European Conservatives and Reformist Group

Although a young group the ECR is already an influential force in the European Parliament arguing for a flexible, open and non-federalist agenda. The ECR in now represented on all the major committees of the European Parliament, including the Conference of Presidents, as well as holding the chairmanship of the Parliament's Internal Market committee. The ECR's membership also includes two former national finance ministers, while outside the European Parliament the eight ECR constituent parties are parties of Government in three EU Member States: the Netherlands, Latvia and Poland, where Law and Justice is the Party of the Polish President. The ECR has already proved pivotal in the re-election of the President of the European Commission Jose Barroso.

All of the establishing parties and MEPs believe that the establishment of a non-federalist centre/centre-right group in the European parliament is good for European democracy. We are delighted with the progress we have already made but there is far more that can be achieved together in reforming the EU in line with the peoples' priorities.

Brief History of the ECR Group:

Because of the shared belief of Conservative Party and ODS in a non federal Europe both parties in 2004 when the Czech Republic joined the European Union became members of the European Democrats' (ED) wing of the European People's Party - European Democrats (EPP-ED) delegation in the European Parliament. As members of the ED wing of the EPP-ED Conservative Party and ODS were [under Article 5b of the EPP-ED's statute] allowed a measure of freedom to promote its own views on European institutional and constitutional questions. However, both delegations in the European Parliament soon found that their freedom to argue for an open, flexible and non federal Europe was constrained by the realities of being tied to the larger EPP.

Having decided that attempting to gain more political and financial autonomy for the ED, would be difficult to arrange and would not create the powerful centre right non federalist voice the European Parliament and European democracy requires.

In 2006 in order to better campaign for their shared vision of an open non federalist European Union David Cameron, the leader of the Conservative Party and Mirek Topolanek, the leader of the Czech Civic Democratic Party (ODS) and then Prime Minister, announced their intention to form a new group in the European Parliament after the 2009 elections. Both parties also entered discussions with like-minded parties in Europe with the perspective of creating the independent group capable of advocating a European reformist non federalist agenda. The Conservative Party and ODS were soon joined in their debates and efforts by the Polish Law and Justice Party that also voiced its interest in the forming of the new non federalist and reform group.

This ECR Group was duly formed in June 2009. The core of the new group is 54 MEPs from 7 countries, which is currently the 5th largest group.

Following parties joined the new group:

1. Belgium: Lijst Dedecker - 1 MEP
2. Czech Republic: ODS - 9 MEPs
3. Hungary: MDF, Magyar Demokrata Fórum - 1 MEP
4. The Netherlands: ChristenUnie - 1 MEP
5. Latvia: TB/LNNK - 1 MEP
6. Lithuania: LLRA - 1 MEP
7. Poland: PiS Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc - 15 MEPs
8. United Kingdom: Conservative Party, Ulster Conservatives and Unionists - 25 MEPs

Key steps and events leading to the founding of the European Conservative and Reformist Grouping include:

• 2003 - ODS, PiS and Conservative party officially announce features of euro-realist policy that does not support further centralization and federalization of the EU
• 2006 - ODS and the Conservative Party found the Movement for European Reform - to argue for an open flexible non federal Europe.
• 2008 - The 19^th annual conference of ODS decided that creating a new non-federalist political group in the European Parliament must be one of the priorities of the ODS election campaign for the 2009 European elections. It was stated that most of the leading representatives in the European Parliament showed an inability to listen to ideas for alternative views on the EU, other than the leading euro-federalist idea. Furthermore it was thought that these delegations try to put pressure on the sovereign, elected representatives of Czech Parliament.
• March 2009 - Prague Declaration: ODS, Conservative party (United Kingdom), PiS (Poland), Lijst Dedecker (Belgium), Order, Law and Justice (Bulgaria) and TB/LNNK (Latvia) sign the Prague Declaration and principles. These set out euro-realistic policies, including opposition to a federal EU and further EU centralisation.
• June 2009 - The constituent meeting of MEPs belonging to the new group is held in Brussels.
• 22.6.-2.7.2009 Allocation to committees and delegations of the EP.