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The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR)[1] is a eurosceptic,[3] anti-federalist,[4] conservative political group in the European Parliament. The group currently comprises 54 members, making it the fifth-largest group in the European Parliament.[5] Founded after the June 2009 European elections, it is based on the Movement for European Reform. The largest parties in the group are the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom, Law and Justice (PiS) of Poland, and Civic Democratic Party (ODS) of the Czech Republic. In addition to these three parties, solitary MEPs, representing five other countries, are also members of the ECR. Most of the member parties joined from two collapsing groupings: the European Democrats section of the EPP-ED and the Union for Europe of the Nations.
[edit] History The genesis of ECR dates back to 2005, and possibly earlier. A political group in the European Parliament cannot be officially recognised if it contains MEPs from only a single member state. Instead, it must meet the minimum threshold required by the European Parliament's Rules of Procedure.[6][7] Any party seeking to create a group must therefore seek partners. [edit] Origins: 2005 - 2006In 2005, the UK Conservative Party held a leadership contest. At the time, Conservative MEPs sat in the European Democrats (ED), a subgroup of the larger EPP-ED group, which is dominated by the European People's Party (EPP). One leadership contender, David Cameron, argued for withdrawal of the Conservatives from EPP-ED and the formation of a new group. His opponent, David Davis, argued in a letter to the The Daily Telegraph that the subgroup arrangement allowed the Conservatives to maintain suitable distance from EPP, while still having influence. MEP Martin Callanan responded in that paper the following day:
Cameron won the leadership election. Upon taking office as Conservative leader in December 2005, Cameron indicated that the launch of new group would be undertaken immediately. In June 2006, Cameron, frustrated with delays, ordered Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague to ensure the new group was created by 13 July 2006.[8] However, when that date arrived, a new policy was announced: the new group would be delayed until after the 2009 elections.[9] [edit] Movement for European ReformIn the interim, a pan-European alliance, called the Movement for European Reform (MER), would be formed and function outside the European Parliament.[10] The same day, the Polish Law and Justice and Civic Platform parties were identified as potential members of the new group. However, the latter stated that it would not leave the EPP, and the former stated that it planned to stay aligned to UEN.[11] The next day, Sir Reg Empey, the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, suggested that the UUP might join the new group after the 2009 election.[12]  The Czech ODS was part of MER but its leader, Mirek Topolánek, did not rule out staying in EPP-ED.[13] Topolánek then attended the EPP Summit (a meeting of heads of state and government of the European People's Party) of 21 June 2007, adding speculation about the fragility of the new group.[14] The BBC speculated that the new group could become the third largest group in the Parliament with around 100 MEPs.[15] In July 2008, the European Parliament raised the 2009 threshold for forming a group to 25 members and (more importantly) representing 7 countries, which raised some doubt about the viability of the new group.[16] Topolanek, after being re-elected President of the ODS on 7 December 2008, attended yet another EPP Summit, on 11 December 2008.[17] [edit] 2009 European Parliament electionsAs the 2009 elections approached, Cameron, Topolanek, and Conservative MEP Geoffrey Van Orden (a 'point-man' for the new group)[18] were looking for partners. The list of possible partners was kept secret:[19] as BBC News Europe editor Mark Mardell said,
This did not stop speculation. People or parties that were rumoured to be possible partners in the new group included Law and Justice;[21][22][23] Lega Nord;[21][24] the Danish People's Party;[21][24] For Fatherland and Freedom,[21][19] Order and Justice,[21] the Pensioners' Party;[20] Order, Lawfulness, Justice;[25][18][26] Libertas;[27] Civic Union;[28] Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania,[28] ChristenUnie-SGP;[29] the independent Indrek Tarand;[28]; and Lijst Dedecker's Derk Jan Eppink;[21][22] from member states such as the Czech Republic,[30][31] Poland,[30][31] Italy,[30] Sweden,[30] the Baltic and Balkan states,[30] Belgium,[31] and the Netherlands.[31] Speculation also considered the remnants of the Union for Europe of the Nations group, which was thought to be on the verge of collapse after the decision of Fianna Fáil and National Alliance to move to the ALDE and the EPP respectively.[32] As time progressed, the new group was provisionally named the European Conservatives[23] (echoing the 1970s group of the same name), which was then changed to European Conservatives and Reformists.[33] The original estimates were firmed up to 84 MEPs,[21] then to approximately 60.[31] Frictions surfaced, as the ODS wanted to the new group to have as many MEPs as possible, whilst the Conservatives wanted to disbar anti-immigrant parties in the new group, including the Danish People's Party and Lega Nord.[24] [edit] FormationOn 22 June 2009, the first official list of the new group's members was released.[4] The same day, the Financial Times editorial was critical of the new group:
The next day, the Daily Telegraph editorial mused that the ECR should help to enfranchise anti-federalists across Europe and demonstrated David Cameron's leadership qualities.
