| European Christian Political Movement | |
| Abbreviation: | ECPM |
| President: | Valeriu Ghilețchi (MD, RO) |
| Secretary General: | Maarten van de Fliert (NL) |
| Headquarters: | Bergstraat 33, 3811 NG Amersfoort, Netherlands |
| Think Tank: | Sallux |
| Youth Wing: | ECPYouth |
| Ideology: | Christian right Christian democracy[1] Social conservatism[2] |
| Europarl: | European Conservatives and Reformists (SGP, PNCR) European People's Party (Family Party) Patriots for Europe (LPV) |
| Colours: | Green Blue |
| Seats1 Title: | European Parliament |
| Seats2 Title: | European Council |
| Country: | European Union |
The European Christian Political Movement (ECPM) is a European political party exclusively working on promoting Christian values.[3] The party unites national parties and individuals from across Europe who share policies influenced by Christianity, largely following the ideals of Christian democracy. The member parties are generally 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 (MEPs): Peter van Dalen of Christian Union (NL), Bas Belder of the Dutch Reformed Party (SGP) (NL), Branislav Škripek of (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 2019 European Parliament election, the party got three seats in the EP: Peter van Dalen of the Christian Union, Bert-Jan Ruissen of the SGP, and Helmut Geuking of the Family Party of Germany. Peter Van Dalen and Helmut Geuking sit with the European People's Party Group while Bert-Jan Ruissen sits with the ECR. A fourth MEP, Cristian Terheș, member of the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party in Romania, joined the party in May 2020.[4]
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 Christian parties and organizations, regardless of their denomination. 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 of 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 recognized as a European political party by the European Parliament.[5] 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, from 2016 to 2021 by MEP Branislav Škripek and by Valeriu Ghileţchi (former Moldovan MP) since 2021.
This table contains a list of full member parties of the ECPM.[6]
| Party | Abbr. | Country | MEPs | National MPs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Party | CPÖ | – | – | ||
| VIA, the Way of the People | VIA | – | – | ||
| Alliance C – Christians for Germany | AUF & PBC | – | – | ||
| Family Party of Germany | FAMILIE | – | |||
| Jobbik – Conservatives | Jobbik | – | |||
| Human Dignity Alliance | HDA | – | |||
| Identity and Action | IDeA | – | – | ||
| Sovereign Power | SV | – | – | ||
| Latvia First | LPV | ||||
| Lithuanian Christian Democracy Party | LKDP | – | – | ||
| Christian Union | KS | – | – | ||
| ABBA | ABBA | – | – | ||
| Christian-Democratic People's Party | PPCD | Not in EU | – | ||
| Christian Union | CU | – | |||
| Reformed Political Party | SGP | ||||
| Integra-Macedonian Conservative Party | Not in EU | – | |||
| Real Politics Union | UPR | – | – | ||
| Right Wing of the Republic | PR | – | – | ||
| People's Monarchist Party | PPM | – | – | ||
| UDSCR | – | ||||
| Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party | PNȚ-CD | – | – | ||
| Romanian National Conservative Party | PNCR | – | |||
| Christian Union | KÚ | – | |||
| Contigo Mas | Mas | – | – | ||
| Values | Valores | – | – | ||
| Evangelical People's Party | EVP – PEV | Not in EU | |||
| Christian Democratic Union | ХДС | Not in EU | – |
The ECPM organizes two General Assemblies per year. An annual member congress is held as well where specific themes are discussed. The ECPM also organizes regional conferences and other events all over Europe.
| Organisation | Institution | Number of seats | |
|---|---|---|---|
| European Council (Heads of Government) | |||
| Council of the European Union (Participation in Government) | |||