105-591: The European People's Party Group ( EPP Group or simply EPP ) is a political group of the European Parliament consisting of deputies (MEPs) from the member parties of the European People's Party (EPP). Sometimes it also includes independent MEPs and/or deputies from unaffiliated national parties. The EPP Group comprises politicians of Christian democratic , conservative and liberal-conservative orientation. The European People's Party
210-477: A "No" vote would be tantamount to a vote of no confidence . PES leader Pauline Green MEP attempted a vote of confidence and the EPP put forward countermotions. During this period the two Groups adopted a government- opposition dynamic, with PES supporting the executive and EPP renouncing its previous coalition support and voting it down. In 2004 there was another notable break in the grand coalition. It occurred over
315-504: A Group to be formally recognised in the Parliament, it must fulfil the conditions laid down in the relevant European Parliament Rule of Procedure. This lays down the minimum criteria a Group must meet to qualify as a Group. The numerical criteria are 23 MEPs (at 3.3 percent, a lower threshold than in most national parliaments) but they must come from at least one-quarter of Member States (so currently at least seven). They must also share
420-570: A campaign called "We create program." which was series of tours to Czech regions with party leaders discussing priorities with supporters and potential voters for an upcoming election. On 19 April 2017, ODS introduced its tax program. The Civic Democrats want to lower taxes which they say would increase the income of Czech citizens. ODS also wants to decrease spending in social benefits and subsidies. Chief Whip Zbyněk Stanjura said that many people take advantage of social benefits even though they don't deserve it. These plans resembled those that ODS had in
525-741: A common energy policy, the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Union, partial reform of the CAP and attempts to tackle illegal immigration; denouncing Russian involvement in South Ossetia; supporting the Constitution Treaty and the Lisbon Treaty ; debating globalisation, relations with China, and Taiwan; backing plans to outlaw Holocaust denial; nominating Anna Politkovskaya for the 2007 Sakharov Prize; expelling Daniel Hannan from
630-532: A dissolution of Chamber of Deputies and early election (such vote was only recently made possible by a constitutional amendment). The motion of dissolution passed with 147 out of 200 votes (120 required), all parties except ODS, whose deputies left the chamber, voted for dissolution, including their former coalition partners Public Affairs and TOP 09 . President Zeman then called on early elections on 25–26 October 2013 . ODS suffered heavy losses. It gained only 16 seats and finished 5th. The party also lost elections of
735-463: A far-right Group. Attempts to block the formation of ITS were unsuccessful, but ITS were blocked from leading positions on committees, when members from other Groups declined to vote for their candidates, despite a previous tradition of sharing such posts among members from all Groups. These events spurred MEPs, mainly from the largest two groups, to approve a rise in the threshold for groups to its current levels, having previously been even lower. This
840-417: A female majority, so the scale stops at 50%). The results are also given in the table below. G/EFA, PES and ALDE were the most balanced groups in terms of gender, with IND/DEM being the most unbalanced. The Parliament does not form a government in the traditional sense and its politics have developed over consensual rather than adversarial lines as a form of consociationalism . No single group has ever held
945-880: A group acted on a specific vote, they provide little information on the voting patterns of a specific group. As a result, the only bodies providing analysis of the voting patterns and Weltanschauung of the groups are academics. Academics analysing the European political groups include Simon Hix ( London School of Economics and Political Science ), Amie Kreppel University of Florida , Abdul Noury ( Free University of Brussels ), Gérard Roland , ( University of California, Berkeley ), Gail McElroy ( Trinity College Dublin , Department of Political Science), Kenneth Benoit ( Trinity College Dublin – Institute for International Integration Studies (IIIS) ), Friedrich Heinemann , Philipp Mohl , and Steffen Osterloh ( University of Mannheim – Centre for European Economic Research ). Cohesion
1050-564: A majority in Parliament. Historically, the two largest parliamentary formations have been the EPP Group and the PES Group , which are affiliated to their respective European political parties , the European People's Party (EPP) and the Party of European Socialists (PES). These two groups have dominated the Parliament for much of its life, continuously holding between 50 and 70 per cent of
1155-486: A new “Technical Group”, but Parliament decided that the new Group did not, by its own admission, meet the requirement for political affinity. This decision was challenged at the CJEU , which found in Parliament's favour. Further questions were asked when MEPs attempted to create a far-right Group called " Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty " (ITS). This generated controversy and there were concerns about public funds going towards
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#17327723856961260-592: A political affinity and submit a political declaration, setting out the purpose of the group, the values that it stands for and the main political objectives which its members intend to pursue together. The requirement of political affinity was put to the test in July 1999, when a varied group of non-attached members, ranging from the liberal Bonino List in Italy to the French National Front , tried to create
