40th Anniversary
of the Christian Democrats in the European Parliament
(Group of the European People's Party)

March 1958-March 1998

Chronology


INTRODUCTION

The two Treaties of Rome establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) came into effect on 1 January 1958.

The Treaties marked the opening of a new chapter in what was then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). Henceforth, the Common Assembly would serve all three Communities. The number of Members was raised from 78 to 142, distributed as follows amongst the six Member States:

Belgium	14
France	36
Italy	36
Luxembourg	6
The Netherlands	14
West Germany	36

The new Treaties also made a small but very significant change to the powers of the Common Assembly. The ECSC Treaty had described these powers as "supervisory". From 1958 they became "advisory and supervisory" (Article 137 EEC), and from this single word "advisory" grew the very extensive powers in the making of legislation which the European Parliament possesses today.

As was the case until the first European elections in June 1979, Members were nominated by and from national parliaments in line with the balance of national parties in those parliaments. Already, however, the Members sat not in national delegations but in political groups, although in the early years there were only three: Christian Democrats (the largest group), Socialists, and Liberals. The President of the ECSC Common Assembly from 1956 until 1958 was a German Christian Democrat, Hans Furler.

The new Common Assembly serving all three Communities met for the first time in Strasbourg in March 1958.

The previous month the old Common Assembly had held a "follow-on debate" on the basis of a report by Pierre Wigny, the Chairman of the Christian Democrat Group (and later Belgian Foreign Minister). The report reviewed how the Common Assembly had used its powers since its first meeting in September 1952. The report also looked forward to the pivotal role which the new Common Assembly would play in the new, more ambitious Europe underpinned by three Communities. As the Christian Democrat spokesman, the Italian Eduardo Martino, said in the debate, the central task would be "to build up Europe as a political, geographical, economic and military unit".

For forty years the Christian Democrats have remained true to this vision.


1958

19 March
Meeting of the Common Assembly of the three European Communities. The Christian Democrats, with 67 of the 142 members, are easily the largest group.

19 March
Election of the Christian Democrats' candidate, Robert Schuman, as President of the Common Assembly with the support of all three political groups. He had been Finance Minister, Foreign Minister, and Prime Minister of France. His plan for the pooling and common organization of French and German coal resources (the ‘Schuman Plan', announced on 9 May 1950) led to the ECSC, the prototype of the European Communities.

At its first session the Common Assembly adopts the name ‘European Parliamentary Assembly'. From 1962 it becomes ‘European Parliament' in all four official languages (German, French, Italian and Dutch).

6 October
Election of Alain Poher as chairman of the Christian Democrat Group. On taking office he said: "Within the institutional order, it falls to the Parliament to express the feelings of the public, whose support for our work will become ever more necessary. The European public must make the governments and the executives realise that the European idea is a living reality which will come to fruition in the interest of the welfare and peace of all."

Alain Poher, later President of the French Senate, retained this office for eight years. He was elected President of the European Parliament in March 1966.


1960

17 May
The European Parliament approves the first draft convention on direct elections.


1961

Founding of the Christian Democrat World Union in Santiago de Chile.

9 July
Signing of the EEC-Greece Association Agreement.

31 July, 9/10 August
Ireland, Great Britain and Denmark apply for entry. The negotiations broke down on 29 January 1963 after Charles de Gaulle vetoed British accession.


1965

8 April
Signing of the Merger Treaty creating a single Council and a single Commission for the ECSC, EEC and EURATOM. The Treaty came into effect in July 1967.

3 May
The "Nouvelles Equipes Internationales" change their name to the European Union of Christian Democrats (EUCD).

30 June
Crisis in the Community over differences on the financing of the common agricultural policy, the budgetary powers of the European Parliament and the role of the European Commission: de Gaulle's policy of the empty chair.


1966

30 January
The Luxembourg compromise. While this ‘agreement to disagree' remained in force, individual Member States possessed, in contravention of the Treaties, a generalised right of veto whenever a vital national interest was held to be at stake. The CD Group never accepted this right.


1967

10/11 May
Second application for membership by Great Britain, Ireland and Denmark. These negotiations were brought to an end by de Gaulle's second veto of December 1967.


1968

28 June
The regulation on the Common Customs Tariff comes into force, the removal of tariffs and quotas on intra-Community trade having been accomplished 18 months ahead of schedule.


