TheChristian Democratic Appeal (Dutch:Christen-Democratisch Appèl[ˌkrɪstə(n)deːmoːˈkraːtisɑˈpɛl],CDA) is aChristian democratic[3] andconservative[4]political party in theNetherlands.
Formed as a federation in 1975 by theCatholic People's Party, theAnti-Revolutionary Party, and theChristian Historical Union, it first participated in a general election in 1977 and unified into a single party in 1980. The party dominated Dutch politics from 1977 to 1994, becoming the largest party all but twice, with leadersDries van Agt andRuud Lubbers serving asprime minister.
The party faced a major defeat in the1994 general election, after which the first two cabinets without its participation were formed. The CDA regained its status as the largest party between 2002 and 2010, during which leaderJan Peter Balkenende headed four cabinets. Between 2010 and 2023, the party saw further electoral decline under varied leadership, participating in three of four cabinets as a junior coalition partner. Following the2025 general election, the party holds 18 seats, now led byHenri Bontenbal.
Since 1880, Catholics and the ProtestantAnti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) collaborated in the so-calledCoalition. They shared a common goal of securingpublic funding for religious schools, which was achieved through thePacification of 1917. In 1888, they established the first Christian democratic cabinet, theMackay cabinet.[5] This cooperation, however, was not without challenges, and in 1894, moreanti-Catholic and aristocraticconservatives split from the ARP to form what would become theChristian Historical Union (CHU) in 1908.[6] Within both parties, there remained a desire to reunite.[7] Meanwhile, in 1904, theGeneral League of Roman Catholic Caucuses was formed, eventually evolving into theRoman Catholic State Party (RKSP) in 1926 and later theCatholic People's Party (KVP) in 1945.[8]
During theInterwar period, all three parties remained continuously in government. AfterWorld War II, however, the KVP distanced itself from the CHU and especially the ARP, refraining from governing with them until 1952 and 1958, respectively, instead formingRoman/Red cabinets with theLabour Party (PvdA).[9] Meanwhile, the parties began collaborating at the European level, with the CHU and ARP joining the KVP in theNouvelles Equipes Internationale in 1953.[10][11] Due tosecularisation anddepillarisation, the three parties lost their combined majority[a] in the1959 general election for the first time since 1918.[12]
Influenced by theSecond Vatican Council, the KVP published the reportGrondslag en karakter van de KVP (transl. Foundation and Character of the KVP) and adopted its conclusions, which called for Christian democratic cooperation, in December 1966.[13] TheNight of Schmelzer in October 1966 exposed divisions both between and within the three parties, leading to disappointing election results for each.[14] Consequently, the three parties accepted an ARP initiative to form theGroup of Eighteen in April 1967, comprising six prominent politicians from each party, tasked with establishing a common foundation for Christian politics and, if successful, determining the best path forward.[15]
Meanwhile,Christian-radical members within the three parties grew dissatisfied with their support in the1967 general election, as they favored cooperation with progressive parties over alignment with thePeople's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) in theDe Jong cabinet.[16] To prevent this group from disrupting party cooperation, the leaders of the three parties announced on 14 February 1968 that in the next election, they would either unite into a single Christian party or only join the cabinet together.[17] This announcement led a group of KVP radicals to leave the party the same month, founding thePolitical Party of Radicals (PPR).[18] Two years later, a group of ARP radicals also left to establish theEvangelical Progressive Party (EVP).[19]
In 1969, the Group of Eighteen proposed drafting a joint "urgency programme,"[20] which the parties completed shortly before the1971 general election, where they again lost seats.[21] Following up on the Group of Eighteen, the Contact Council was established in 1972 to further develop their cooperation.[22] Led by KVP SenatorPiet Steenkamp, the council issued a memorandum in June 1972, advocating a single candidate list for the next election and the formation of a Christian democratic movement, with membership open to members of the three parties as well as direct members.[23]
A month later, however, thefirst Biesheuvel cabinet collapsed, leaving insufficient time to prepare a single candidate list, resulting in another loss in the1972 general election.[24] As part of itspolarisation strategy, the PvdA persuaded several KVP and ARP politicians to join its progressiveDen Uyl cabinet during the1972–1973 cabinet formation. This arrangement required their parliamentary groups to provideconfidence and supply, while the CHU moved into opposition.[25][26] This shift complicated the merger process, as the CHU stipulated that a joint list would depend on the "actual parliamentary political situation" (the so-called "political mortgage").[27]
Nevertheless, based on the memorandum, the Christian Democratic Appeal was officially formed as a pre-federation in 1973,[29] with Steenkamp as its chairperson. It would employ a "growth model", in which they would work out political and organizational details, while keeping the original parties until the last moment.[30] Meanwhile discussions continued on the role of the Bible in the party[31] and the political course. When the pre-federation was turned into a federation in 1975, some conservative members of the CHU and ARP left to form theReformatory Political Federation (RPF).[32]
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In 1976, the three parties announced that they would field a single candidate list at the1977 general election, after their parliamentary groups had intensified cooperation.[33] KVPminister of JusticeDries van Agt was thelead candidate. The election manifesto was titled "Not by bread alone" (Dutch:Niet bij brood alleen) and was progressive.[34] The list was able to get one seat more than the three parties together five years earlier. Based on the results, a cabinet of PvdA, CDA andDemocrats 66 (D66) was most likely and was discussed at the start of the1977 cabinet formation. After seven months, the negotiations finally collapsed, after it had been suspended multiple times. Soon after, Van Agt was able to form thefirst Van Agt cabinet with the conservative liberalPeople's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD).