1365-491: A presentation, a two-page summary of the group. The group has been characterised as a three-quarters-male group that, prior to ED's departure, was only 80% cohesive and split between centre-right Europhiles (the larger EPP subgroup) and right-wing Eurosceptics (the smaller ED subgroup). The group as a whole is described as ambiguous on hypothetical EU taxes, against taxation, environmental issues, social issues ( LGBT rights , abortion , euthanasia ) and full Turkish accession to
1470-454: A right to own and carry firearms and other weapons, making the ODS much more similar to American Republicans in this matter, although they still support gun control measures (such as background checks, licenses and registration). ODS, especially its defense expert Jana Černochová , was one of the main supporters of embedding the right to keep and bear arms for the purposes of national security into
1575-524: A safe state with the transatlantic links. No tricks and populism." Many prominent politicians in the party say they are opposed to " political correctness " and call for tougher measures to combat radical Islam which they liken to Nazism. Although the party was in power when the Treaty of Lisbon was ratified in the Czech Republic, ODS supports maintaining Czech sovereignty and integrity against
1680-409: A threat to national security, social cohesion and native European culture. ODS believes that all individual nations should have the right to determine their own immigration policies. ODS also supports the right of law abiding citizens to own and carry firearms . This makes them different from parties they are based on, as most of them, especially British Conservatives, reject the idea that anyone has
1785-639: A total of 751. They formed a coalition with Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats and Renew Europe to elect Ursula von der Leyen as president of the European Commission . On June 18, 6 new parties joined the group, including the Hungarian Respect and Freedom Party (TISZA) and their 7 MEPs, the Dutch Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB) and Czech Mayors and Independents (STAN), each with 2 MEPs, as well as
1890-718: A wide range of events from meetings with local or national politicians to elections campaigns and international events. CEVRO Liberal Conservative Academy ( Czech : CEVRO Liberálně konzervativní akademie ) is a think-tank affiliated with ODS. It was established in 1999. Its goal is political education which tries to spread liberal-conservative thinking. In 2005, CEVRO established its own private university known as CEVRO Institute . CEVRO has four newspapers – CEVRO Revue , The Week in European Politics , The Week in Czech Politics and Forthnightly . ODS joined
1995-800: A year later, ODS won the European Parliament election , keeping all 9 seats and gaining more votes than in previous elections. ODS-led government during Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2009. Czech presidency had to deal with problems such as Gas crisis in Ukraine , conflict in Gaza or economic crisis. There were also controversies like Entropa but some aspects such as resolution of gas crisis were positively evaluated. ODS nominated Přemysl Sobotka for president of
2100-434: Is a looser form of involvement with the party. It is meant for people who doesn't want to be members of ODS but sympathize with its program. It replaced the organisation known as Blue Team . Faces of ODS is a project of party's members who share their life's story. It was described as honour for all members of the party who didn't abandon it in hard times. Young Conservatives ( Czech : Mladí konzervativci , MK )
2205-399: Is a phenomenon that gained force especially in the legislatures during the 1990s, up to a maximum of 18% for the 1989–1994 term, with strong prevalence among representatives from France and Italy, though by no means limited to those two countries. There is a clear tendency of party group switches from the ideological extremes, both left and right, toward the center. Most switching takes place at
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#17327723856962310-640: Is a youth wing of ODS. Young people from the age of 15 to 35 can apply for a membership in the MK. The founding congress of MK was held on 8 December 1991 as a result of previous preparations through Charter of Young Conservatives by a group of students at the University of Technology in Brno and Law Students' Association "Všehrd" from Faculty of Law at the Charles University. The Young Conservatives organize
2415-543: Is inspired by the British Conservative Party's campaign for 2017 general election . In the 2017 election, ODS sought to get more than 10%. According to poll by STEM/Mark in September. ODS would get 7.5% of votes. ODS received 11% in 2017 legislative election and became the second largest political party in the Czech Republic. The party then won 2018 Senate election confirming its position as
2520-487: Is the term used to define whether a Group is united or divided amongst itself. Figure 1 of a 2002 paper from European Integration online Papers (EIoP) by Thorsten Faas analysed the Groups as they stood in 2002. The results for each Group are given in the adjacent diagram with the horizontal scale scaled so that 0% = totally split, 100% = totally united. The results are also given in the table below. G/EFA, PES and ELDR were
2625-452: Is unique among supranational assemblies in that its members (MEPs) organise themselves into ideological groups, rather than national cleavages . Each political group is assumed to have a set of core principles, and political groups that cannot demonstrate this may be disbanded (see below ). A political group of the EP usually constitutes the formal parliamentary representation of one or two of
