Conservatives in the European Parliament
Who we are
The 25-strong Conservative MEP group is the largest UK political force in the European Parliament. We represent every part of the UK - from Giants Causeway to Gibraltar and Lands End to John O’Groats. MEPs are elected every five years on a regional basis, using proportional representation. The last European elections were held in June 2009 and the next elections will be in June 2014.
Our MEPs sit as members of the European Conservative and Reformists (ECR) parliamentary group. The group was formed following David Cameron’s Conservative Party leadership pledge to set up a new centre-right group in the European Parliament that sees a non federalist future for the EU.
The ECR is the first and only mainstream group in the European Parliament that stands for a Europe of nation states and free markets – and is against the federal Europe favoured by all of the other major groupings.
We believe there is an urgent need to reform the EU on the basis of Eurorealism, openness, accountability and democracy. This should be done in a way that respects individual countries and concentrates on economic recovery, growth and competitiveness.
What we stand for
All Members of the ECR Group have signed up to the Prague Declaration of Principles:
1. 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
2. Freedom of the individual, more personal responsibility and greater democratic accountability.
3. Sustainable, clean energy supply with an emphasis on energy security.
4. The importance of the family as the bedrock of society.
5. The sovereign integrity of the nation state, opposition to EU federalism and a renewed respect for true subsidiarity.
6. The overriding value of the transatlantic security relationship in a revitalised NATO, and support for young democracies across Europe.
7. Effectively controlled immigration and an end to abuse of asylum procedures
8. Efficient and modern public services and sensitivity to the needs of both rural and urban communities.
9. An end to waste and excessive bureaucracy and a commitment to greater transparency and probity in the EU institutions and use of EU funds.
10. Respect and equitable treatment for all EU countries, new and old, large and small.
Current members of the ECR Group are the UK Conservative Party, Polish Law and Justice Party, Czech Civic Democrat Party, Belgian Lijst Dedecker Party, Hungarian Democratic Forum, Latvian For Fatherland and Freedom Party, Dutch Christian Union, Lithuania’s Polish Electoral Action Party.
Read our 2009 election manifesto
Click here to see our 2009 election manifesto in full.