 1947 and was called the New International Group (NEI). Already at the first European Assembly, Christian political activists initiated a number of European integration proposals towards an economic and political union of Western European countries in accordance with the principle: “Integration as much as possible; supranationality as much as necessary.” In 1965, this international association was renamed the European Union of Christian Democrats.
The first faction group of European Christian parties was created in 1953 within the European Coal and Steel Community, and it was already the most powerful political group. In 1976, an international alliance of Christian parties, the European People’s Party (EPP), was created to participate in the European Parliament elections, and it began to represent the views of European centrists. The foundations of its ideological orientation were the Christian democratic principles of personalism, solidarity, subsidiarity, the Christian concept of the individual, and the theory of social market economy. At the same time, the Manifesto of the Christian Democrats of Europe was approved, which became the ideological foundation of the EPP. The main goal of the European People’s Party was declared to be the creation of a single state – the “European Federation”, the first stage of which is the current European Union. The new state should occupy a significant place in international relations, and European institutions, such as the European Parliament and the new European government, would determine broad aspects of economic, social and even military policy.
The main ideological opponents of the EPP in the European Parliament are the left-wing forces, which has led to the need to consolidate the European Christian Democrats and Conservatives. Until recently, members of the European People’s Party faction were deputies from the British Conservatives. Today, the EPP has the largest faction in the European Parliament with 264 members and unites 72 center-right member parties from 39 countries. In Europe, the EPP has 16 heads of national governments (10 in the EU + 6 in non-EU countries) and its representative as President of the European Parliament.
At the world level, the Christian democratic community is represented by the Christian Democratic International (Centrist Democrat International – Internationale Démocrate Chrétienne, CDI-IDC), which was established in 1961 under the name World Union of Christian Democrats (WUCD) after the integration of the European Christian Democratic Union and the Organization of Christian Democrats of America. The purpose of the organization was declared to be the promotion of the ideas of Christian democracy throughout the world. Already in 1982, the organization was renamed the Christian Democratic International (CDI).
The international includes three international party associations: “New International Teams” was created on the basis of the European Christian Democratic Union, the Organization of Christian Democrats of America and the Christian Democratic Union of Central Europe. The headquarters of the Christian Democratic International is located in Brussels. In 1999, the organization was renamed the “Centrist Democratic International” to demonstrate the participation of representatives of other religions, not just Christianity, in the movement. The association is open to political parties and organizations that base their policies on the principles of Christian and integral humanism, which recognizes the existence of a spiritual dimension in human nature and is committed to the ideals of brotherhood. Today, the international organization includes more than 100 parties, but not all of them can be considered Christian democratic. Most of the European members of the Centrist International are also members of the European People’s Party.
Author: Valeriy Maydanyuk