2730-458: The "Blue Birds" and ODS is sometimes called the Blue Party due to the party's association with the color blue. The first logo was introduced on 4 June 1991, created by Aleš Krejča. It was chosen from over 250 entries to a public competition. A new logo was introduced in 1992, including the silhouette of a bird in blue. The logo was created by Petr Šejdl. In 1994 when the bird's tail
2835-693: The 1992 election , the ODS ruled out an electoral alliance with the Liberal Democrats , but agreed to an alliance with Václav Benda 's Christian Democratic Party (KDS) to boost its appeal to conservatives. The ODS won the election, winning 66 seats (and the KDS another ten), and formed a centre-right coalition with the Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA) and the KDU-ČSL , with Klaus as prime minister . In December 1997, allegations of
2940-564: The 2006 legislative election manifesto. Tours concluded with Conference "Strong program for Strong Czechia" held on 22 April where ODS presented their election manifesto and candidates. Following the 2017 Czech government crisis , ODS grew in polls, approaching the Czech Social Democratic Party . According to a poll by TNS Kantar, ODS would become the second strongest party, surpassing ČSSD and KSČM. ODS introduced its campaign for 2017 election on 29 May 2017. It
3045-715: The Chamber of Deputies , and is the second strongest party by number of seats following the 2021 election . It is the only political party in the Czech Republic that has maintained an uninterrupted representation in the Chamber of Deputies. Founded in 1991 as the pro– free market wing of the Civic Forum by Václav Klaus and modeled on the British Conservative Party , the ODS won the 1992 legislative election , and has remained in government for most of
3150-670: The Chamber of Deputies , making it the second strongest party in chamber. The party is currently being led by Prime Minister Petr Fiala , who has been leader since the 2014 party convention . The ODS is a member of the International Democracy Union , and co-founded together with the UK Conservative Party , the soft Eurosceptic European Conservatives and Reformists Party and the European Conservatives and Reformists group in
3255-573: The European Coal and Steel Community (the predecessor of the present day European Parliament) first met on 10 September 1952 and the first Christian Democratic Group was unofficially formed the next day, with Maan Sassen as president. The group held 38 of the 78 seats, two short of an absolute majority. On 16 June 1953, the Common Assembly passed a resolution enabling the official formation of political groups; further, on 23 June 1953
European People's Party Group - Misplaced Pages Continue
3360-627: The European Democrat Union (EDU) in 1992 as one of the first parties in the former Eastern Bloc . Václav Klaus even became a Vice President of EDU. ODS remained in the EDU until it became part of the European People's Party (EPP) in 2002. ODS refused to join EPP due to its ideological differences and instead became a member of European Democrats . ODS joined International Democracy Union (IDU) in 2001. Chairmen of Civic Democratic Party served as Vice-presidents of IDU. In July 2006,
3465-769: The European Democratic Union Group. When Conservatives from Denmark and the United Kingdom joined, they created the European Conservatives Group, which (after some name changes) eventually merged with the Group of the European People's Party. The 1979 first direct election established further groups and the establishment of European political parties such as the European People's Party. The mandate of
3570-741: The European Greens–European Free Alliance Group than they would have as stand-alone groups (especially for the EFA, which would not otherwise have enough members to constitute a group). The same is true of the Renew Europe Group, most of whose members are from the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party , but also includes a dozen from the small European Democratic Party . Both have also had independents and MEPs from minor parties also join their Group. For
3675-630: The European Ideas Network , which brings together opinion-formers from across Europe to discuss issues facing the European Union from a centre-right perspective. The EPP Group Presidency includes: The chairs of the group and its predecessors from 1952 to 2024 are as follows: Activities performed by the group in the period between June 2004 and June 2008 include monitoring elections in Palestine and Ukraine; encouraging transeuropean rail travel, telecoms deregulation, energy security ,
3780-578: The European Parliament . The party was founded in 1991 as one of two successors to the Civic Forum , which was a big tent movement that consisted of two major wings. The strongest wing was the Interparliamentary Club of the Democratic Right which was transformed into the ODS when Civic Forum split. ODS represented followers of Václav Klaus and was pro–free market, as opposed to the centrist Civic Movement . An agreement
3885-509: The European Parliament . Groups can table motions for resolutions and table amendments to reports. EUL/NGL and G/EFA were the most left-wing groups, UEN and EDD the most right-wing, and that was mirrored in their attitudes towards taxation, homosexual equality, abortion, euthanasia and controlling migration into the EU. The groups fell into two distinct camps regarding the further development of EU authority, with UEN and EDD definitely against and
3990-623: The European Union , calls for a fundamental reform of the EU and strongly opposes any federalization of Europe in the form of the EU becoming a quasi-state entity. Following the EU referendum in Britain which resulted in the United Kingdom voting to leave, ODS leader Petr Fiala said the Czech Republic "should reconsider its priorities and strategy in the European Union" and if the Treaties were to be re-opened, negotiate new conditions for