On 24 June, the group held its inaugural meeting, in which Conservative MEP Timothy Kirkhope was named interim leader.[36] Adam Bielan of PiS and Jan Zahradil of the ODS were named interim vice-chairmen. At the first sitting of the Seventh European Parliament, on 14 July, outgoing Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering announced that applications from all new and returning groups had been received and approved, including ECR. The group then became eligible for EU funding, office space, and committee places appropriate for a group of its size.  The first election for the group leadership was also scheduled for 14 July, pitting interim leader Kirkhope against fellow Briton Geoffrey Van Orden.[37] However, both Conservative leadership candidates were forced to forfeit the leadership in order to prevent it from falling apart, when Conservative MEP Edward McMillan-Scott defied his party whip and stood for one of the vice-presidency posts despite pledges the previous week that Kamiński would be backed for it. Kamiński's bid for Vice-President of the European Parliament subsequently failed, and the Poles threatened to abandon the new caucus unless Kamiński was made the group leader in the parliament.[38] Kirkhope went to an emergency meeting with the Poles in Strasbourg and proposed sharing the group leadership with the Pole; however, this was not accepted, and he had to step down as coalition leader, withdrawing in favour of Michał Kamiński. McMillan-Scott, who is known to believe the Conservative's new allies in Poland are 'racist and homophobic', had the Conservative whip withdrawn in the European Parliament.[39][40] [edit] Constituent declaration The last mixed group in the European Parliament was forcibly dissolved. Since then, groups have been required to demonstrate ideological coherence. This is usually done by publishing a document (sometimes called a constituent declaration) stating the principles to which each group member is expected to adhere. The constituent declaration of the ECR has become known as the Prague Declaration. That document outlines the following principles:[41]
[edit] MembershipThe ECR's draws the majority of its MEPs from Central Europe and the United Kingdom. It also has minor representation from the Baltic states and Benelux countries. It is weakest in both Southern Europe and the Nordic countries, where it currently has no members. [edit] Membership as of 19 September 2009The membership as of 19 September 2009 was as follows:[4]
Originally, it had been announced on 22 June 2009 that Hannu Takkula, MEP for the Finnish Centre Party (a European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party member party) would also be a member of ECR (with his two party colleagues remaining in ALDE), but he reversed this decision two days later.[44]  The membership was reduced to 54 when McMillan-Scott was expelled from the group in July 2009. [edit] ExecutiveMain article: European Conservatives and Reformists Group Executive The group is led by a twelve-person executive, with representatives of all parties.
[edit] Criticism and counter-criticismThe formation of the ECR has led to vociferous arguments between supporters and detractors in the European and even American press. [edit] Criticism[edit] Latvian LegionMain article: Latvian Legion According to the British Daily Mail newspaper, the European Conservatives and Reformists grouping has faced criticism from the Liberal Democrats "for having MEPs from Latvia whose members have celebrated the Nazis" [45] The article entitled "Lembit's Uncle Oskar: The Nazi Collaborator Lib Dems Didn’t Mention in Attack on Cameron's Links with European 'Wackos'" goes on to describe Lembit Opik's uncle, Oscar Opik's Nazi past. During the Estonian occupation, Opik was deputy head of the Society of Friends of the Estonian Waffen SS-Legion, and was one of "one of eight officials who ‘share responsibility with the German authorities, by virtue of their office, for all criminal actions carried out in Estonia, and beyond its borders by military units or police battalions raised with their consent during the period of the German occupation’". Roberts Zīle himself, the sole Latvian MEP in the ECRG, has defended his party robustly. "My party has never justified Nazi war crimes or tried to glorify Nazi military units." [46] Daniel Hannan meanwhile addressed the criticism thus:
[edit] Anti-semitism The charge that group leader, Michal Kaminski, was anti-Semitic first surfaced in a New Statesman article written by James Macintyre in which he reported Michael Schudrich as saying:
Schudrich subsequently criticised Macintyre's original article describing the headline as "misleading and untrue" and stated that "Kaminski is a strong friend of the State of Israel".[47]. [edit] HomophobiaDeparting MEP, Edward Scott-Macmillan accused Kaminski of having "anti-Semitic, homophobic and racist links", while Valdemar Tomaševski has voted consistently in favour of new laws against the promotion of homosexuality in education. The defence of ECR MEPs' views on homosexuality have tended to have two strands, either that the policies pursued are largely justified and proportionate, and that the leadership of the ECR has been willing to appear at 'Pride' events, is opposed to state interference in sexual relationships. [edit] Counter-criticism[edit] Record under Communism British Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague has pointed out that while ECRG members such as Alexandr Vondra and Lech Kaczynski were prepared to go to prison as part of the struggle for democracy, "two of Labour’s allied Euro-MPs have been named by the official Polish Institute of National Remembrance as collaborators with the communist secret police."[48] [edit] Anti-Eastern EuropeanismThe severity of the attacks on the Latvian For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK party from David Miliband, the left-wing press and BBC have led even the socialist foreign minister, Māris Riekstiņš, to complain to the British Ambassador about the treatment and portrayal of Eastern Europeans in the British media. Meanwhile, a number of senior figures on the left of British politics have pointed out that this attempt to attack the British Conservatives constitutes slanderous treatment on democratic allies in Eastern Europe.[49] [edit] See also
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] External links
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