# European Christian Political Movement

The European Christian Political Movement (ECPM) is a European political party exclusively working on promoting Christian values. The party unites national parties and individuals from across Europe who share policies influenced by Christianity, largely following the ideals of Christian democracy and the Christian right. 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 Kresťanská únia (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.

## History

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. 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.

## Membership
### Full members

This table contains a list of full member parties of the ECPM.
| Party | Abbr. | Country | MEPs | National MPs |
| VIA, the Way of the People | VIA | France | – | – |
| Alliance C – Christians for Germany | AUF & PBC | Germany | – | – |
| Family Party of Germany | FAMILIE | Germany | 1 / 96 | – |
| Jobbik – Conservatives | Jobbik | Hungary | – | 8 / 199 |
| Human Dignity Alliance | HDA | Ireland | – | 0 / 160 (Dáil Éireann) |
| Human Dignity Alliance | HDA | Ireland | – | 1 / 60 (Senate) |
| Sovereign Power | SV | Latvia | – | – |
| Latvia First | LPV | Latvia | 1 / 9 | 8 / 100 |
| Lithuanian Christian Democracy Party | LKDP | Lithuania | – | – |
| Christian Union | KS | Lithuania | – | – |
| Christian Union | CU | Netherlands | – | 3 / 150(House)3 / 75(Senate) |
| Reformed Political Party | SGP | Netherlands | 1 / 31 | 3 / 150(House)2 / 75(Senate) |
| Right Wing of the Republic | PR | Poland | – | – |
| People's Monarchist Party | PPM | Portugal | – | – |
| Democratic Union of Slovaks and Czechs of Romania | UDSCR | Romania | – | 1 / 329 |
| Romanian National Conservative Party | PNCR | Romania | 1 / 33 | – |
| Christian Union | KÚ | Slovakia | – | 2 / 150 |
| Contigo Mas | Mas | Spain | – | – |
| Values | Valores | Spain | – | – |
| Evangelical People's Party | EVP – PEV | Switzerland | Not in EU | 2 / 200 |
| Christian Values Party Sweden | KRVP | Sweden | – | – |

### Associate members

Europe
* European Christian Political Youth
* European Evangelical Alliance
Armenia
* Christian Democratic Union of Armenia
Belgium
* Care for Europe
* C'axent
* European Evangelical Alliance
Bulgaria
* Crown Bulgaria
* Rule of Law Bulgaria
France
* Amical Service
Germany
* Institute for Ethics and Values
Italy
* Associazione "Cercasi un fine"
* Unione per la Democrazia e la Libertà
Ireland
* Rónán Mullen
Republic of Moldova
* Academia pentru Integritate în Conducere (Academy for Integrity in Leadership (AIC))
Netherlands
* Research Institute ChristianUnion
* Stichting Crown Financial Ministries
* Stichting vormingsactiviteiten Oost-Europa
* The Schuman Centre for European Studies
Romania
* Areopagus. Centru de Educaţie Creştină şi Cultură Contemporană (Areopagus. Center for Christian Studies and Contemporary Culture)
* Asociaţia PRO VITA – Filiala Bucureşti (Pro-vita Association – Bucharest Branch)
* Centrul creștin pentru țigani (Christian Center for Roma)
* Asociația democratică creștină (Christian Democratic Association)
* Fundația românească pentru democrație (Romanian Foundation for Democracy)
* Asociația "Worldteach" (Worldteach Association)
Serbia
* Center for Christian-Democratic Studies
United Kingdom
* Jubilee Centre

## Organisation
### Congresses

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.

### Presidents

* Peeter Võsu, 2005–2013
* Peter Östman, 2013–2016
* Branislav Škripek, 2016–2021
* Valeriu Ghileţchi, 2021–present

## Representation in European institutions

| Organisation | Institution | Number of seats |
| European Union | European Parliament | 5 / 720 (0.7%) |
| European Union | European Commission | 0 / 27 (0%) |
| European Union | European Council (Heads of Government) | 0 / 27 (0%) |
| European Union | Council of the European Union (Participation in Government) | |
| European Union | Committee of the Regions | 0 / 329 (0%) |
| Council of Europe | Parliamentary Assembly | |