The European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party), formerly known as Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists (AECR) (2009–2016) and Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe (ACRE) (2016–2019), is a conservative, soft Eurosceptic[16]European political party with a main focus on reforming the European Union (EU) on the basis of Eurorealism,[17] as opposed to total rejection of the EU (anti-EU-ism).[18][19] It currently has twenty-four member parties and three further independent members from twenty-one countries, in addition to seven regional partners worldwide.[20]
ECR is governed by a board of directors who are elected by the Council, which represents all ECR member parties.[22] The executive board is composed of the President Giorgia Meloni, Vicepresident Jorge Buxadé MEP from Spain, and Vicepresident Radosław Fogiel MP from Poland.[23][24]
The European Conservatives and Reformists Party was founded as the Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists on 1 October 2009,[26] after the ECRpolitical group was founded in the wake of the 2009 European Parliament election, and was officially recognised by the European Parliament in January 2010. Amongst ACRE's eight founding members the largest were the UK Conservative Party, the Polish PiS and the Czech ODS.
The Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists officially changed its name to the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe (ACRE) on 6 October 2016.[31]
In December 2018, ACRE was ordered to repay more than half a million euros of EU funds, following an investigation into their spending. This included €250,000 for a three-day conference in Miami and €90,000 for a trade meeting in Kampala. ACRE had previously been asked to return €121,000 given to the Prosperous Armenia party.[32]
As of 2019, the ECRP is composed of members from 29 European nations (shown in dark blue) and regional partners from 10 non-European nations (shown in light blue).
Member parties
The following parties listed below are members of the ECRP as of 2023.[35]
The ECR group is the sixth-largest group in the European Parliament. Founded in 2009, the ECR brings together 64 MEPs from 15 countries.[36] The ECR currently is led by two co-chairmen, Ryszard Legutko of the Polish Law and Justice party and Raffaele Fitto of the Brothers of Italy party.[37]
Committee of the Regions
Following the creation of the ECR Group in the European Parliament in 2009, and the creation of the ACRE in 2010, the ECR Group in the Committee of the Regions was formed on 10 April 2013 under the leadership of Gordon Keymer CBE and with the support of the ACRE. The Group was officially announced during the 11–12 April 100th Committee of the Regions plenary session.
The ECR Group was the first Group to be formed in the Committee of the Regions during the course of a mandate and was the first ECR Group to be formed outside of the European Parliament.
The President of the Group is Cllr. Gordon Keymer CBE (Leader of Tandridge District Council) and the Vice-Presidents are Dan Jiránek (Mayor of Kladno) and Daiva Matonienė (Deputy Mayor of Šiauliai City Council). Adam Banaszak (Member of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie regional assembly), Cllr. Kay Twitchen OBE (Member of Essex County Council) and Cllr. Judith Pearce (Deputy Leader of Wychavon District Council and Executive board member for Planning, Infrastructure and Housing).
The European Conservatives Group in the European Parliament, founded in 1970 and existing for most of its history as the 'European Democrat Group' became officially affiliated to the ACRE on 29 September 2014. The EC group is led by Samad Seyidov MP, of the New Azerbaijan Party.
As of 23 October 2014, the European Conservatives have the following members:[38]
The ECR group in the Congress of the Council of Europe brings together representatives in local government from across Europe. It has 31 members, 26 of whom represent parties in the ECRP.
The European Young Conservatives (EYC) is ECR Party's youth wing. It brings together conservative and political parties from across Europe. As of 2020, the group has a membership of 30 political youth organisations from 30 countries and territories. Its patron was Margaret Thatcher until her death in 2013.
ECRP adopted the Reykjavík Declaration at its Council Meeting on 21 March 2014. The declaration defines the principles that underpin ECR.[39]
The Reykjavík Declaration
The European Conservatives and Reformists Party brings together parties committed to individual liberty, national sovereignty, parliamentary democracy, the rule of law, private property, low taxes, sound money, free trade, open competition, and the devolution of power.
ECRP believes in a Europe of independent nations, working together for mutual gain while each retaining its identity and integrity.
ECRP is committed to the equality of all European democracies, whatever their size, and regardless of which international associations they join.
ECRP favors the exercise of power at the lowest practicable level—by the individual where possible, by local or national authorities in preference to supranational bodies.
ECRP understands that open societies rest upon the dignity and autonomy of the individual, who should be as free as possible from state coercion. The liberty of the individual includes freedom of religion and worship, freedom of speech and expression, freedom of movement and association, freedom of contract and employment, and freedom from oppressive, arbitrary or punitive taxation.
ECRP recognizes the equality of all citizens before the law, regardless of ethnicity, sex or social class. It rejects all forms of extremism, authoritarianism and racism.
ECRP cherishes the important role of civil associations, families and other bodies that fill the space between the individual and the government.
ECRP acknowledges the unique democratic legitimacy of the nation-state.
ECRP is committed to the spread of free commerce and open competition, in Europe and globally.
ECRP supports the principles of the Prague Declaration of March 2009 and the work of the European Conservatives and Reformists in the European Parliament and allied groups on the other European assemblies.
^Brack, Nathalie; Startin, Nicholas (2015). "Introduction: Euroscepticism, from the margins to the mainstream". International Political Science Review. SAGE. 36: 240.
^"Ursula von der Leyen makes final pledges to secure EU's top job". The Guardian. 15 July 2019. Von der Leyen says in her letters that she hopes the "snapshot" on her positions, some of which are retreads of previous proposals from the commission, will reassure her critics, although there is a risk of putting off MEPs within the more Eurosceptic and rightwing European Conservatives and Reformists group, in which Poland's Law and Justice is the largest party.
^McDonnell, Duncan; Werner, Annika (4 May 2018). "Respectable radicals: why some radical right parties in the European Parliament forsake policy congruence". Journal of European Public Policy. 25 (5): 747–763. doi:10.1080/13501763.2017.1298659. ISSN1350-1763. S2CID157162610.
