European Conservatives and Reformists Group

European Conservatives and Reformists Group
European Parliament group
English abbr.ECR Group
ECR
French abbr.CRE
Ideology
Political position
European partiesEuropean Conservatives and Reformists Party
European Free Alliance (N-VA)
European Christian Political Party (SGP, PNCR)
Associated organisationsNew Direction
From22 June 2009
Preceded byMovement for European Reform
Chaired byNicola Procaccini
Patryk Jaki
MEP(s)
79 / 720
Websitewww.ecrgroup.eu

The European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR Group or simply ECR) is a soft Eurosceptic, anti-federalist political group of the European Parliament. The ECR is the parliamentary group of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party) European political party, but also includes MEPs from other European parties and MEPs without European party affiliation.

Ideologically, the group is broadly eurosceptic, anti-federalist and right-wing, with centre-right and far-right factions. The main objective of the ECR is to oppose unchecked European integration, enlargement and potential evolution of the European Union (EU) into a federal European superstate on the basis of Eurorealism, and to ensure the EU does not heavily encroach on matters of state and domestic and regional decision making within EU member countries. It also advocates for stricter controls on immigration. The ECR contains factions of socially conservative, right-wing populist, liberal conservative, Christian democratic, far-right, and national conservative parties who all subscribe to an anti-federalist and a eurorealist or euro-critical stance.

The ECR promotes soft Euroscepticism, as opposed to a total rejection of the existence of the EU characterised by anti-EU-ism or hard euroscepticism, by calling for democratic reform of the EU, more transparency, changes to the Eurozone and EU migration/asylum policies, and the curbing some of the EU's powers and bureaucracy whilst maintaining unrestricted free trade and cooperation between nations. Other parties and individual MEPs within the group support complete withdrawal from the block, referendums on EU membership and opposition to the Eurozone.

The ECR was founded around the Movement for European Reform following the 2009 European elections at the behest of British Conservative Party leader David Cameron.

During the tenth European Parliament, the largest party in the group by number of MEPs is Brothers of Italy (FdI), followed by Polish Law and Justice (PiS).