Union for French Democracy
The Union for French Democracy, also known by its French acronym UDF (Union pour la Démocratie Française), is a French center-right political party. It was founded in 1974 as an union between several smaller parties (Parti radical, Parti républicain - later renamed Démocratie Libérale - and Centre des démocrates sociaux), but now is a single entity.
It may be compared to the Christian-Democratic Union of Germany in terms of its Christian democrat policies.
Its current leader, as of 2003, is François Bayrou, and UDF is a junior partner in Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin's cabinet. A prominent former leader is Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.
UDF's most marked political trait is that it is in favor of European federalism, up to the point of turning the European Union into United States of Europe.
The economic policies proposed by UDF's leaders used to range from left-wing-leaning, in favor of social justice, to strongly laissez-faire economics. Such divergences led the laissez-faire advocates of
Démocratie Libérale to split out of UDF on May 16, 1998.
Similarly, the social policies ranged from the conservatism of the likes of Christine Boutin, famously opposed to civil unions for homosexuals, to more progressive policies.
Many leaders of UDF left it to join the Union for a Presidential Majority (Union pour la Majorité Présidentielle), supporting Jacques Chirac, after it was founded in 2002, leaving François Bayrou somewhat isolated. While a partner in the
Raffarin cabinet, the UDF sometimes criticizes the policies of the French government, yet does not wish to quit the cabinet and enter the opposition, which is mostly left-wing.
An ironic characterization of UDF's membership is that it was the union of everybody on the right that was neither far-right nor a Chiracist.
Referenced By
2002 French presidential election | French presidential election, 2002 | List of political parties in France | Union for a Popular Movement | Union for a Presidential Majority | Union for the Popular Movement | Union pour la Majorité Présidentielle | Union pour un Mouvement Populaire
|