4095-582: The European parliament as well as Senate and municipal in 2014 . As of December 2015, opinion polls showed ODS with 8.6% nationwide. Some polling agencies and political commentators are of the opinion that ODS was on the path to become main centre-right party again. On 16 January 2016, Fiala was re-elected as Leader of the ODS. ODS participated in 2016 regional and Senate election . It received about 10% of votes and its candidate's secured seats in all regions. Six candidates nominated by ODS qualified for
4200-459: The European political parties (Europarty), sometimes supplemented by members from other national political parties or independent politicians. In contrast to the European political parties, it is strictly forbidden for political groups to organise or finance the political campaign during the European elections since this is the exclusive responsibility of the parties. But there are other incentives for MEPs to organise in parliamentary Groups: besides
4305-1030: The Grand Coalition (a coalition with the PES Group, or occasionally the Liberals) to generate the majorities required by the cooperation procedure under the Single European Act . Meanwhile, the parties in the European Democrats subgroup were growing restless, with the establishment in July 2006 of the Movement for European Reform , and finally left following the 2009 elections, when the Czech Civic Democratic Party and British Conservative Party formed their own right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR) group on 22 June 2009, abolishing
European People's Party Group - Misplaced Pages Continue
4410-533: The Party of European Socialists ) or they can include more than one European party as well as national parties and independents, such as the Greens–European Free Alliance group. Each group appoints a leader, referred to as a "president", "co-ordinator" or "chair". The chairs of each Group meet in the Conference of Presidents to decide what issues will be dealt with at the plenary session of
4515-470: The " grand coalition " and, aside from a break in the fifth Parliament, it has dominated the Parliament for much of its life, regardless of necessity. The grand coalition is visible in the agreement between the two Groups to divide the five-year term of the President of the European Parliament equally between them, with an EPP president for half the term and a PES president for the other half, regardless of
4620-692: The 10 vice-chairpersons. The 38 members in the group on 11 September 1952 were as follows: The EPP Group is governed by a collective (referred to as the Presidency ) that allocates tasks. The Presidency consists of the Group Chair and a maximum of ten Vice-Chairs, including the Treasurer. The day-to-day running of the EPP Group is performed by its secretariat in the European Parliament, led by its Secretary-General. The Group runs its own think-tank,
4725-536: The Civic Democratic Party signed an agreement with the British Conservative Party to leave the European People's Party–European Democrats (EPP-ED) Group in the European Parliament and form the Movement for European Reform in 2009. On 22 June 2009, it was announced that ODS would join the newly formed European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) parliamentary group, an anti-federalist and Eurosceptic group, which currently its third largest bloc in
4830-416: The Czech Republic during the 2013 presidential election. Sobotka received only 2.46% of votes and didn't qualify for second round. ODS has held 2012 presidential primaries which Přemysl Sobotka has won. Sobotka's poor showing in the 2013 general election was seen as caused by the government's unpopularity and lack of support from the party. The party's leadership supported Karel Schwarzenberg of TOP 09 in
4935-474: The Czech Republic's independence. In every legislative election (except for that of 2013 ) it emerged as one of the two strongest parties. Václav Klaus served as the first prime minister of the Czech Republic after the partition of Czechoslovakia , from 1993 to 1997. Mirek Topolánek , who succeeded him as leader of the party in December 2002, served as prime minister from 2006 to 2009. In the 2010 election ,
5040-772: The Czech constitution, although it was Social Democrat Milan Chovanec who originally proposed it. The amendment failed in the Senate. In 2021, a similar bill passed. Václav Klaus stated that the party's name represents the fact that ODS is based on the idea of civic freedoms. It also shows that ODS is a Civic Party, which differentiates it from other parties that existed prior to 1991. The adjective Democratic represents that ODS should protect parliamentary democracy. Besides its official name, ODS also received some informal names from media. Party members are sometimes called "the Blues" or
5145-702: The Danish Liberal Alliance , Dutch New Social Contract (NSC), and the German Family Party , each with 1 MEP. Combined, the group expanded by 14 MEPs. Later that day, the Hungarian Christian Democratic People's Party (KDNP) announced their departure from the EPP Group, due to the admission of the Tisza Party . On 19 June, the group re-elected Manfred Weber as chairman of the group, and
5250-404: The EPP ( European People's Party , the pan-continental political party founded in 1976, to which all group members are now affiliated) feared being sidelined. To counter this, the EPP expanded its remit to cover the centre-right regardless of tradition and pursued a policy of integrating liberal-conservative parties. This policy led to Greek New Democracy and Spanish People's Party MEPs joining
5355-469: The EPP Group. The British Conservative Party and Danish Conservative People's Party tried to maintain a group of their own, named the European Democrats (ED), but lack of support and the problems inherent in maintaining a small group forced ED's collapse in the 1990s, and its members crossed the floor to join the EPP Group. The parties of these MEPs also became full members of the EPP (with
