German Christian Democratic Parties

The political Right in Germany interests me. It consists of Christian Democrat Parties: the Christian Social Union (CSU) and German Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The CDU is the main party; the CSU is its smaller Bavarian partner.

To start, it seems to be a 'given' that these parties regard themselves as having "European Responsibility" and are resolutely in favour of Euro-integration - a somewhat alien concept to the political situation here in the UK, where euroscepticism has really taking off. Indeed, membership of the CSU is, interestingly, open to any non-German national, provided that he or she lives in an EU member state.

The Christian Democrats adhere to a number of concepts and policies which I broadly support, including:

(i) Support for European federalism and "subsidiarity" (the Germans are apparently very used to a federal system of government with different tiers of decision making)

(ii) A "social market" economy

(iii) Radical social programs to help the disadvantaged in society

(iv) "Concentration": consultation between different interest/pressure groups

The British Conservative Party sits with the CDU/CSU and Christian Democrat MEPs from other European countries as part of the "European People's Party" in the European Parliament.

CSU: http://www.csu.de

CDU: http://www.cdu.de