Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists

The Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists, abbreviated to AECR, is a centre-right soft eurosceptic European political party, defending broader conservative and classical liberal principles. It has twelve member parties in ten countries. Its member parties have heads of government of two countries — the joint-third most of any Europarty — and fifty-one MEPs — the fourth-most.

The party was founded on 1 October 2009,^[3] after the creation of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) political group in the European Parliament. It was officially recognised by the European Parliament in January 2010. The AECR had eight members at its formation — predominantly in central and eastern Europe. It has accepted four more parties since then, representing the soft eurosceptic centre-right.

The AECR is led by a Board of Directors from the British Conservative Party, Polish Law and Justice and Czech Civic Democratic Party, who are elected by the Council, which represents all parties.^[4] The AECR's president is Jan Zahradil MEP, also the leader of the ECR, and its secretary-general is Daniel Hannan MEP. The party is affiliated with the European Conservatives and Reformists and the pan-European foundation New Direction, and maintains a preferred relationship with the European Young Conservatives.

History

The Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists was founded on 1 October 2009,^[5] after the ECR political group was founded in the European Parliament in the wake of the 2009 European Parliament election, and was officially recognised by the European Parliament in January 2010.

The AECR was formally constituted under the chairmanship of Belgian Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Derk Jan Eppink, but this position was later on transferred to Czech MEP Jan Zahradil. The AECR's president is MEP and leader of the ECR Jan Zahradil, and its Secretary-General is MEP Daniel Hannan. The Vice-Presidents are MEP Adam Bielan from Poland, and MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown from the United Kingdom. Daniel Hannan, MEP from the United Kingdom, acts as Secretary-General. The AECR has two Prime Ministers, Petr Necas from the Czech Republic and David Cameron from the United Kingdom. An Executive Team is in charge of general management and day-to-day operations.

At the AECR's first congress in Warsaw on 8 June 2010, it was joined by Luxembourg's Alternative Democratic Reform Party. The congress was attended by UK Conservative Party Chairwoman Sayeeda Warsi and former Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek. In the fall of 2010, four Polish MEPs left Law and Justice while establishing their own party (Poland Comes First), and remained members of the AECR. One of the four members currently sits as an independent MEP within the AECR. On 25 March 2011, the Civic Conservative Party from Slovak Republic joined the AECR. The Independence Party joined the AECR in November 2011, marking the party's first member from outside the European Union.

Principles

The Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists campaigns for radical reform of the European Union and shares the following principles:^[6]

• Free enterprise, free and fair trade and competition, minimal regulation, lower taxation, and small government as the ultimate catalysts for individual freedom and personal and national prosperity.
• Freedom of the individual, more personal responsibility and greater democratic accountability.
• Sustainable, clean energy supply with an emphasis on energy security.
• The importance of the family as the bedrock of society.
• The sovereign integrity of the nation state, opposition to EU federalism and a renewed respect for true subsidiarity.
• The overriding value of the transatlantic security relationship in a revitalised NATO, and support for young democracies across Europe.
• Effectively controlled immigration and an end to abuse of asylum procedures.
• Efficient and modern public services and sensitivity to the needs of both rural and urban communities.
• An end to waste and excessive bureaucracy and a commitment to greater transparency and probity in the EU institutions and use of EU funds.
• Respect and equitable treatment for all EU countries, new and old, large and small.

Member parties

Elected representatives of member parties

European institutions

References

External links

• Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists Official website