Some progressive MPs nicknamed theloyalists, which included parliamentary leaderWillem Aantjes, did not commit to support the cabinet, but only tolerated it. Their opposition forced the cabinet to compromise on theplacement of nuclear weapons in the Netherlands.[35] This issue would continue to divide the party until it was resolved in the 1980s and would contribute to the removal of loyalistsJan Nico Scholten andStef Dijkman from the parliamentary group in 1983.[36] Nevertheless, the first Van Agt cabinet was able to complete its term.
The federation was founding member of theEuropean People's Party on 8 July 1978.[37] For the1979 European Parliament election, they had first selectedWim Vergeer (KVP), but afterRuud Lubbers (KVP) had replaced Aantjes as parliamentary leader,Bouke Beumer (ARP) was selected. CDA won ten out of 25 seats and was the largest Dutch delegation to distribute the leadership between the parties.[38]
On 11 October 1980, the three original parties ceased to exist and the CDA was founded as a unitary party. The differences between the groups would continue to exist for a long time within the party.[39] It led to another group of members leaving the party and joining with the EPV to found theEvangelical People's Party (EVP).[19]
For the1981 general election, Van Agt was reelected as lead candidate.[40] Its election manifesto was titled "For a meaningful existence" (Dutch:Om een zinvol bestaan) and compared to the previous manifesto shifted responsibility from the government to society.[34] CDA became the largest party, despite losing a seat. Because CDA and VVD had lost their majority, thesecond Van Agt cabinet with PvdA and D66 was formed in the1981 cabinet formation. Bad relations between PvdA and CDA led to crises from the start, and the cabinet fell within a year.[40] Van Agt led therump cabinetVan Agt III with D66 to prepare the next election.
Van Agt was againlead candidate for thegeneral election and its manifesto was the same as the previous year with an attachment.[34] CDA lost three seats and ended second after PvdA. After the elections, Van Agt announced that he would leave politics and was succeeded as party leader by Lubbers. During theSeptember–November 1982 cabinet formation, Lubbers would form thefirst Lubbers cabinet with the VVD. To combat the economic crisis, the cabinet implementedbudget cuts, limited thewelfare state and privatised state-owned companies.[41] A major achievement was theWassenaar Agreement in 1982, in whichtrade unions agreed to wage moderation in exchange for reduction of working hours byemployers' organisations. This would be the start of thepolder model, a concept in line with CDA's principle of distributed responsibility.[42]
The1986 general election took place when the economy was improving,[43] but the manifesto nevertheless focused on reducing the welfare state and shifting the responsibility to society.[41] Given Lubber's popularity for his "no-nonsense approach", the slogan was "Let Lubbers finish his job" (Dutch:Laat Lubbers zijn afmaken). CDA won 54 seats, the highest a single party had ever won, mostly at the expense of the VVD.[43] After the1986 cabinet formation, thesecond Lubbers cabinet continuing with VVD as coalition partner. VVD felt like being in the supporting role, and finally brought down the cabinet in 1989 over the travel expenses allowance.[43]
The manifesto for the1989 general election built upon the previous with the addition of environmental management among the priorities.[41] The CDA kept its 54 seats and after the1989 cabinet formation thethird Lubbers cabinet was formed with the PvdA. A notable reform in line with the CDA principle of distributed responsibility, was the privatization of thehousing associations by CDA State Secretary for Housing, Spatial Planning and the EnvironmentEnneüs Heerma, with which he started in 1989 and was finished in 1994.[44]
