Christian Union – Reformed Political Party was a parliamentary party in the European Parliament

European Parliament

The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...

 formed by two Dutch

Politics of the Netherlands

The politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, a constitutional monarchy and a decentralised unitary state. The Netherlands is described as a consociational state...

 orthodox

Orthodoxy

The word orthodox, from Greek orthos + doxa , is generally used to mean the adherence to accepted norms, more specifically to creeds, especially in religion...

 Protestant parties: the ChristianUnion

ChristianUnion

The ChristianUnion , abbreviated to CU, is a Dutch Christian democratic political party. A centrist party, the CU's policies combine social conservatism and soft euroscepticism with more centre-left positions on economic, immigration, and environmental issues.Founded in 2000 as a merger of the...

 and the Reformed Political Party

Reformed Political Party

The Reformed Political Party is an orthodox Protestant Dutch political party. The term Reformed is not a reference to political reform, but is a synonym for Calvinist. The SGP is the oldest political party in the Netherlands in its current form, and for its entire existence has been in opposition...

. The parliamentary party existed between 2001 and 2009.

The CU-SGP was formed in 2001 as a successor of the RPF-GPV-SGP parliamentary party that had existed since the 1984 European Parliament elections

European Parliament election, 1984 (Netherlands)

The European Parliament election of 1984 in the Netherlands was the election of MEP representing Netherlands constituency for the 1984-1989 term of the European Parliament. It was part of the wider 1984 European election. It was held on on June 14, 1984...

. After the merger of the Reformed Political Party

Reformed Political Party

The Reformed Political Party is an orthodox Protestant Dutch political party. The term Reformed is not a reference to political reform, but is a synonym for Calvinist. The SGP is the oldest political party in the Netherlands in its current form, and for its entire existence has been in opposition...

 (RPF) and the Reformed Political Alliance (GPV) into the ChristianUnion, the group was renamed ChristianUnion-SGP.

Both parties, ChristianUnionand SGP are eurosceptic

EuroSceptic

EuroSceptic is the second album of British singer Jack Lucien. It was released in October 2009.Due to being an album influenced by Europop, it features songs with parts in different languages...

 and morally conservative

Social conservatism

Social Conservatism is primarily a political, and usually morally influenced, ideology that focuses on the preservation of what are seen as traditional values. Social conservatism is a form of authoritarianism often associated with the position that the federal government should have a greater role...

. Since 1984

European Parliament election, 1984 (Netherlands)

The European Parliament election of 1984 in the Netherlands was the election of MEP representing Netherlands constituency for the 1984-1989 term of the European Parliament. It was part of the wider 1984 European election. It was held on on June 14, 1984...

 the RPF, GPV, later ChristianUnion and SGP had participated in the European parliament elections with one combined list which has candidates from all parties. Since 2004

European Parliament election, 2004 (Netherlands)

The European Parliament election of 2004 in the Netherlands was the election of MEP representing Netherlands constituency for the 2004-2009 term of the European Parliament. It was part of the wider 2004 European election. It was held on on June 10, 2004....

, the party currently had two MEPs, Johannes Blokland

Johannes Blokland

Johannes Blokland is a former Dutch politician and former Member of the European Parliament...

 for the Christian Union and Bastiaan Belder

Bastiaan Belder

Bastiaan Belder is a Dutch politician and Member of the European Parliament with the SGP, part of the Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group and sits on the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs...

 for the Reformed Political Party. The ChristenUnie–SGP was part of the Independence and Democracy

Independence and Democracy

The Independence/Democracy Group in the European Parliament was a group of eurosceptic and eurorealist political parties in the 2004-2009 term of the European Parliament. It collapsed following the 2009 European elections after losing many of its MEPs....

 group.

In June 2009, the group broke up, as the ChristianUnion joined the European Conservatives and Reformists

European Conservatives and Reformists

The European Conservatives and Reformists, abbreviated to ECR, is a conservative anti-federalist political group in the European Parliament. The group currently comprises 57 MEPs, making it the fourth-largest group in the European Parliament....

 (ECR). The ECR leadership did not want the SGP to join the new European parliamentary group, because of its conservative views on women.