European Democrat Union

The European Democrat Union (EDU) was one of the three European wings of the International Democrat Union, along with the European People's Party (EPP) and the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party). Its members included Christian democratic, liberal conservative, and conservative political parties.

Most EDU members were also members of the EPP, but the group also included 'unattached' conservatives that were unaffiliated to the EPP. These were: the British Conservative Party, the Czech Civic Democratic Party, the Icelandic Independence Party and the Liechtenstein Patriotic Union and Progressive Citizens' Party.

The Secretary of EDU in the 1990s was Andreas Khol. One of the last conferences 17th EDU Conference were held in 12–13 March 1996 in Paris. In the late 1990s, the last chairman of an independent EDU, Finnish conservative politician Sauli Niinistö, negotiated the merger of the EDU into the EPP. In October 2002, the EDU ceased its activities after being formally absorbed by the EPP at a special event in Estoril, Portugal. In recognition of his efforts, Niinistö was elected Honorary President of the EPP in the same year. Moreover, in April 2008, the EPP was recognized as a Regional Union by the IDU.

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