1969

25 November
The German Hans-August Lücker is elected chairman of the Christian Democrat Group. He gave the Group a stronger basis at the national level by expanding its institutional and organizational links with the national Christian Democrat parties in collaboration with the chairman of the EUCD, Mariano Rumor. This was a necessary preliminary step towards the foundation of the European People's Party.

1/2 December
Summit Conference of Heads of State and Government in The Hague. Decisions in principle on Economic and Monetary Union by 1980, on the opening of negotiations with all the countries seeking membership and on political cooperation.


1970

21/22 April
Signing of the Treaty amending certain budgetary provisions and the decision on the replacement of the Member States' financial contribution by the Community's own resources and the expansion of the budgetary powers of the European Parliament.

27 April
Founding of a permanent conference of leaders of Christian Democrat parties and parliamentary groups in the Member States and the Bureau of the CD Group in the European Parliament.

30 June
Opening of accession negotiations with Denmark, Ireland, Norway, and the United Kingdom.


1973

1 January
Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom become members of the European Community (the Norwegian people having rejected the Treaty of Accession by referendum).

The European Parliament is now composed of 198 Members, of which only 52 are Christian Democrats. A new political group is formed, the European Conservative Group, made up of British and Danish MEPs. The Fine Gael MEPs from Ireland join the Christian Democrats.


1974

10/11 December
Summit meeting in Paris. Henceforth, Summits are to be renamed as meetings of the European Council. The Christian Democrat Prime Minister of Belgium, Leo Tindemans, is invited to draw up a report on European Union by the end of 1975. His report was presented to the European Council in January 1976.


1975

14 January
The European Parliament adopts the Patijn Report on the convention introducing elections to the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage.

28 February
The Lomé Convention is signed with 46 developing countries from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

5 June
Referendum in the United Kingdom gives two-thirds majority for remaining in the Community.

12 June
Greece applies for membership.

10 July
The European Parliament approves the Report on European Union, the Parliament's contribution to the Tindemans Report (see above), drawn up by the Belgian Christian Democrat Alfred Bertrand (Chairman of the CD Group from 1975 to 1977). The most important points of the report were:

• the future European Parliament should have comprehensive budgetary powers and powers of control and become the genuine legislative organ of the Community (or at least have equal rights);
  
  
• it should be complemented by a European decision-making centre identifiable as a genuine European government, independent of national governments, and accountable to the European Parliament;
  
  
• the collaboration of the Member States in the decision-making process of the Union should be assured by a Chamber of States;
  
  
• the powers of the various institutions, both vis-à-vis each other and vis-à-vis the Member States, should be defined clearly and in detail.
  
  

The vote in plenary session showed that the Christian Democrats and Conservatives were solidly behind the resolution; among the Socialists, the Labour Members abstained, and among the Liberals the Danes abstained. The spokesman for the EPD (Gaullist) Group expressed cautious agreement, but most of the Members of his Group did not take part in the vote. The Communists voted against.

22 July
Signing of the Second Treaty amending certain budgetary provisions of the Treaties and introducing a conciliation procedure. The Treaty increases the European Parliament's budgetary powers and creates a Court of Auditors.


1976

26 January
Setting up of the committee responsible for establishing the EUCDW (European Union of Christian Democrat Workers), later affiliated to the EUCD.

The EUCDW's programme of activities focuses on the following areas: labour and employment policy, family policy, the safeguarding of competition through restrictions on, and supervision of, the operations of multinational companies, and improvements to the working environment.

16 February
The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) forwards to the Council of Ministers a draft EEC/COMECON Agreement. This was the first formal recognition of the EEC on the part of the COMECON states. Talks were broken off after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1980.

21 February
Adoption of the manifesto drawn up by the European Union of Christian Democrats (EUCD), Paris.

29 April
The European People's Party (EPP) is founded in Brussels. Composed of 12 Christian Democrat parties from seven Community countries, its statutes allowed other parties of the centre to join as long as they were ready to subscribe to Christian Democrat values. This was particularly important with reference to those Community countries which, for historical reasons, had no parties which were expressly labelled Christian Democrat.

8 July
Constituent meeting of the European People's Party in Luxembourg. The Christian Democrat Prime Minister of Belgium, Leo Tindemans, is elected President. Amongst the founders is Wilfried Martens, later Prime Minister of Belgium and since 1990 President of the EPP (and since 1994 of the EPP Group).

