Christian Union – Reformed Political Party

Christian Union – Reformed Political Party (Dutch: ChristenUnie – Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij) is a parliamentary common list for the European Parliament formed by two Dutch orthodox Protestant parties: the Christian Union and the Reformed Political Party. Both parties are eurosceptic and morally conservative, and each has candidates on the common list. The CU and SGP also regularly co-operate in municipal elections, often gaining above-average results in municipalities which form part of the Dutch Bible Belt.

Christian Union – Reformed Political Party ChristenUnie-SGP
Abbreviation	CU-SGP
Leader in the European Parliament	Peter van Dalen
Founded	1984
Ideology	Christian democracy Social conservatism Soft Euroscepticism Factions: Christian right
European affiliation	European Christian Political Movement
European Parliament group	European People's Party (CU) European Conservatives and Reformists (SGP)
Seats in the European Parliament	2 / 29
Website
http://www.eurofractie.nl/
Politics of the Netherlands Political parties Elections

History

The Reformed Political Alliance (GPV) and the Reformed Political Party (SGP) first tried to enter the European Parliament on their own in the 1979 European Parliament election. In 1984 they formed a common list together with the Reformed Political Party (RPF). The RPF-GPV-SGP parliamentary common list got its first seat in the 1984 European Parliament election.

In 2001 RPF and the GPV merged into the Christian Union. After this merger the common list was renamed to Christian Union-SGP. The 2004 European election was the first time it took part under this name.

European grouping

• 1984 and 1989: The parties were not part of any group and thus part of Non-Inscrits
• 1994: All parties were part of the first eurosceptic group in the European Parliament. Europe of Nations (EN), which dissolved in 1996 and succeeded by the Independents for a Europe of Nations (I-EN)
• 1999: The Independents for a Europe of Nations (I-EN) reorganised and renamed to Europe of Democracies and Diversities (EDD) group.
• 2004: The RPF and GPV merged into the Christen Union. The Europe of Democracies and Diversities (EDD) group reorganised itself into a new group, the Independence/Democracy (IND/DEM) group. Both the Christian Union and the Reformed Political Party were part of the Independence/Democracy (IND/DEM) group.
• 2009: In June 2009, the Independence/Democracy (IND/DEM) group broke up, because many member parties joined the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group, including the Christian Union. The ECR leadership did not want the SGP to join the new European parliamentary group, because of its conservative views on women.[1] The Independence/Democracy (IND/DEM) group reorganised and renamed itself to the Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD). The SGP joined this new group.
• 2014: The ECR accepted the SGP after all, as the SGP had softened its position on female suffrage. Since the 2014 European elections, the Christian Union and SGP are thus again part of the same group.

European Parliament

Common list

Results for Christian Union-SGP common list. Participated as SGP/RPF/GPV, before 2004

Election year	List	# of overall votes	% of overall vote	# of overall seats won	+/–	Notes
1984	List	275,786	5.21 (#5)	1 / 25	1	[2]
1989	List	309,060	5.90 (#6)	1 / 25	0	[3]
1994	List	322,793	7.81 (#5)	2 / 31	1	[4]
1999	List	309,612	8.74 (#5)	3 / 31	1	[5]
2004	List	279,880	5.87 (#7)	2 / 27	1	[6]
2009	List	310,540	6.82 (#8)	2 / 25	0	[7]
2014	List	364,843	7.67 (#7)	2 / 26	0	[8]
2019	List	375,660	6.83 (#7)	2 / 26	0	[9]

SGP

Reformed Political Party (SGP)

Election year	List	# of overall votes	% of overall vote	# of overall seats won	Notes
1979	List	126,412	2.23 (#5)	0 / 25	[10]

GPV

Reformed Political Alliance (GPV)

Election year	List	# of overall votes	% of overall vote	# of overall seats won	Notes
1979	List	62,610	1.10 (#9)	0 / 25	[10]

Current members of the European Parliament

2 Seats:

1. Peter van Dalen (CU) (top candidate)
2. Bert-Jan Ruissen (SGP)

References

1. ChristenUnie en SGP uit elkaar Archived 2009-07-30 at the Wayback Machine op eurofractie.nl
2. "Kiesraad: Europees Parlement 14 juni 1984" (in Dutch). Kiesraad. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
3. "Kiesraad: Europees Parlement 15 juni 1989" (in Dutch). Kiesraad. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
4. "Kiesraad: Europees Parlement 9 juni 1994" (in Dutch). Kiesraad. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
5. "Kiesraad: Europees Parlement 10 juni 1999" (in Dutch). Kiesraad. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
6. "Kiesraad: Europees Parlement 10 juni 2004" (in Dutch). Kiesraad. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
7. "Kiesraad: Europees Parlement 4 juni 2009" (in Dutch). Kiesraad. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
8. "Kiesraad: Europees Parlement 22 mei 2014" (in Dutch). Kiesraad. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
9. "Kiesraad: Europees Parlement 23 mei 2019" (in Dutch). Kiesraad. 4 June 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
10. "Kiesraad: Europees Parlement 7 juni 1979" (in Dutch). Kiesraad. Retrieved 19 June 2019.

External links

• ChristenUnie–SGP web site