Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists

This article is about the European political party. For the group in the European Parliament, see European Conservatives and Reformists.

Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists
President	Jan Zahradil (CZ)
Secretary-General	Daniel Hannan (UK)
Founded	1 October 2009 (2009-10-01)
Preceded by	Movement for European Reform
Headquarters	Rue d'Arlon 40, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Ideology	Conservatism Fiscal conservatism Euroscepticism Atlanticism Anti-federalism
Political position	Centre-right
International affiliation	International Democrat Union
European Parliament group	European Conservatives and Reformists
Colours	Blue and white
European Parliament	52 / 754
European Council (Heads of Government)	2 / 27
Council of the European Union (Participation in Government)	4 / 27
National Upper House Seats	220 / 2,273
National Lower House Seats	522 / 7,424
Website
www.aecr.eu

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

The party was founded on 1 October 2009, 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 five more parties since then, representing the 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. The AECR's president is Jan Zahradil MEP, and its secretary-general is Daniel Hannan MEP. The party is affiliated with the European Conservatives and Reformists and the pan-European think tank 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, after the ECR political group was founded 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 MEP Derk Jan Eppink, but this position was later on transferred to Czech MEP Jan Zahradil. The AECR's president is MEP, Jan Zahradil and its Secretary-General is MEP Daniel Hannan. The Vice-Presidents are MEP Adam Bielan and MP Anna Fotyga 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 Chairman Sayeeda Warsi and former Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek. In the autumn 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 Icelandic Independence Party joined the AECR in November 2011, the party's first member from outside the European Union. They were followed by Georgia's Christian-Democratic Movement in August 2012. Italy's Conservatives and Social Reformers joined the AECR in October 2012: giving the AECR its first representation in one of the four largest continental European countries. The Conservative Party of Canada became the AECR's first associate member in November 2012.

Principles

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

• 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

The AECR has thirteen member parties across eleven European countries, and a further two independent MEPs.

Country	Political party	MEPs	National MPs	Joined
Belgium (Flanders)	Libertarian, Direct, Democratic	1 / 22 1 / 13	1 / 150 1 / 88	2009-10-01 !1 October 2009
Canada	Conservative Party	Not in the EU	165 / 308	2012-11-01 !1 November 2012
Czech Republic	Civic Democratic Party	9 / 22	53 / 200	2009-10-01 !1 October 2009
Denmark	Anna Rosbach (Independent MEP)	1 / 13	N/A
Georgia	Christian-Democratic Movement	Not in the EU	0 / 150	2012-08-16 !16 August 2012
Hungary	Lajos Bokros (Independent MEP)	1 / 22	N/A
Iceland	Independence Party	Not in the EU	19 / 63	2011-11-12 !12 November 2011
Italy	Conservatives and Social Reformers	1 / 72	1 / 630
Latvia	Roberts Zīle (formerly TB/LNNK)	1 / 8	N/A
Lithuania	Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania	1 / 12	8 / 141	2009-10-01 !1 October 2009
Luxembourg	Alternative Democratic Reform Party	0 / 6	2 / 60	2010-06-08 !8 June 2010
Poland	Law and Justice	6 / 51	138 / 460	2009-10-01 !1 October 2009
Poland	Poland Comes First	3 / 51	0 / 460	2010-11-16 !16 November 2010
Poland	Adam Bielan (Independent MEP)	1 / 51	N/A
Poland	Michał Kamiński (Independent MEP)	1 / 51	N/A
Slovak Republic	Civic Conservative Party	0 / 13	0 / 150	2011-03-25 !25 March 2011
United Kingdom	Conservative Party	25 / 72	306 / 650	2009-10-01 !1 October 2009
United Kingdom (Northern Ireland)	Ulster Unionist Party	1 / 72 1 / 3	0 / 650 0 / 18	2009-10-01 !1 October 2009

Elected representatives of member parties

European institutions

Organisation	Institution	Number of seats
European Union	European Commission	0 / 27
European Union	European Council (Heads of Government)	2 / 27
European Union	Council of the EU (Participation in Government)	4 / 27
European Union	European Parliament	52 / 736
Council of Europe	Parliamentary Assembly	16 / 321

See also

Conservatism portal

External links

• Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists Official website