European Community Building: A Christian-Democratic Perspective

The main topic on the agenda of the Berlin congress was the debate and adoption of a document titled "A Union of Values," which articulates the central political views of the EPP. The document not only expresses the values of the EPP but argues that those values should characterize the European Union itself. These are the values of justice, solidarity, freedom, and responsibility.

In most European countries today, Christian Democrats are not in power but function as the opposition. No serious political party can be satisfied with being outside government, and playing an opposition role provides a strong stimulus for a party to reorient itself towards its original principles or ideals. This process is clearly taking place in countries such as Germany, Belgium, and The Netherlands. The German Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) have always played a crucial role within the EPP and are now under the new leadership of Angela Merkel and Friedrich Merz.

Two issues in particular stand out as signs of a change of climate within the EPP.

Bio-Ethics

At the January congress, some crucial pro-life elements were included in the EPP position paper for the first time. "A Union of Values" states clearly that the EPP follows the principles of the protection and promotion of human dignity and, consequently, affirms respect for the right to life and the uniqueness of each human being from the moment of conception to death.

There is good reason, says the EPP, for the European Union (EU) to set common legal standards for the protection of the human person and for bio-medical research. This would be an important step for Europe to take, because these matters have always been left to national governments. Today, the free movement of people, goods, capital, and services throughout the EU requires action at the European level to guarantee the protection of human dignity.

This point of view not only implies a refusal of the EPP to consider abortion as a solution to problems created by unwanted pregnancies. It has also led to a firm statement on biotechnology. Experiments on human embryos should only be permitted if they are designed to protect the life and health of the specific embryo that is the subject of the experiment. Strict, world-wide rules should be adopted in this regard, says the EPP paper, and commercial exploitation of human embryos must be forbidden in all cases.

The European Social Model

Another example of the reorientation of the EPP back to its first principles is its position on the "social market economy." The EPP believes in combining the conditions for entrepreneurship and economic dynamism with social responsibility. Social peace must be based on social partnership, which covers participation and joint responsibility of the economic partners (employers and trade unions) as well as of government. The EPP supports negotiations between these partners on framework agreements (such as collective bargaining) at the European level. These agreements should be made legally binding for the EU as a whole.

Moreover, to extend this approach to the global level, the EPP paper also mentions the World Trade Organization (WTO). Within the framework of the WTO, internationally binding rules on competition and codes of conduct in the field of social, ecological, and human rights standards must be progressively developed, it asserts.

Of course, these statements are still just words on paper. But they are meant to be binding for EPP representatives in the European debate. For their implementation in real policy measures, the EPP needs allies not just in Europe but around the world as well.

[Mr. Brinkel does research and writing for the policy research institute of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) in The Netherlands. The CDA is the largest Dutch Christian political party and participates in the EPP.]