History
According to its website, the EPP is "the family of the political centre-right, whose roots run deep in the history and civilization of the European continent and has pioneered the European project from its inception."
The EPP was founded on 8 July 1976 in Luxembourg on the particular initiative of Jean Seitlinger and then Belgian Prime Minister Leo Tindemans, who also became the first President of the party.
It’s to be noted though, that many political centre-right associations were already on the move since long ago and could be considered as EPP’s predecessors. For example the Nouvelles Equipes Internationales in 1946 or 1948, via the European Union of Christian Democrats founded in 1965, although it has been argued that it ultimately descends from the Secretariat International des partis démocratiques d'inspiration chrétienne founded in 1925.
An important movement came in the late 1990s, when Finnish politician Sauli Niinistö, negotiated the merger of the European Democrat Union (EDU), of which he was President, into the EPP. In October 2002, the EDU ceased its activities after being formally absorbed by the EPP at a special event in Estoril, Portugal. In recognition of his efforts, Niinistö was elected Honorary President of the EPP in the same year.
During these 35 years, the EPP has had four Presidents:
- Leo Tindemans (1976–1985)
- Piet Bukman (1985–1987)
- Jacques Santer (1987–1990)
- Wilfried Martens (1990–)
Read more about this topic: European People's Party
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“I am ashamed to see what a shallow village tale our so-called History is. How many times must we say Rome, and Paris, and Constantinople! What does Rome know of rat and lizard? What are Olympiads and Consulates to these neighboring systems of being? Nay, what food or experience or succor have they for the Esquimaux seal-hunter, or the Kanaka in his canoe, for the fisherman, the stevedore, the porter?”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“There is no example in history of a revolutionary movement involving such gigantic masses being so bloodless.”
—Leon Trotsky (1879–1940)
“Let it suffice that in the light of these two facts, namely, that the mind is One, and that nature is its correlative, history is to be read and written.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)