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#17327723856965460-449: The EPP subgroup ( ) were centre-right Europhiles, whereas the ED subgroup ( ) were right-wing Eurosceptics. IND/DEM was also split along its subgroups: the reformist subgroup ( , bottom-center) voted as centrist Eurosceptics, and the secessionist subgroup ( , middle-right) voted as right-wing Euroneutrals. The reformist subgroup
5565-419: The European Democrats subgroup from that date. The EPP-ED Group reverted to its original name – the EPP Group – immediately. In the 7th European Parliament , the EPP Group remained the largest parliamentary group with 275 MEPs. It is currently the only political group in the European parliament to fully represent its corresponding European political party , i.e. the European People's Party . The United Kingdom
5670-409: The European Parliament is becoming increasingly based around party and ideology. Voting is increasingly split along left-right lines, and the cohesion of the party groups has risen dramatically, particularly in the fourth and fifth parliaments. So there are likely to be policy implications here too. The dynamical coalitions in the European Parliament show year-to-year changes. Party group switching in
5775-417: The European Parliament is the phenomenon where parliamentarians individually or collectively switch from one party group to the other. The phenomenon of EP party group switching is a well-known contributor to the volatility of the EP party system and highlights the fluidity that characterizes the composition of European political groups. On average 9% of MEPs switch during legislative terms. Party group switching
5880-600: The European Parliament. ODS then became one of founding members of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party), a conservative and Eurosceptic European political party, defending broader conservative and economically liberal principles. Other members of ECR Party include Conservative Party , Law and Justice or Freedom and Solidarity . Note: Only properly elected leaders are included. Places are by number of votes gained. Indirect Elections Direct Election House of
5985-562: The European Union, and for a deeper Federal Europe , deregulation, the Common Foreign and Security Policy and controlling migration into the EU. Political group of the European Parliament The political groups of the European Parliament are the officially recognised parliamentary groups consisting of legislators of aligned ideologies in the European Parliament . The European Parliament
6090-424: The Grand Coalition, they were not each other's closest allies, although they did vote with each other about two-thirds of the time. IND/DEM did not have close allies within the political groups, preferring instead to cooperate most closely with the Non-Inscrits . During the fifth term the ELDR Group were involved in a break in the grand coalition when they entered into an alliance with the European People's Party, to
6195-406: The Group; the discussion about whether ED MEPs should remain within EPP-ED or form a group of their own; criticisms of the group's approach to tackling low turnout for the 2009 elections; the group's use of the two-President arrangement; and the group's proposal to ban the Islamic Burka dress across the EU. The debates and votes in the European Parliament are tracked by its website and categorised by
6300-478: The PES. The EPP demanded that if Buttiglione were to go, then a PES commissioner must also be sacrificed for balance. In the end, Italy withdrew Buttiglione and put forward Franco Frattini instead. Frattini won the support of the PES and the Barroso Commission was finally approved, albeit behind schedule. Politicisation such as the above has been increasing, with Simon Hix of the London School of Economics noting in 2007 that Our work also shows that politics in
6405-416: The Parliamentary ODS. ODS is structured similarly to the subdivisions of the Czech Republic. The structure consists of local associations. Group of local associations forms area. Areas are organised as parts of Region. ODS had 18,500 Members in 1991. The number of members grew with the party's influence and soon rose to over 23,000. It decreased during political crisis in 1998 to 16,000. The party stopped
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#17327723856966510-426: The Santer Commission . When the initial allegations against the Commission Budget emerged, they were directed primarily against the PES Édith Cresson and Manuel Marín . PES supported the commission and saw the issue as an attempt by the EPP to discredit their party ahead of the 1999 elections. EPP disagreed. Whilst the Parliament was considering rejecting the Community budget , President Jacques Santer argued that
6615-515: The actual election result. Table 3 of 21 August 2008 version of working paper by Hix and Noury gave figures for the level of cooperation between each group (how many times they vote with a group, and how many times they vote against) for the Fifth and Sixth Parliaments. The results are given in the tables below, where 0% = never votes with, 100% = always votes with. EUL/NGL and G/EFA voted closely together, as did PES and ALDE, and EPP-ED and UEN. Surprisingly, given that PES and EPP-ED are partners in
6720-445: The adjacent diagram with the horizontal scale scaled so that −100% = totally against and 100% = totally for. The results are also given in the table below, rescaled so that 0% = totally against, 100% = totally for. G/EFA and PES were in favour of such a tax, IND/DEM and the Independents were definitely against, the others had no clear position. National media focus on the MEPs and national parties of their own member state, neglecting
6825-406: The adjacent diagram. The vertical scale is the anti-pro Europe spectrum, (0% = extremely anti-Europe, 100% = extremely pro), and the horizontal scale is the economic left-right spectrum, (0% = extremely economically left-wing, 100% = extremely economically right-wing). The results are also shown in the table below. Two of the groups (EPP-ED and IND/DEM) were split. EPP-ED are split on Euroscepticism:
6930-490: The bird was updated and flies upwards rather than to the left. The logo was designed by Libor Jelínek. The highest body of the ODS is Congress which meets every year and elects leadership every two years. The party is led by the Executive Council and Republic Assembly in time between meetings of Congress. The executive body meets every Month and the party is led by Panel between meetings of the Executive Council. Panel consists of Party's Leader, Deputy Leaders and Chief Whips of
7035-410: The consolidation held through the 1990s, assisted by the group being renamed the European People's Party – European Democrats (EPP-ED) Group; after the 1999 European elections , the EPP-ED reclaimed its position as the largest group in the Parliament from the Party of European Socialists (PES) Group. Size was not enough, however: the group did not have a majority. It continued therefore to engage in
7140-429: The constituent declaration of the group was published and the group was officially formed. The Christian Democrat group was the biggest group at formation, but as time wore on, it lost support and was the second-biggest group by the time of the 1979 elections. As the European Community expanded into the European Union, the dominant centre-right parties in the new member states were not necessarily Christian democratic, and
7245-447: The country such as an opt-out from asylum rules as well as from the obligation to adopt the euro. The party is a member of the national-conservative European Conservatives and Reformists group. ODS is opposed to compulsory EU migrant quotas, arguing that the Czech Republic should have sovereignty over its own border control and that forcing nations to take in migrants without sufficient vetting or orderly processing and integration poses
7350-405: The decrease after preliminary election and membership grew once again. It peaked in 2010 when it reached 31,011. The member base started to decline rapidly after 2010. It had only 17,994 members prior the 2013 election . ODS had 14,771 members in May 2015 and the member base was stabilised according to leaders of the party. The party runs a membership organisation known as Supporters of ODS . It
7455-453: The dominant schools of European political thought and are the primary actors in the Parliament. The first three Groups were established in the earliest days of the Parliament. They were the "Socialist Group" (which eventually became the S&D group ), the "Christian Democrat Group" (later EPP group ) and the "Liberals and Allies Group" (later Renew Europe ). As the Parliament developed, other Groups emerged. Gaullists from France founded
7560-697: The exception of the British Conservative Party, which did not join) and this consolidation process of the European centre-right continued during the 1990s with the acquisition of members from the Italian party Forza Italia . However, the consolidation was not unalloyed and a split emerged with the Eurosceptic MEPs who congregated in a subgroup within the Group, also called the European Democrats (ED). Nevertheless,
7665-568: The exclusion of the Party of European Socialists. This was reflected in the Presidency of the Parliament with the terms being shared between the EPP and the ELDR, rather than the EPP and PES as before. However, ELDR intervention was not the only cause for a break in the grand coalition. There have been specific occasions where real left-right party politics have emerged, notably the resignation of
7770-533: The group as participating in 659 motions, making it the third most active group during the period. The group produces many publications, which can be found on its website. Documents produced in 2008 cover subjects such as dialogue with the Orthodox Church, study days, its strategy for 2008–09, Euro-Mediterranean relations, and the Lisbon Treaty. It also publishes a yearbook and irregularly publishes
7875-421: The group's activities and poorly understanding their structure or even existence. Transnational media coverage of the groups per se is limited to those organs such as the Parliament itself, or those news media (e.g. EUObserver or theParliament.com ) that specialise in the Parliament. These organs cover the groups in detail but with little overarching analysis. So although such organs make it easy to find out how
7980-431: The groups intend to vote without first inspecting the party platforms of their constituent parties, and then with limited certainty. Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic) The Civic Democratic Party ( Czech : Občanská demokratická strana , ODS ) is a conservative and economic liberal political party in the Czech Republic . The party sits centre-right on the political spectrum , and holds 34 seats in
8085-545: The groups that participate in them and the rule of procedure that they fall into. The results give a profile for each group by category and the total indicates the group's level of participation in Parliamentary debates. The activity profile for each group for the period 1 August 2004 to 1 August 2008 in the Sixth Parliament is given on the diagram on the right. The group is denoted in blue. The website shows
8190-545: The left-right spectrum, where 0% = extremely left-wing, 100% = extremely right-wing) Major changes compared to the period 2004–2009 were: Some of the groups (such as the PES and S&D Group) have become homogeneous units coterminous with their European political party, some (such as IND/DEM) have not. But they are still coalitions, not parties in their own right, and do not issue manifestos of their own. It may therefore be difficult to discern how