12/13 July
In Brussels the European Council approves the Convention on direct elections to the European Parliament and sets the number of Members to be directly elected at 410. The provisions governing the first European elections (for which the target date is set at 1978) are laid down in the European Elections Act 1976.


1977

March
Christian Democrat Emilio Colombo, formerly Foreign Minister and Prime Minister of Italy, is elected President of the European Parliament.

28 March
Portugal applies for membership.

5 May
The German Egon Klepsch is elected chairman of the CD Group. He remained chairman until 1982 and was reelected in 1984. He was President of the European Parliament from 1992 until 1994.

25 May
The 3 Christian Democrat parties of the Netherlands present a joint list for the first time for the parliamentary elections as the "Christen Democratisch Appèl".

28 July
Spain applies for membership.


1978

6/7 March
The first Congress of the European People's Party in Brussels adopts a political programme entitled "striving together for a Europe of free citizens":
"We the EUROPEAN PEOPLE'S PARTY .... desire the unity of Europe. It was Christian Democrat statesmen such as Robert Schuman, Alcide de Gasperi and Konrad Adenauer, who laid the foundations for what has been achieved so far. We are continuing their successful work. We are firmly resolved to bring this historic work in their spirit to fruition. Our goal is a federation of Europe, as proposed by Robert Schuman on 9 May 1950."

14 March
The Group changes its name to "Christian Democrat Group (Group of the European People's Party)".

4/5 December
The European Council in Brussels decides on the establishment of the EMS (European Monetary System) and agrees to set up a committee to consider the implications of enlargement on institutions and procedures (the ‘Three Wise Men'). The EMS comes into effect in March 1979.


1979

22/23 February
Second EPP congress in Brussels. Adoption of electoral programme and appeal to all European citizens to take a constructive part in the European elections.

28 May
Signature in Athens of the Greek Treaty of Accession. On 1 January 1981, Greece became the tenth member of the Community.

7-10 June
The first European Elections. Overall turnout was 61 per cent (111 million people out of an electorate of 180 million). The constituent parties of the EPP Group received 32.8 million votes (29.6%) and won 107 seats. The Socialist and Social Democrat parties received 29.5 million votes (26.6%) and won 112 seats.

The EPP gained nearly 3.3 million votes (2.9%) more than the Socialists, even though there were no EPP candidates in Denmark and the United Kingdom. The Socialist parties put up candidates in all nine Member States of the Community.

17 July
The Group changes its name to "Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrat Group)".

17-20 July
First sitting of the directly-elected European Parliament in Strasbourg. With the support of the EPP Group, the French politician Mrs Simone Veil, Member of the Liberal and Democratic Group, is elected President.

13 December
The European Parliament rejects the 1980 Community budget by a majority of 288 votes to 64, with 1 abstention.


1980

10 July
Setting up of the EPP's Africa Foundation "to further exchanges of ideas between democratically-oriented social, political and cultural groupings in Africa and Europe and to draw up joint cooperation programmes in the spirit of the Lomé Convention" (Article 3 of the Foundation's Statute).

1/2 October
Third EPP congress in Cologne.

7 October
Leo Tindemans is re-elected chairman of the EPP.

29 October
Judgment in the European Court of Justice on the ‘isoglucose' case. The Court of Justice acknowledges Parliament's right to initiate legal proceedings in defence of its powers and declares the regulation adopted by the Council without a prior opinion from Parliament null and void.


1981

1 January
Greece becomes the tenth member of the Community. Membership of the European Parliament rises to 434. Members from the New Democracy party join the Parliament as independents (European Elections were held in Greece on 18 October 1981).

10 February
The President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Anwar El Sadat, addresses the European Parliament, the first Head of a non-member state so to do.

2/3 April
Ceremony in Rome to commemorate the centenary of Alcide De Gasperi's birth in the presence of Pope John Paul II. De Gasperi was a passionate believer in the ideal of European unification and played a key role in Italy's post-war recovery and in the establishment of the European Community.

