Labour, as recently as 1983, campaigned to leave the Community. Despite a more recent enthusiasm they still have a large number of members opposed to closer European ties. The Greens, too, have been surprisingly lukewarm, with only the Liberals (to their credit) consistently pro-Europe since the 1950s. The Conservative Party sits virtually alone in the European Parliament, ineffectual and friendless. In September 1990, during a visit to the European Parliament, leading Christian Democrats expressed their hope that a positive and constructive British voice would ultimately be heard in Europe. The Portuguese Christian Democrat group leader, Professor Lucas Pires, told me, 'The Conservatives do not agree with us over institutional and social reforms.' He joked that the European Conservative Group 'are against Mrs Thatcher - but not as much as we are!' Some of the continental Christian Democrats have been deeply affected by the experience of their sister parties in poverty-stricken areas of South America. Barto Pronk, a Dutch MEP, identified support for 'an old-fashioned constitution, an antiquated franchise, and their opposition to a Bill of Rights' as some of the reasons why the CDA (Dutch Christian Democrats) were opposed to the British Conservatives but he added, 'We have much in common with the British people; the same outlook, the same sense of humour - but not the same politics.' He said his party steadfastly supported a pro life ethic ... a point underlined by their leader, Ruud Lubbers, during a CDA symposium in the Netherlands in October 1990 opposing abortion, embryo experimentation and euthanasia. Since the successful merger of three Protestant and Catholic parties in 1980 the CDA had more effectively been able to champion Christian values in Dutch society - values which Pronk says are needed throughout Europe. A crucial issue will remain for Britain: where do we and our parties fit into the new Europe? Central to any vision of Europe will be a clear understanding of Christian Democracy: its origins, its beliefs and its future.
Origins: A Resistance Movement
Thomas Jansen, Secretary to the European People's Party and European Union of Christian Democrats, admits that understanding one another is a two-way street: 'Much of the philosophical thought on which Christian Democracy is based is not particularly well known in English-speaking circles, and the vocabulary sounds strange - just as Edmund Burke sounds strange to Continental ears.'1 In Britain the major work on Christian Democracy is Christian Democracy in Western Europe, 1820-1953, by Professor Michael Fogarty.2 Although this is a