European Conservatives and Reformists Party | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | ECR Party ECR |
President | Giorgia Meloni (IT) |
Secretary-General | Antonio Giordano (IT) |
Founded | 1 October 2009 |
Split from | European People's Party Union for Europe of the Nations |
Preceded by | Movement for European Reform[1] |
Headquarters | Rue du Trône 4, 1000 Brussels, Belgium |
Think tank | New Direction |
Youth wing | European Young Conservatives |
Ideology | |
Political position | Right-wing[12] to far-right[A][16] |
European Parliament group | European Conservatives and Reformists Group |
International affiliation | International Democracy Union |
Colours | Blue |
European Parliament | 70 / 720
|
European Council | 2 / 27
|
European Commission | 1 / 27
|
European Lower Houses | 1,015 / 6,312
|
European Upper Houses | 324 / 1,498
|
Website | |
ecrparty | |
^ A: The party has historically also been described as centre-right. However, following the global rise of radical right politics after 2019, the inclusion of new far-right parties led analysts to discontinue this classification.[17] |
The European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party or simply ECR), 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,[18][19] soft Eurosceptic[20] European political party with a main focus on reforming the European Union (EU) on the basis of Eurorealism,[21] as opposed to total rejection of the EU (anti-EU-ism).[22][23]
The political movement was founded on 1 October 2009,[24] after the creation of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) political group of the European Parliament. It was officially recognised by the European Parliament in January 2010.
ECR Party is governed by a board of directors who are elected by the Council, which represents all ECR member parties.[25] The executive board is composed of the President Giorgia Meloni (Prime Minister of Italy), Vicepresident Radosław Fogiel (Polish member of the Parliament) and Secretary General Antonio Giordano (Italian member of the Parliament).[26]
The party is affiliated with the European Conservatives and Reformists Group in the European Parliament, the pan-European think tank New Direction – The Foundation for European Reform, and the youth organisation the European Young Conservatives. It is also formally associated with the European Conservatives and Reformists Group in the Committee of the Regions, in the Congress of the Council of Europe, and in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.[27] In the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the ECR Party forms the European Conservatives Group and Democratic Alliance with the Identity and Democracy Party.
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.
"The ECR group is centre-right to right-wing and a Euroskeptic party.