Laschet is the German party leader in the footsteps of Chancellor Angela Merkel. On Wednesday, he said at a digital meeting of the Protestant Working Group EAK in his party that he “doesn’t need” an extra union. “This working group is the real values’ union”, he said. He expects the EAK to debate the transition of the Christian worldview into concrete action, according to [Deutschlandfunk](

https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/cdu-laschet-wir-brauchen-keine-werteunion.1939.de.html?drn:news_id=1258684).

The Werte-union, however, is a movement of more conservative Christians within the CDU. In contrast to the EAK, the Werte-union is no official body in the party. The EAK, for instance, has its own office in the CDU headquarters in the capital Berlin. The Werte-union itself says it has more than 4,000 members. The organisation was formed in 2017. Among the most well-known members is Hans-Georg Maassen, the former president of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

According to Laschet, an extra values’ union will only bring division. “That is why I am suspicious of people who call themselves that, but I am fond of those who live it every day”, said Laschet, according to RND.