ChristianUnion – Reformed Political Party
Christian Union – Reformed Political Party (Dutch: ChristenUnie – Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij) was a parliamentary party in the European Parliament formed by two Dutch orthodox Protestant parties: the ChristianUnion and the Reformed Political Party. The parliamentary party existed between 2001 and 2009.
The CU-SGP was formed in 2001 as a successor of the RPF-GPV-SGP parliamentary party that had existed since the 1984 European Parliament elections. After the merger of the Reformed Political Party (RPF) and the Reformed Political Alliance (GPV) into the ChristianUnion, the group was renamed ChristianUnion-SGP.
Both parties, ChristianUnion and SGP are eurosceptic and morally conservative. Since 1984 the RPF, GPV, later ChristianUnion and SGP had participated in the European parliament elections with one combined list which has candidates from all parties. Since 2004, the party currently had two MEPs, Johannes Blokland for the Christian Union and Bastiaan Belder for the Reformed Political Party. The ChristenUnie–SGP was part of the Independence and Democracy group.
In June 2009, the group broke up, as the ChristianUnion joined the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR). The ECR leadership did not want the SGP to join the new European parliamentary group, because of its conservative views on women.[1] In 2014, the ECR accepted the SGP after all, as the SGP had softened its position on female suffrage. Since the 2014 European elections, the ChristianUnion and SGP are thus again part of the same group.
References
- ↑ ChristenUnie en SGP uit elkaar op eurofractie.nl