European Conservatives and Reformists | |
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European Parliament group | |
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English abbr. | ECR[1] |
French abbr. | CRE |
Formal name | European Conservatives and Reformists Group |
Ideology | |
Political position |
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European parties | European Conservatives and Reformists Party European Free Alliance European Christian Political Movement |
Associated organisations | New Direction |
From | 22 June 2009[15] |
Preceded by | Movement for European Reform |
Chaired by | Nicola Procaccini Joachim Brudziński |
MEP(s) | 78 / 720 |
Website | www |
The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR)[1] is a soft Eurosceptic,[16][17][18][19][20] anti-federalist[15][16][21] political group of the European Parliament. The ECR is the parliamentary group of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party) European political party, but also includes MEPs from other European parties and MEPs without European party affiliation.
Ideologically, the group is broadly eurosceptic, anti-federalist and right-wing, with centre-right and far-right factions.[7] The main objective of the ECR is to oppose unchecked European integration, enlargement and potential evolution of the European Union (EU) into a Federal European Superstate on the basis of Eurorealism, and to ensure the EU does not heavily encroach on matters of state and domestic and regional decision making within EU member countries.[22] It also advocates for stricter controls on immigration. The ECR contains factions of socially conservative, right-wing populist, liberal conservative, Christian democratic, far-right, and national conservative parties who all subscribe to an anti-federalist and a eurorealist or euro-critical stance.
Within the ECR, some parties and MEPs promote soft Eurosceptic, as opposed to a total rejection of the existence of the EU characterized by anti-EU-ism or hard euroscepticism, by calling for democratic reform of the EU, more transparency, changes to the Eurozone and EU migration/asylum policies, and the curbing some of the EU's powers and bureaucracy whilst maintaining unrestricted free trade and cooperation between nations.[23][24] Other parties and individual MEPs within the group support complete withdrawal from the block, referendums on EU membership and opposition to the Eurozone.[25]
The ECR was founded around the Movement for European Reform following the 2009 European elections at the behest of British Conservative Party leader David Cameron.
During the tenth European Parliament, the largest party in the group by number of MEPs is Brothers of Italy (FdI), followed by Polish Law and Justice (PiS).
when taken together they form not so much a coherent whole as a mix of liberal conservatives (the Conservatives, ODS, LDD and MDF) and conservative nationalists (PiS and TB-LNNK).
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.
The right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), will decide just ahead of the vote whether to support von der Leyen, but officials say the group is divided over the issue.