In the run-up to the1994 general election, Lubbers announced he would retire from Dutch politics and had namedElco Brinkman his successor. During the campaign, Lubbers appeared to distance himself from Brinkman. Furthermore, the freezing ofpensions they had included in their manifesto proved unpopular with its elderly voters. CDA lost 20 of its 54 seats.[43] The1994 cabinet formation led to the firstpurple coalition, the first time since 1918 that CDA or its predecessors were not part of a cabinet.Enneüs Heerma succeeded Brinkman as parliamentary leader and attempted to be the voice of the opposition and bring the topic of family on the political agenda, but failed in both.[45]
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer was selected aslead candidate for the1998 general election.[45] The election manifesto "You don't live together alone" (Dutch:Samenleven doe je niet alleen) differed from previous ones, focusing oncommunitarianism in contrast to theindividualism of the purple coalition.[46] However, De Hoop Scheffers was relatively unknown compared to his opponents, and the CDA, as a centrist party, struggled to simultaneously target both the left-wing PvdA and the right-wing VVD. It led to another loss of five seats and a continuation of the cabinet without CDA.[45]
In the run-up to the2002 general election, a leadership crisis erupted between party leader De Hoop Scheffer and party chairMarnix van Rij, after which they both left.[47] De Hoop Scheffer was succeeded as lead candidate byJan Peter Balkenende. The campaign was dominated by the right-wing politicianPim Fortuyn andPim Fortuyn List (LPF) with his critique of the purple cabinets. Fortuyn and Balkenende had agreed not to attack each other during the campaign. Near the end of the campaign,Fortuyn was assassinated, which led to civil unrest. In the election, many people voted for the CDA, hoping that it could bring stability and because it had not attacked Fortuyn like many other parties.[48] CDA became the largest party with 43 seats, followed by LPF with 26 seats. In the2002 cabinet formation, thefirst Balkenende cabinet was formed with CDA, VVD and LPF. The cabinet would fall after only three months due to struggles within the LPF.[49]
CDA won another seat in the2003 general election and remained the largest party. CDA started negotiations with PvdA in the2003 cabinet formation, but after this failed, thesecond Balkenende cabinet was formed with VVD and D66. To comply with the deficit limits of the EuropeanStability and Growth Pact, the cabinet cut back on social security, leading to protest within CDA.[49] A major reform, which was started under the previous cabinet, was the introduction of anew system of health care insurance plan, which made an end to the distinction between public and private healthcare insurance funds, with the aim of reducing costs and waiting lists.[50] The cabinet fell in 2006 after D66 left, leading to theformation of thethird Balkenende cabinet as rump cabinet with VVD.[49]
CDA lost three seats, but remained the largest party after the2006 general election. In thecabinet formation it formed thefourth cabinet Balkenende with PvdA and theChristian Union (CU). The cabinet was confronted with the2008 financial crisis, leading to the nationalisation of some banks. CDA and PvdA disagreed a lot, and PvdA finally left the cabinet in 2010.[49]
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Despite open internal opposition, Balkenende was again selected as lead candidate for the2010 general election, in which CDA lost half of its seats. Balkenende announced his resignation as party leader and was replaced byMaxime Verhagen.[49] At first, Verhagen was aiming for opposition during the2010 cabinet formation. However, after talks betweenpurple plus collapsed, CDA entered negotiations with VVD andParty for Freedom (PVV), the latter would be providingconfidence and supply. Within the party, some opposed a coalition with theradical right PVV. Verhagen's co-negotiatorAb Klink resigned over the negotiations and two other MPs threatened to oppose the coalition, which would make it lose its majority. Aspecial party convention [nl] was held to approve the result of the negotiations, which 68% of the record 4,700 members did.[51] On 14 October, thefirst Rutte cabinet was sworn in with Verhagen as Deputy Prime Minister.
