Back Unionsparteien ALS ائتلاف الاتحاد الديمقراطي المسيحي / الاتحاد الاجتماعي المسيحي Arabic ХДС/ХСС Byelorussian ХДС/ХСС BE-X-OLD CDU/CSU Catalan CDU/CSU Czech CDU/CSU Danish CDU/CSU German CDU/CSU Greek CDU/CSU Spanish

CDU/CSU

CDU/CSU
Chairmen
Parliamentary leaderFriedrich Merz (CDU/CSU Group)
Founded1949 (1949)
Youth wingYoung Union
Ideology
Political positionCentre-right
European affiliationEuropean People's Party
European Parliament groupEuropean People's Party Group
International affiliationInternational Democracy Union
Alliance parties
Colours
  •   Blue (official)[a]
  •   Black (customary)
Bundestag
197 / 736
State Parliaments
610 / 1,894
European Parliament
29 / 96
Heads of State Governments
7 / 16
Website
www.cducsu.de Edit this at Wikidata

CDU/CSU, unofficially the Union parties (German: Unionsparteien, pronounced [uˈni̯oːnspaʁˌtaɪən]) or the Union, is a centre-right[1] Christian democratic[2] and conservative[3] political alliance of two political parties in Germany: the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU).

The CSU contests elections only in Bavaria, while the CDU operates in the other 15 states of Germany. The CSU also reflects the particular concerns of the largely rural, Catholic south.[4] While the two Christian Democratic parties are commonly described as sister parties, they have shared a common parliamentary group, the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group, in the German Bundestag[5] (German: CDU/CSU-Fraktion im Deutschen Bundestag)[6] since the foundation of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. According to German Federal Electoral Law, members of a parliamentary group which share the same basic political aims must not compete with one another in any federal state.[7]

The parties themselves officially remain completely independent with their own leadership and only few issue- or age-based joint organisations, which makes the alliance informal. However, in practice the committees of the parties harmonise their decisions with each other and the two parties run behind a common candidate for Chancellor, and the leader of one party is usually invited to party conventions of the other party.

Both the CDU and CSU are members of the European People's Party and the International Democracy Union. Both parties sit in the European People's Party Group in the European Parliament. The CDU and CSU share a common youth organisation, the Young Union, a common pupil organisation, the Pupil Union of Germany, a common student organisation, the Association of Christian Democratic Students and a common Mittelstand organisation, the Mittelstand and Business association.


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  1. ^ "Austria Greens in spotlight after strong election gains". RTL. Agence France-Presse. 30 September 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  2. ^ Lawrence Ezrow (2011). "Electoral systems and party responsiveness". In Norman Schofield; Gonzalo Caballero (eds.). Political Economy of Institutions, Democracy and Voting. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 320. ISBN 978-3-642-19519-8.
  3. ^ Alipour, Nick (11 August 2023). "Road to the chancellery: German conservatives battle for top position". Euractiv. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  4. ^ "Christian Democrat Union/Christian Social Union". Country Studies, Germany. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  5. ^ "Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) parliamentary group". German Bundestag. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  6. ^ "Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) parliamentary group". German Bundestag. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  7. ^ "Federal Electoral Law". German Law Archive. Retrieved 18 December 2016.

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