8295-446: The main right wing party. Civic Democratic Party, KDU-ČSL and TOP 09 formed bloc of conservative opposition parties in late 2020. The alliance was known as the "Three Coalition", before the parties launched their slogan and program on 9 December 2020, announcing that they would run under the name Spolu ("together") in the 2021 Czech legislative election . The conservative bloc announced that Petr Fiala would be their candidate for
8400-590: The most united groups, with EDD the most disunited. The March 2006 edition of Social Europe: the Journal of the European Left included a chapter called "Women and Social Democratic Politics" by Wendy Stokes. That chapter gave the proportion of female MEPs in each Group in the European Parliament. The results for each Group are given in the adjacent diagram. The horizontal scale denotes gender balance (0% = totally male, 100% = totally female, but no Group has
8505-473: The new prime minister. ODS formed a coalition government with STAN , KDU-ČSL , TOP 09 , and Piráti after the election. Petr Fiala became the new prime minister. ODS holds six seats in Fiala's Cabinet . The ODS is described as conservative , liberal-conservative , and conservative-liberal , supports economic liberalism , and is Eurosceptic . There are also multiple ideological factions in
8610-605: The nomination of Rocco Buttiglione as European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security . The EPP supported the appointment of Buttiglione, while the PES, who were also critics of the President-designate Jose Manuel Barroso , led the parties seeking Buttiglione's removal following his rejection (the first in EU history ) by a Parliamentary committee . Barroso initially stood by his team and offered only small concessions, which were rejected by
8715-484: The outset of legislative terms, with another peak around the half-term moment, when responsibilities rotate within the EP hierarchy. The political groups of the European Parliament have been around in one form or another since September 1952 and the first meeting of the Parliament's predecessor, the Common Assembly. The groups are coalitions of MEPs and the European parties and national parties that those MEPs belong to. The groups have coalesced into representations of
8820-434: The party lost 28 seats, finishing second, but as the largest party right of the centre, it formed a centre-right government with Petr Nečas as prime minister. In the 2013 legislative election , the party was marginalized by only securing 16 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, relegating the party to the opposition from July 2013 to December 2021. In the 2017 legislative election , it has partly recovered and secured 25 seats in
8925-510: The party receiving illegal donations and maintaining a secret slush fund caused the ODA and KDU-ČSL to withdraw from the coalition, and the government collapsed. Josef Tošovský was appointed caretaker , pending new elections in June 1998. Despite the scandal, Klaus was re-elected party chairman. In January 1998, some legislators opposed to Klaus, led by Jan Ruml and Ivan Pilip , left the party in
9030-673: The party to provide confidence and maintain a ČSSD government under Miloš Zeman . This agreement was then superseded by the more explicit 'Patent of Tolerance' in January 2000. In the 2006 legislative election the ODS was the largest seat holder in the Chamber of Deputies with 81 seats. ODS originally aimed to make a deal with Czech Social Democratic Party but talks with the Social democratic leader Jiří Paroubek were unsuccessful. Mirek Topolánek then introduced his first minority cabinet that consisted of Civic Democrats and independents. It
9135-710: The party, including the national conservative faction, the national liberal faction, the social liberal faction the neoconservative faction and the Christian socially conservative faction (former Christian Democratic Party ). The party's ideas are very close to those of the British Conservative Party , Swedish Moderate Party , and other liberal-conservative parties in Europe. The party's program states "low taxes, public finances and future without debts, support for families with children, addressable social system, reducing bureaucracy, better conditions for business,
9240-454: The political advantages of working together with like-minded colleagues, Groups have some procedural privileges within the Parliament (such as Group spokespersons speaking first in debates, Group leaders representing the Group in the Parliament's Conference of Presidents), and Groups receive a staff allocation and financial subsidies. Majorities in the Parliament depend on how Groups vote and what deals are negotiated among them. Although most of
9345-559: The political groups in the European Parliament correlate to a corresponding political party, there are cases where members from two political parties come together in a shared political group: for example, the European Free Alliance (half a dozen MEPs in the ninth Parliament) and the European Green Party (over 50 MEPs in the ninth Parliament) have, since 1999, felt they are stronger by working together in
9450-406: The post of prime minister . The Bloc ran in 2021 Czech legislative election with Fiala as a leader. Opinion polls suggested that ANO 2011 would win the election but in an electoral upset ODS-led Spolu won highest number of votes and opposition parties won majority of seats in the Chamber of Deputies. Opposition parties signed memorandum agreeing to nominate ODS leader Fiala for the position of
9555-463: The previous European Parliament ran from 2004 and 2009. It was composed of the following political groups. Table 3 of the 3 January 2008 version of a working paper from the London School of Economics/Free University of Brussels by Hix and Noury considered the positions of the groups in the Sixth Parliament (2004–2009) by analysing their roll-call votes. The results for each group are shown in