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After the fall of the short-lived first Rutte cabinet in 2012, CDA held aleadership election, which was won by interim parliamentary leaderSybrand Buma, with runner-upMona Keijzer receiving 26% of the votes. The election manifesto for the2012 general election was titled "Everyone" (Dutch:Iedereen) after a Strategic Deliberation had advised a position in the "radical centre", focusing on all layers of society.[52] In the election, CDA fell to 13 seats. CDA played no role in the2012 cabinet formation which lead to thesecond Rutte cabinet and also stayed out of agreements the coalition made with opposition parties.[53] In opposition, Buma followed a right-conservative line,[54] embracing the "angry citizen" and focusing onnorms andvalues.[55]
Its manifesto for the2017 general election, "Choices for a better Netherlands", focused on norms and values, Dutch identity, insecurities and opposed excessive individualism.[52] The CDA gained sixed seats and joined thethird Rutte cabinet, with the VVD, D66 and CU.[53]
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Buma resigned in May 2019 and was succeeded temporarily byPieter Heerma as parliamentary leader. Aleadership election did not take place until July 2020. The chaotic election was narrowly won by Deputy Prime Minister andMinister of Health, Welfare and SportHugo de Jonge, with MPPieter Omtzigt as runner-up. De Jonge withdrew as lead candidate in December, because he could not combine it with his duties as minister during theCOVID-19 pandemic. In his place, the party board appointed Minister of FinanceWopke Hoekstra.[56]
The party lost four seats in theMarch 2021 election.[56] After thelongest ever cabinet formation the party continued infourth Rutte cabinet, which had the same composition as the previous. During the formation, Omtzigt had left the party, alleging he had been treated unfairly in the party, and later started the partyNew Social Contract (NSC). During the cabinet period, the party struggled with its position in thenitrogen crisis and thefarmers' protests that followed. The party faced electoral competition from the new political partyFarmer–Citizen Movement (BBB) on this issue.
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For theNovember 2023 general election, MPHenri Bontenbal was selected as party leader. The party received its worst result ever, securing only five seats.[57]
The CDA is acentre[58] tocentre-right[59]Christian democratic party. It started relatively progressive compared to other European Christian democratic parties or secular conservative parties, but followed the general trend in Dutch politics in becoming moreconservative and centre-right.[60] As of 2022,social conservatism is regarded as one of its guiding ideologies.[61] The party had long been reluctant to call itself conservative,[60] but it has been embraced by Bontenbal in 2023.[62] It has become morecommunitarianist, in particular under Balkenende's leadership, who was inspired by sociologistAmitai Etzioni.[63]
The party has four main principles:stewardship,solidarity, distributed responsibility andpublic justice.[64] Distributed responsibility refers to the way society should be organised: no one organisation should control all society. Instead thestate, the market, andsocial institutions, likechurches andunions should work together. It is a combination of theneo-Calvinist concept ofsphere sovereignty and the Catholic concept ofsubsidiarity.[65]
Following the principles of distributed responsibility, CDA has always focused on a "responsible society", where intervention by the government should be limited. To achieve this, CDA cherishescivil society. In its 1977 election manifesto, it ascertained that Dutch society was not yet a real responsible society, and that the government should help society achieve this. In the 1980s, CDA concluded that the government spending levels were unsustainable and focused on budgets cuts and reducing thewelfare state. In the 1990s, its confidence in and expectations of society grew, as well in the responsibility of individual citizens. Notable reforms in this direction have been the privatisation of thehousing associations in 1994 and the healthcare reform in 2006.[66]
CDA supports the protection of the environment based on the principle of stewardship. It aims to reconcile the protection of the environment with economic growth, although the latter often prevailed.[67]
CDA has always held a middle position in the debate onabortion in the Netherlands, advocating for "no unless". CDA supports the right to abortion when the life of the woman is in danger. It has accepted since its creation that a majority in the Netherlands was in favor of abortion beyond that, arguing that their own ethical values should not be codified in law. CDA is however in favor of some limitations, including abortion being in theCriminal Code and a reflection period of five days.[68] A majority of its representatives voted for the compromiseabortion law in 1981,[68] while a majority voted against the removal of the reflection period in 2021.[69]
