(LE, , ) is a centrist

French-speaking French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-Romance, a descendant of the Latin spoken in ...

political party in Belgium. The party originated in the split in 1972 of the unitary Christian Social Party (PSC-CVP), which had been the country's governing party for much of the post-war period. It continued to be called the Christian Social Party (, PSC) until 2002 when it was renamed the

Humanist Democratic Centre Humanist Democratic Centre (, CDH) was a Christian democratic and centrist French Community of Belgium, French-speaking Political parties in Belgium, political party in Belgium. The party originated in the split in 1972 of the unitary Christian So ...

(, CDH). It took its current name on 17 March 2022, and currently is a member of the governing national coalition in Belgium, along with the Walloon and

French Community The French Community () was the constitutional organization set up in October 1958 between France and its remaining African colonies, then in the process of decolonization. It replaced the French Union, which had reorganized the colonial em ...

coalition governments.

History

The PSC was officially founded in 1972. The foundation was the result of the split of the unitary Christian Social Party (PSC-CVP) into the Dutch-speaking Christian People's Party (CVP) and the French-speaking Christian Social Party (PSC), following the increased linguistic tensions after the crisis at the

Catholic University of Leuven University of Leuven or University of Louvain (; ) may refer to: * Old University of Leuven (1425–1797) * State University of Leuven (1817–1835) * Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) * Katholieke Universiteit Leuven or KU Leuven (1968 ...

in 1968. The PSC performed particularly badly in the 1999 general election. This was linked to several scandals, such as the escape of

Marc Dutroux Marc Paul Alain Dutroux (; born 6 November 1956) is a Belgian convicted serial killer, serial rape, serial rapist, and child sexual abuse, child molester. Initially convicted for the child abduction, abduction and rape of five young girls in 19 ...

and the discovery of dioxins in chickens (the PSC was a coalition partner in the Dehaene government). The decline in votes was also explained by declining adherence to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. The party was confined to opposition on all levels of government. The party started a process of internal reform. In 2001, a new charter of principles, the "Charter of Democratic Humanism," was adopted and in 2002 the party adopted a new constitution and a new name, Humanist Democratic Centre. On 17 March 2022, the party changed to its current name and political colors. On 10 October 2022, Virginie Lefrancq, a Brussels MP, announced that she was leaving Les Engagés, feeling politically orphaned. After the 2024 European Parliament election in Belgium, Les Engagés sole elected MEP, Yvan Verougstraete, announced that he would sit with the

Renew Europe Renew Europe (or simply Renew) is a liberal, centrist to centre-right, pro-European political group of the European Parliament founded for the ninth European Parliament term. The group is the successor to the Alliance of Liberals and Dem ...

group; the party subsequently withdrew from the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian democracy, Christian democratic, liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative, and conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other p ...

and joined the

European Democratic Party The European Democratic Party (EDP; French: ''Parti démocrate européen'', PDE), also known as the European Democrats, is a centrist European political party in favour of European integration. Within the European Parliament, its MEPs form th ...

Ideology

The party considers itself to be a movement rather than a party, and calls for citizen-led initiatives and more engagement between the public and politicians. The party has dropped all its Christian references and now defines itself as a party working for the "common good"; it has subsequently withdrawn from the Christian Democratic

(EPP) and joined the centrist

(EDP). On its manifesto, the party supports

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

, the EU, secularism and LGBT rights. Les Engagés supports intensifying awareness and information campaigns on gender and homosexuality, as well as the reimbursement of gynecological and andrological care for trans people.

Election results

Chamber of Representatives

European Parliament

Presidents

*2022–present Maxime Prévot

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Engagés, Les Francophone political parties in Belgium Social liberal parties Liberalism in Belgium Liberal parties in Belgium Political parties established in 2022 2022 establishments in Belgium Centrist parties in Belgium European Democratic Party Les Engagés