Editing Christian Union (Netherlands) (section)

==Organisation==
===Leadership===
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* '''Leader in the [[House of Representatives (Netherlands)|House of Representatives]]'''<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.parlement.com/id/vh8lnhrouwxt/tweede_kamerfractie_christenunie_cu |title=Tweede Kamerfractie ChristenUnie (CU) |website=[[Parlement.com|Parlement & Politiek]] |language=nl |access-date=27 May 2018}}</ref>
** [[Leen van Dijke]] {{small|(13 March 2001 – 23 May 2002)}}
** [[Kars Veling]] {{small|(23 May 2002 – 12 November 2002)}}
** [[André Rouvoet]] {{small|(12 November 2002 – 22 February 2007)}}
** [[Arie Slob]] {{small|(22 February 2007 – 10 June 2010)}}
** [[André Rouvoet]] {{small|(10 June 2010 – 28 April 2011)}}
** [[Arie Slob]] {{small|(28 April 2011 – 10 November 2015)}}
** [[Gert-Jan Segers]] {{small|(10 November 2015 – 17 January 2023)}}
** [[Mirjam Bikker]] {{small|(18 January 2023 – present)}}
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* '''Leader in the [[Senate (Netherlands)|Senate]]'''<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.parlement.com/id/vh8lnhrqlyx7/eerste_kamerfractie_christenunie_cu |title=Eerste Kamerfractie ChristenUnie (CU) |website=[[Parlement.com|Parlement & Politiek]] |language=nl |access-date=27 May 2018}}</ref>
** [[Egbert Schuurman]] {{small|(27 March 2001 – 7 June 2011)}}
** [[Roel Kuiper]] {{small|(7 June 2011 – 2019)}}
** [[Tineke Huizinga]] {{small|(2019 – present)}}
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===Organisational structure===
The highest body in the CU is the Union Congress, formed by delegates from the municipal branches. It appoints the party board and decides the order of the candidates on the lists for elections to the Senate, House of Representatives and European Parliament and has the final say over the party program. A member congress has an important role in the formation of the CU's political direction.

===Members===
The CU currently has 25,170 members (as of 1 January 2019). They are organised in over 200 municipal branches.

===Linked organisations===
The youth organisation of the party is [[PerspectieF]] which was formed as a fusion of the two youth organisations of the CU's predecessors the [[GPJC]] and [[RPFJ]]. The party publishes the HandSchrift (HandWriting) six times a year. The party's scientific institute is the Mr. Groen van Prinsterer Foundation, which publishes the DenkWijzer (ThoughtWiser). The women's organisation is Inclusief.

The CU participates in the [[Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy]], a democracy assistance organisation of seven Dutch political parties.

===International organisations===
Internationally, the CU is a member of the [[European Christian Political Party]]. Its MEPs were seated in the [[European Conservatives and Reformists Group]]. Until 2019 when the CU joined the [[European People's Party Group|EPP Group]]

===Orthodox-Protestant (pillarised) organisations===
The CU still has ideological strong links with so-called [[Pillarisation|pillarised organisations]]. Together with conservative [[Parochial school|Protestant schools]], papers like the ''[[Nederlands Dagblad]]'' and the ''[[Reformatorisch Dagblad]]'', the Protestant broadcaster [[Evangelische Omroep]], several Reformed churches they constitute the conservative or orthodox Reformed pillar (Dutch ''zuil''). While all four of the traditional Dutch pillars (socialists, liberals, Protestants and Catholics) have broken down since the 1960s, the orthodox reformed pillar has actually strengthened in reaction to the process of secularisation.

===Relationships to other parties===
The Christian Union had been in the opposition until 2006. It has good relations with the orthodox [[Reformed Political Party]] (SGP), with which it formed a single European parliamentary party [[ChristenUnie-SGP|CU-SGP]] until 2022 and the [[Christian Democratic Appeal]], with which the ChristenUnie-SGP had an [[electoral alliance]] for the [[2004 European Parliament election in the Netherlands|2004 European Parliament elections]]. As an opposition party against the centre-right [[second Balkenende cabinet]], the CU has gained sympathy from the left wing parties in parliament, the [[Labour Party (Netherlands)|Labour Party]], the [[Socialist Party (Netherlands)|Socialist Party]], and the [[GroenLinks]], with which it cooperates in several [[municipal executive]]s after the [[2006 Dutch municipal elections|2006 municipal elections]].