Today, CDA supportssame-sex marriage in the Netherlands, although it did not do so early on. In the beginning, CDA opposed same-sex marriage, but supported the registration of other forms ofcohabitation. This was more explicitly mentioned in election manifestos after its think tank published its report1+1=together in 1986.[70] In 1997, CDA voted against a bill that would allowcivil union for same-sex relationships, because it would also be open to opposite-sex relationships. In 2000, all but three CDA members of parliament voted against the introduction of same-sex marriage.[b] Since then, CDA became more supportive of same-sex marriage, voting in favour of a law giving married lesbians the same parenting rights as opposite-sex parents.[71]
In May 2019, the CDA voted against banning gayconversion therapy, arguing that conversion therapy is already punishable as abuse and too broadly formulated.[72]
Based on theChapel Hill expert survey (2014), CDA can be qualified as "Eurorealist",[73] while it had been morepro-European in the past. In itsparty manifesto in 1980, the CDA strove for a "united Europe" and in 1979 they had endorsed the EPP election manifesto which called for afederal Europe.[74] In the early 2000s CDA started emphasizing the national identity, writing in its 2004 election manifesto it wanted "to ensure that we do not lose our own Dutch identity in the larger Europe".[75] A turning point was the2005 referendum on theTreaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, which was voted down. CDA had officially endorsed the Treaty, but Balkenende was largely absent during the campaign.[76] The focus shifted to the national interest in Europe. Around the same that the EPP started to distance itself from a federal Europe in its new party manifesto, CDA wrote in its manifesto for the2014 European Parliament election the party "is and remains against a federal Europe". It turned againstenlargement of the European Union, which it had supported in the previous decade.[77]
| Election | Lead candidate | List | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Government | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Dries van Agt | List | 2,653,416 | 31.9 | 49 / 150 |  1 | Coalition | [78] |
| 1981 | List | 2,677,259 | 30.8 | 48 / 150 |  1 | Coalition | [79] | |
| 1982 | List | 2,420,441 | 29.4 | 45 / 150 | 3 | Coalition | [80] | |
| 1986 | Ruud Lubbers | List | 3,172,918 | 34.6 | 54 / 150 | 9 | Coalition | [81] |
| 1989 | List | 3,140,502 | 35.3 | 54 / 150 |  | Coalition | [82] | |
| 1994 | Elco Brinkman | List | 1,996,418 | 22.2 | 34 / 150 | 20 | Opposition | [83] |
| 1998 | Jaap de Hoop Scheffer | List | 1,581,053 | 18.4 | 29 / 150 | 5 | Opposition | [84] |
| 2002 | Jan Peter Balkenende | List | 2,653,723 | 27.9 | 43 / 150 | 14 | Coalition | [85] |
| 2003 | List | 2,763,480 | 28.6 | 44 / 150 | 1 | Coalition | [86] | |
| 2006 | List | 2,608,573 | 26.5 | 41 / 150 | 3 | Coalition | [87] | |
| 2010 | List | 1,281,886 | 13.6 | 21 / 150 | 20 | Coalition | [88] | |
| 2012 | Sybrand Buma | List | 801,620 | 8.5 | 13 / 150 | 8 | Opposition | [89] |
| 2017 | List | 1,301,796 | 12.4 | 19 / 150 | 6 | Coalition | [90] | |
| 2021 | Wopke Hoekstra | List | 990,601 | 9.5 | 15 / 150 | 4 | Coalition | [91] |
| 2023 | Henri Bontenbal | List | 345,822 | 3.3 | 5 / 150 | 10 | Opposition | [92] |
| 2025 | List | 1,246,874 | 11.8 | 18 / 150 | 13 | TBA | [93] |
| Election | List | Votes | Weight | % | Seats | +/– | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977[c] | List | 24 / 75 | 5 | ||||
| 1980 | List | 27 / 75 | 3 | ||||
| 1981 | List | 28 / 75 | 1 | ||||
| 1983 | List | 26 / 75 | 2 | ||||
| 1986 | List | 26 / 75 | | ||||
| 1987 | List | 26 / 75 | | ||||
| 1991 | List | 27 / 75 | 1 | ||||
| 1995 | List | 19 / 75 | 8 | ||||
| 1999 | List | 20 / 75 | 1 | ||||
| 2003 | List | 46,848 | 29.0 | 23 / 75 | 3 | [94] | |
| 2007 | List | 43,501 | 26.7 | 21 / 75 | 2 | [95] | |
| 2011 | List | 86 | 24,260 | 14.6 | 11 / 75 | 10 | [96] |
| 2015 | List | 89 | 25,145 | 14.9 | 12 / 75 | 1 | [97] |
| 2019 | List | 76 | 19,756 | 11.4 | 9 / 75 | 3 | [98] |
| 2023 | List | 47 | 13,136 | 7.3 | 6 / 75 | 3 | [99] |
| Election | Lead candidate | List | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | EP Group | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Bouke Beumer | List | 2,017,743 | 35.6 | 10 / 25 | New | EPP | |
| 1984 | List | 1,590,218 | 30.0 | 8 / 25 | 2 | |||
| 1989 | Jean Penders | List | 1,813,035 | 34.6 | 10 / 25 | 2 | ||
| 1994 | Hanja Maij-Weggen | List | 1,271,840 | 30.8 | 10 / 31 | 0 | ||
| 1999 | List | 951,898 | 26.9 | 9 / 31 | 1 | EPP–ED | ||
