The European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) (EPP) belongs to the political family of the centre-right and was founded in 1976. The political formations of the centre-right can be tracked back to the early 1920`s. The first attempt at cooperation between like-minded Christian Democrats was allegedly made in 1926, when the International Secretariat of Democratic Parties of Christian Inspiration (Secrétariat International des Partis Démocratiques d’Inspiration Chrétienne, SIPDIC) was founded. EPP is the largest political organization of Europe with 72 member-parties from 39 countries, 18 heads of State and Government (13 EU and 5 non-EU), 13 European Commissioners (including the President), and the largest Group in the European Parliament with 265 members. EPP has parliamentary groups in the Parliamentary Assemblies of both the Council of Europe and the OSCE.

Of the Heads of State and Government of the EU Member States for example the following persons have roots in the EPP: Nicolas Sarkozy (France), Jan Peter Balkenende (The Netherlands), Silvio Berlusconi (Italy), Emil Boc (Romania), Boyko Borisov (Bulgaria), Valdis Dombrovskis (Latvia), Lawrence Gonzi (Malta), Jean-Claude Juncker (Luxemburg), Andrius Kubilius (Lithuania), Yves Leterme (Belgium), Angela Merkel (Germany), Viktor Orbán Hungary), Iveta Radičová (Slovakia), Fredrik Reinfeldt (Sweden).

The PES has 264 + 4 seats in the European Parliament where it is represented by the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) (Borchardt 2010, 51).

The following persons from the EU institutions have roots in the PES: the President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek; Tunne Kelam from Estonia; Sari Essayah, Ville Itälä, Eija-Riitta Korhola and Sirpa Pietikäinen from Finland; Sandra Kalniete, Arturs Krišiānis Kariņš and Inese Vaidere from Latvia; Laima Liucija Andrikienė, Vytautas Landsbergis, Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė and Algirdas Saudargas from Lithuania, etc. There are 13 Commissioners in the European Commission with roots in the PES – the President of the Commission José Manuel Barroso, the Vice President and Commissioner of Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Vivianne Reding; the Vice President and Commissioner of Industry and Entrepreneurship Antonio Tajani; the Commissioner of Internal Market and Services Michel Barnier; the Commissioner of Agriculture and Rural Development Dacian Cioloş; the Commissioner of Health and Consumer Policy John Dalli; the Commissioner of International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response Kristalina Georgieva; the Commissioner of Regional Policy Johannes Hahn; the Commissioner of Climate Action Connie Hedegaard; the Commissioner of Budget and Financial Programming Janusz Lewandowski; the Commissioner of Energy Günther Oettinger, the Commissioner of Development Andris Piebalgs, and the Commissioner of Taxation and Customs Union, Audit and Anti-Fraud Algirdas Šemeta.

In the European Council Herman Van Rompuy has his roots in the EPP.

For the aims of the EPP see http://www.epp.eu/index.asp

From Estonia belongs to the EPP Pro Patria and Res Publica Union (Isamaa ja Res Publica Liit).