19 November
Emilio Colombo and Hans-Dietrich Genscher, the Italian and German Foreign Ministers, present their draft "European Act" to the European Parliament.
"We are calling for a revival of European integration, we want the institutions strengthened and the decision-making process improved and we want to encourage and extend to a greater degree the pragmatic process whereby political cooperation is achieved among our ten countries. In this way, cooperation will become more widespread on matters ranging from security to culture and law, which will bring us closer to the basic aims of a European Union. We will achieve this by adopting a flexible approach and through the mutual support of political, economic and social aspects in turn, and as we gradually progress, it will be possible to set ourselves, and meet, new targets." (From the speech by Emilio Colombo)

23 December
The Greek New Democracy delegation joins the EPP Group, bringing the Group complement to 117 Members in a Parliament of 434 Members.


1982

20 January
Paolo Barbi becomes the new chairman of the EPP Group in the European Parliament, the first Italian to secure the chairmanship.

30 June
The Council, the Commission, and the Parliament agree on the budgetary procedure. The three Presidents sign an agreement laying down the powers of those concerned in establishing the Community budget.

15 September
Institution by Parliament of proceedings against the Council for failure to act (Article 175 EEC), on the grounds of the latter's failure to draw up a common transport policy. The Court's judgment of 22 May 1985 was widely interpreted as a victory for the Parliament.

6-8 December
Fourth EPP congress in Paris.


1984

14 February
Adoption by the European Parliament, with strong EPP Group support, of the Draft Treaty Establishing the European Union (the ‘Spinelli Treaty').

24 April
Fifth EPP congress in Rome adopts an Action Plan for the EPP Group in the 1984-1989 parliamentary term, ‘Uniting Europe for peace, freedom, and justice'.

10-13 June
In the second direct elections to the European Parliament, the member parties of the EPP Group win 110 seats.

24 July
The former Prime Minister of France, the Christian Democrat Pierre Pflimlin, is elected President of the European Parliament.


1985
14 June
The Commission presents its proposals (the ‘Cockfield White Paper') on the measures needed to complete the Single Market by the end of 1992. At the meeting of the European Council in Milan a fortnight later, the decision is taken to embark upon an inter-governmental conference to discuss changes to the Treaties, with a view to speeding up decision-making and to increasing the power of the European Parliament.


1986

1 January
Accession of Portugal and Spain to the European Community. MEPs from the Portuguese CDS and the Spanish Unión de Centro Democrático, Partido Nacionalista Vasco et Unió Democràtica de Catalunya join the EPP Group. The Parliament is now composed of 518 Members.

17/18 February
The Single European Act (SEA) is signed in Luxembourg. The SEA extends qualified majority voting, especially on Single Market measures, introduces a new two-reading procedure for consulting the European Parliament and an assent procedure for agreements with non-member countries, and makes improvements to the machinery for foreign policy coordination.

10-12 April
Sixth EPP congress in The Hague.


1987

20 January
Lord Plumb, the leader of the British Conservative MEPs, is elected to the Presidency of the European Parliament.

1 July
Entry into force of the SEA. From this point, the EPP Group establishes a degree of cooperation with the Socialist Group to enable the Parliament to muster the majorities which enable it to play a full role in the cooperation procedure.

26 October
Adoption in The Hague of Western European Union's ‘Platform on European Security', marking the revival of WEU as the European component of NATO.


1988

15 November
The Parliament marks with a commemorative sitting the 100th anniversary of the birth of Jean Monnet.

7/8 November
Seventh EPP congress in Luxembourg adopts an Action Plan for the EPP Group in the 1989-1994 parliamentary term, ‘The EPP - a reliable and effective party for the people'.


1989

15-18 June
Third direct elections to the European Parliament. The member parties of the EPP Group (including the Spanish Partido Popular, which transfers to the EPP Group from the Conservatives) win 122 seats.

17 July
Austria applies for membership of the European Community.

18 october
Creation by the EPP Group of the Foundation for the Cooperation of Christian-democrats in Europe (since 1994 "Robert Schuman Foundation")

9 November
The opening of the Berlin Wall marks the end of the division of Germany (formalised 3 October 1990).


1990

10 May
Election of Wilfried Martens, former Prime Minister of Belgium, as President of the EPP.

19 June
The Benelux countries, France, and West Germany sign the Convention to bring into effect the 1985 Schengen Agreement on the easing of border controls at the internal frontiers of participating states.