9660-520: The rest broadly in favour. Opinion was wider on the CFSP , with different divisions on different issues. Unsurprisingly, G/EFA was far more in favour of Green issues compared to the other groups. Table 1 of an April 2008 discussion paper from the Centre for European Economic Research by Heinemann et al. analysed each Group's stance on a hypothetical generalised EU tax. The results for each Group are given in
9765-404: The seats together. The PES were the largest single party grouping up to 1999, when they were overtaken by the centre-right EPP. In 1987 the Single European Act came into force and, under the new cooperation procedure , the Parliament needed to obtain large majorities to make the most impact. So the EPP and PES came to an agreement to cooperate in the Parliament. This agreement became known as
9870-453: The second round for Senate, while four of them were eventually elected. Fiala said that ODS returned to the position of the major right wing party. ODS agreed to participate in the 2017 legislative election together with Freeholder party . Parties will present themselves during the campaign as ODS with the support of Freeholders . This agreement means that Freeholders will take 40 places on ODS candidacy list. In February 2017, ODS started
9975-461: The second round of the presidential election. After resignation and fall of Cabinet of Prime Minister Petr Nečas ODS proposed Miroslava Němcová to the position of the prime minister to President Miloš Zeman saying that she will be able to form a coalition and succeed a vote of confidence in the Chamber of Deputies . However, President Zeman refused to appoint her and instead appointed Jiří Rusnok's Cabinet . After that, opposition called for
10080-647: The so-called ' Sarajevo Assassination ' and formed the Freedom Union (US). At the elections, the ODS fell even further, to 63 seats, while the US won 19. Due to the split, the Freedom Union refused to support the ODS, preventing them from getting a majority; the US's executive also refused to support the ČSSD. As a result, on 9 July 1998, the ODS signed the Opposition Agreement , which pledged
10185-401: Was able to pursue a reformist agenda via the Parliament. The secessionist subgroup was unable to pursue a secessionist agenda there (it's out of the Parliament's purview) and pursued a right-wing agenda instead. This resulted in the secessionist subgroup being less Eurosceptic in terms of roll-call votes than other, non-eurosceptic parties. UKIP (the major component of the secessionist subgroup)
10290-563: Was criticised for this seeming abandonment of its Eurosceptic core principles. Table 2 of a 2005 discussion paper from the Institute for International Integration Studies by Gail McElroy and Kenneth Benoit analysed the group positions between April and June 2004, at the end of the Fifth Parliament and immediately before the 2004 elections. The results are given below, with 0% = extremely against, 100% = extremely for (except for
10395-647: Was designated on 4 September 2006 but lost a vote of confidence on 3 October 2006. ODS then formed a government in coalition with the Populars (KDU-ČSL) and the Green Party (SZ). Projects of the cabinet included reform of public finances. Topolánek also discussed possible emplacement of United States Missile defense in the Czech Republic which resulted in public resistance. The party suffered heavy losses in regional and Senate elections in 2008, losing all 12 regional governorships it had previously held. However,
10500-421: Was officially founded as a European political party in 1976. However, the European People's Party Group in the European Parliament has existed in one form or another since June 1953, from the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community , making it one of the oldest European-level political groups. It has been the largest political group in the European Parliament since 1999. The Common Assembly of
10605-465: Was opposed by many MEPs, notably from smaller Groups but also from the Liberal Group, arguing that it would be detrimental to democracy, whilst supporters argued that the change made it harder for a small number of members, possibly on the extremes (including the far right), to claim public funds. Groups may be based around a single European political party (e.g. the European People's Party ,
10710-637: Was reached to split the party in half at the Civic Forum Assembly on 23 February 1991. This was followed on 21 April by a formal declaration of a new party, and Klaus was elected its first President. The party agreed to continue in a coalition government with the Civic Movement, but this collapsed in July 1991. The Civic Democrats, who represented demands for a tighter Czechoslovak federation, began to organize in Slovakia . Ahead of
10815-484: Was shortened and in 1998 the font was changed as a result of the "Sarajevo betrayal" of autumn 1997, in which ODS colleagues used allegations of bribery to precipitate the resignation of Václav Klaus ' government while he was on a trip to Sarajevo. The party used this version until 2015 with modifications for individual election campaigns. The ODS introduced a new party logo in a congress in Prague in 2015. The design of
10920-411: Was suspended with a common agreement on 20 March 2019. The suspension was applied only to the EPP but not to its group in the Parliament. On 3 March 2021, Fidesz decided to leave the EPP group, after the group's new rules, however still kept their membership in the party. On 18 March 2021, Fidesz decided to leave the European People's Party . In the 9th European Parliament , the EPP won 182 seats out of
11025-535: Was the only member state to not be represented in the group; this state of affairs ceased temporarily on 28 February 2018, when two MEPs suspended from the British Conservative Party left the ECR Group and joined the EPP. The two MEPs later joined a breakaway political party in the UK, The Independent Group . After twelve member parties in the EPP called for Hungary's Fidesz 's expulsion or suspension, Fidesz's membership
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