A common logo for the EPP political family

The European People's Party is a political family with a rich and powerful past and present. Brought closer together by its people, its common history and its shared challenges, the EPP is made up of different organisations that reflect its diverse nature. These organisations have, over the past decades, communicated using different logos, fonts and visual symbols.

Today, the different parts within the EPP ecosystem are collaborating on many fronts and wish to showcase this unification visually through the adoption of a common logo by its two main organisations: the Party and the Group.

A visual symbol beyond languages to communicate our values: people, Europe, solidarity

Our new logo was adopted at a joint meeting of the Presidencies of the Party and the Group on 24 June 2015 and launched at the Madrid Congress of the European People’s Party on 22 October of the same year.

It is a visual symbol beyond languages that can be adopted by the EPP network to communicate our values: people, Europe, solidarity.

The history of a political platform at the roots of European reconciliation and integration

The European Christian Democrats came together in 1976 to establish the first European transnational party - the European People’s Party (EPP). Over the years, the Party has evolved to incorporate Europe's centre and centre-right in the broader sense. The EPP currently unites a total of 75 member parties from 40 European countries, forming the largest political family in Europe.

The EPP political family has been the driving force of European integration. In the aftermath of the Second World War, a handful of political leaders like Robert Schuman, the French Foreign Minister, Konrad Adenauer, the German Chancellor, and Alcide de Gasperi, the Italian Prime Minister, all of them belonging to the EPP family, were among the Founding Fathers that took the first crucial step in creating a united Europe as a means to prevent future wars.

It is fair to say that it was Christian Democrats in particular who began reconciliation and integration in Europe.

Driven by the idea of a united Europe based on the values of human dignity, freedom, human rights, rule of law, solidarity and subsidiarity, European parties came together under the umbrella of the EPP. Members of those parties elected to the European Parliament and other like-minded MEPs came together to form the EPP Group, a political fraction in the European Parliament.

Founded as the Christian-Democratic Group on 23 June 1953 as a political fraction in the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community, our Group has always played a leading role in the construction of Europe.

It is fair to say that it was Christian Democrats in particular who began reconciliation and integration in Europe

Now, as the largest political Group in a Parliament where non-socialist parties enjoy a clear majority, the EPP Group is in a stronger position than any other to set this body's political agenda and to win its most critical votes. This strength is reflected in the fact that since 1999, the EPP Group has been on the winning side of more votes than any other Group in the European Parliament's monthly plenary sessions.

About the EPP, still the leading political family in Europe

The EPP holds regular congresses where representatives of member parties, national governments and organisations within the EPP family, such as the EPP Group, come together to discuss the political programme and determine the political direction of the EPP. Every three years, the Congress elects the EPP Presidency.

Heads of State and Government belonging to the EPP meet before every European Council to discuss the European Council agenda and coordinate political positions. These EPP Summits, as they are called, also involve EPP leaders coming from non-EU countries where they can actively discuss current affairs with other European counterparts.

The EPP Group is in a stronger position than any other to set the European Parliaments's political agenda and to win its most critical votes

Moreover, Ministers affiliated to the EPP from policy fields such as Foreign Affairs, Defence, Economy and Finance, Justice and Home Affairs, Employment, Agriculture, Environment, Industry, Transport, and Energy, meet ahead of the Council of Ministers' meetings to discuss and coordinate their work. EPP Group Members regularly participate in EPP Ministerial meetings.

Finally, the European People's Party also organises regular meetings of the Political Assembly where all EPP parties, groups and associate organisations are represented. The Assembly defines the political positions of the Party between each congress.

Unlike the Party, the EPP Group's core activity is legislative work within the European Parliament. Legislative coordination within the Group, although independent of a party whip, stays within the broad guidelines established by the political programme adopted at EPP Congresses.

The EPP Group in the European Parliament plays an active role in all EPP activities and is represented in its main bodies: the Congress, the Political Assembly and the Presidency.

#WeAreFamily