3 July
Cyprus applies for membership.

16 July
Malta applies for membership.

15/16 November
Eighth EPP Congress in Dublin.

1 July
Sweden applies for membership.

10 December
Agreement in the European Council on the Treaty on European Union (the Maastricht Treaty, signed 7 February 1992).


1992

14 January
Election of Egon Klepsch, Chairman of the EPP Group, as President of the European Parliament. Leo Tindemans is elected to succeed him as Chairman of the Group.

18 March
Finland applies for membership.

1 May
British and Danish Conservative MEPs join the EPP Group.

2 May
The Treaty establishing the European Economic Area (the 12 member states of the Union plus the 7 member states of EFTA (Austria, Finland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland)) is signed in Oporto. Switzerland later rejected the Treaty by referendum on 6 December 1992.

June-September
The Maastricht Treaty is rejected by referendum in Denmark, accepted in Ireland, and very narrowly accepted in France.

16 September
Currency speculation on an unprecedented scale (‘Black Wednesday') causes the near-collapse of the exchange-rate mechanism (ERM). The pound and the lira leave the ERM.

11-13 November
Ninth EPP congress in Athens.

25 November
Norway applies for membership.

11/12 December
The European Council meeting in Edinburgh decides on the location of the institutions, the financial perspective until 1999, and a new deal for Denmark.


1993

1 January
Entry into force of the Single Market.

18 May
Maastricht Treaty accepted in a second referendum in Denmark.

23 June
Fortieth anniversary of the founding of the Christian Democrat Group in the ECSC Common Assembly.

1 November
Maastricht Treaty enters into force marking the establishment of the European Union.

8-10 December
Tenth EPP congress in Brussels adopts an Action Plan for the EPP Group in the 1994-1999 parliamentary term, ‘Europe 2000 - unity in diversity'.


1994

1 January
Stage 2 of Economic and Monetary Union begins.

1 April
Hungary applies for membership.

8 April
Poland applies for membership.

9-12 June
Fourth direct elections to the European Parliament. The EPP Group wins 157 seats.

June-November
Membership of the European Union endorsed by referendum in Austria, Finland, and Sweden but rejected in Norway.

July
Wilfried Martens, formerly Prime Minister of Belgium, is elected Chairman of the EPP Group. The member states' nominee as President of the Commission, the Christian Democrat Jacques Santer, is endorsed by the newly-elected European Parliament.


1995

1 January
Austria, Finland, and Sweden join the Union. The European Parliament now stands at 626 members. Sixteen new members join the EPP Group: six from Austria, four from Finland and six from Sweden. Five parties join the EPP: the Austrian Österreichische Volkspartei, the Swedish Kristdemokratiska Samhällspartiet (now called Kristdemokraterna) and Moderata Samlingspartiet (known as Moderaterna), the Finnish Kansallinen Kokoomus and the Danish Konservative Folkeparti.

19 January
New Commission under President Jacques Santer endorsed by the European Parliament.

26 March
Schengen Agreement enters into force in the Benelux countries, France, Germany, Portugal, and Spain.

22 June
Romania applies for membership.

27 June
Slovakia applies for membership.

27 October
Latvia applies for membership.

6/7 November
Eleventh EPP congress in Madrid.

28 November
Estonia applies for membership.

8 December
Lithuania applies for membership.

14 December
Bulgaria applies for membership.

15/16 December
Madrid European Council agrees that the single currency should be called the ‘euro'.


1996

17 January
Czech Republic applies for membership.

29 March
Opening in Turin of the Intergovernmental Conference on the revision of the Maastricht Treaty.

10 June
Slovenia applies for membership.

11 November
The Portuguese PSD becomes a full member of the European People's Party, and its MEPs join the EPP Group. The EPP Group has 180 members.


1997

14 January
José-María Gil-Robles Gil-Delgado, from the Spanish Partido Popular, elected as President of the European Parliament.

16/17 June
European Council meeting in Amsterdam reaches agreement on a new treaty. The Treaty of Amsterdam is signed on 2 October 1997.

9-11 November
Twelfth EPP Congress in Toulouse.

21/22 November
Jean-Claude Juncker, Christian Democrat Prime Minister of Luxembourg, presides over special meeting of the European Council on employment.

12/13 December
Luxembourg meeting of the European Council sets in train enlargement negotiations with effect from 1998.