| 2004 | Camiel Eurlings | List | 1,164,431 | 24.4 | 7 / 27 | 2 | ||
| 2009 | Wim van de Camp | List | 913,233 | 20.1 | 5 / 25 | 2 | EPP | |
5 / 26 | 0 | |||||||
| 2014 | Esther de Lange | List | 721,766 | 15.2 | 5 / 26 | 0 | [100] | |
| 2019 | List | 669,555 | 12.2 | 4 / 26 | 1 | |||
5 / 29 | 1 | |||||||
| 2024 | Tom Berendsen | List | 589,205 | 9.5 | 3 / 31 | 2 | [101] |
The core electorate of the CDA are church members, both Catholics and Protestants. Part of the electoral decline can be attributed tosecularisation (9–10 seats in the period 1970–2010), while church members increasingly have been voting for other (mostly non-religious) parties (10-14 seats in the period 1970-2010). Non church members at times also vote for CDA, with a record during the2002 general election.[102] The CDA has been stated to be anissue owner of "norms andvalues".[103]
Voter surveys held after theMarch 2021 general election and theMarch 2023 provincial elections showed that the average CDA voter's self-placement on a left-right axis was slightly to the right of the average voter. They were slightly less supportive of euthanasia and climate policy. CDA voters were more opposed to immigration than the average voter in 2021, but this difference had disappeared by 2023. 2023 CDA voters also had more trust in political parties than the average voter. The average CDA voter was older than the average voter, at 63 in 2021 (compared to 55 among all voters) and 61 in 2023 (compared to 56 among all voters). Around 60% of CDA voters described themselves as religious, a proportion twice as high as the proportion among all voters. Around 60 to 70% of CDA voters lived in rural areas, compared to roughly half of all voters. CDA voters felt considerably more connected to other people than voters of other parties and, in 2023, were slightly happier about their life.[104]
Thethink tanks of CDA's predecessors,Dr. Abraham Kuyperstichting (ARP),Centrum voor Staatkundige Vorming (KVP) and theJhr.mr. A.F. de Savornin Lohmanstichting (CHU), started working together in 1972 and played a role in the Contact Council. On 15 December 1977, theStichting Studiecentrum CDA was founded as a collaborative body for the three think tanks. The think tanks merged into theStichting Studiecentrum CDA in 1980, when the parties merged, and in 1981 the name was changed toCDA Research Institute (Dutch:Wetenschappelijk Instituut voor het CDA).[105]
The youth wing of the CDA is theChristian Democratic Youth Appeal (CDJA). It was founded as a federation of the youth wings of its predecessors in 1977 and they merged in 1981. The CDJA has a seat in the Association Council of the CDA and is often active with motions and amendments in party conventions.[106]
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The CDA is a founding member of theEuropean People's Party (EPP) andits parliamentary group in theEuropean Parliament in 1976. For the establishment, CDA focused on the Christian democratic character it believed the party should have. This was explicit in its programme, but CDA believed it should also be visible in the name and membership of the party. In contrast, the more secular and antisocialistChristian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) wanted to include conservative parties, to become the largest group and form a front against socialism. As a compromise, the term "Christian democratic" would be included in the subtitle and non-Christian democratic parties would not be allowed to join.[107]
CDA would for a long time oppose the membership of theConservative Party (UK),Forza Italia and the return of theAustrian People's Party.[107] In 2019, called for the expulsion of the HungarianFidesz party, because of therule of law andpress freedom under its rule, which finally led Fidesz to leave in 2021.[108] In the past, the Dutch parties50PLUS andChristian Union were part of the EPP parliamentary group, but not of the party. The Dutch partiesNew Social Contract (NSC) and theFarmer–Citizen Movement (BBB) are since 2024 also member of the parliamentary group.[109]
CDA is member of theCentrist Democrat International.[110]
The Christian Democratic Appeal [...] is a center to center-right party with Christian democracy and social conservatism among its guiding ideologies.
Pieter Omtzigt, a longtime member of the Dutch center-right Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), has created a new party to fight for votes in November's election.
The Christian Democratic Appeal [...] is a center to center-right party with Christian democracy and social conservatism among its guiding ideologies.
The Christian Democratic Appeal [...] is a center to center-right party with Christian democracy and social conservatism among its guiding ideologies.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025 (link)
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