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Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe

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President
  
Jan Zahradil (CZ)

Secretary-General
  
Daniel Hannan (UK)

Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe

Founded
  
1 October 2009 (2009-10-01)

Preceded by
  
Movement for European Reform

Headquarters
  
Rue du Trône 4, 1000 Brussels, Belgium

Youth wing
  
European Young Conservatives

The Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe (ACRE) - formerly known as the Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists (AECR) - is a conservative and eurosceptic European political party, promoting conservative and economically liberal principles. It currently has twenty-four member parties and three further independent members from twenty-one countries, in addition to seven regional partners worldwide.

Contents

The political movement 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.

ACRE is governed by a Board of Directors who are elected by the Council, which represents all ACRE member parties. The ACRE's President is Jan Zahradil MEP, and its Secretary-General is Daniel Hannan MEP. The Vice-Presidents are Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson MP from Iceland, Anna Fotyga MEP from Poland, Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP from the United Kingdom and Zafer Sirakaya from Turkey.

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 Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, in the Congress of the Council of Europe, and in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

History

The Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe was founded as the Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists 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. Amongst ACRE's eight founding members the largest were the UK Conservative Party, the Polish PiS and the Czech ODS.

ACRE was formally constituted under the chairmanship of Belgian MEP Derk Jan Eppink, who was succeeded by Czech MEP Jan Zahradil. At ACRE's first congress was in Warsaw on 8 June 2010, attended by its founding members, including UK Conservative Party Chairwoman Sayeeda Warsi and Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek. On 25 March 2011, the Civic Conservative Party from Slovakia joined; Iceland's Independence Party in November 2011 (the party's first member from outside the European Union); Georgia's Christian-Democratic Movement in August 2012; Italy's Conservatives and Social Reformers in October 2012; the Conservative Party of Canada became the ACRE's first associate member (later renamed 'regional partners') in November 2012; Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party in November 2013; and the Faroe Islands' People's Party, and Romania's New Republic; and in July 2014, Prosperous Armenia. The Conservative Party of Georgia and New Majority joined on 1 November 2014. At the same time, the ACRE formally affiliated to the European Conservatives Group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. In November 2015, the Conservatives and Reformists of Italy were admitted as ACRE members, followed by the Alliance for Progress and Renewal (ALFA) of Germany and M10 party of Romania in March 2016. The Liberal Party of Australia, Istiqlal Party of Morocco, National Party of New Zealand, and Republican Party of the United States joined as further regional partners in 2014, followed by Afek Tounes and Likud Movement in 2015 and 2016.

The Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists has officially changed its name to the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe on 6 October 2016.

Principles

ACRE adopted the Reykjavík Declaration at its Council Meeting on 21 March 2014. The declaration defines the principles that underpin ACRE.

The Reykjavík Declaration

  • The Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe (ACRE) brings together parties committed to individual liberty, national sovereignty, parliamentary democracy, the rule of law, private property, low taxes, sound money, free trade, open competition, and the devolution of power.
  • ACRE believes in a Europe of independent nations, working together for mutual gain while each retaining its identity and integrity.
  • ACRE is committed to the equality of all European democracies, whatever their size, and regardless of which international associations they join.
  • ACRE favours the exercise of power at the lowest practicable level—by the individual where possible, by local or national authorities in preference to supranational bodies.
  • ACRE understands that open societies rest upon the dignity and autonomy of the individual, who should be as free as possible from state coercion. The liberty of the individual includes freedom of religion and worship, freedom of speech and expression, freedom of movement and association, freedom of contract and employment, and freedom from oppressive, arbitrary or punitive taxation.
  • ACRE recognises the equality of all citizens before the law, regardless of ethnicity, sex or social class. It rejects all forms of extremism, authoritarianism and racism.
  • ACRE cherishes the important role of civil associations, families and other bodies that fill the space between the individual and the government.
  • ACRE acknowledges the unique democratic legitimacy of the nation-state.
  • ACRE is committed to the spread of free commerce and open competition, in Europe and globally.
  • ACRE supports the principles of the Prague Declaration of March 2009 and the work of the European Conservatives and Reformists in the European Parliament and allied groups on the other European assemblies.

    • Independent members

  •  Bulgaria: Nikolay Barekov
  •  Bulgaria: Angel Dzambazki
  •  Poland: Zdzisław Krasnodębski
  •  Poland: Mirosław Piotrowski

    • Former members

  •  Belgium: Libertarian, Direct, Democratic (2010–2014)
  •  Denmark: Anna Rosbach (individual member; 2012–14)
  •  Hungary: Hungarian Democratic Forum (2009–11), Lajos Bokros (individual member; 2013–14)
  •  Italy: Susy De Martini (individual member; 2013–14), Conservatives and Social Reformers (2012–14)
  •  Latvia: For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK (2009–11; merged in 2011 into National Alliance, which became a member in 2014)
  •  Poland: Poland Comes First (2010–14), Adam Bielan (independent member; 2011–14), Michał Kamiński (independent member; 2012–14)

    • Regional partners

    The ACRE also has seven regional partners, formerly called 'associate members', from outside Europe.

    ACRE affiliate groupings

    The ACRE is formally affiliated to groupings in the European Parliament and the Committee of the Regions of the European Union, the Congress of the Council of Europe and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

    European Parliament

    The ECR group is the third-largest group in the European Parliament. Founded in 2009, before the ACRE was launched, the ECR brings together 75 MEPs from 16 countries. The ECR group is led by Syed Kamall of the British Conservative Party.

    Committee of the Regions

    Following the creation of the ECR Group in the European Parliament in 2009, and the creation of the ACRE in 2010, the ECR Group in the Committee of the Regions was formed on 10 April 2013 under the leadership of Gordon Keymer CBE and with the support of the ACRE. The Group was officially announced during the 11–12 April 100th Committee of the Regions plenary session.

    The ECR Group was the first Group to be formed in the Committee of the Regions during the course of a mandate and was the first ECR Group to be formed outside of the European Parliament.

    The President of the Group is Cllr. Gordon Keymer CBE (Leader of Tandridge District Council) and the Vice Presidents are Dan Jiránek (Mayor of Kladno) and Daiva Matonienė (Deputy Mayor of Šiauliai City Council). Adam Banaszak (Member of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie regional assembly), Cllr. Kay Twitchen OBE (Member of Essex County Council) and Cllr. Judith Pearce (Deputy Leader of Wychavon District Council and Executive Board Member for Planning, Infrastructure and Housing).

    Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

    The European Conservatives Group in the European Parliament, founded in 1970 and existing for most of its history as the 'European Democrat Group' became officially affiliated to the ACRE on 29 September 2014. The EC group is led by Samad Seyidov MP, of the New Azerbaijan Party.

    As of 23 October 2014, the European Conservatives have the following members:

    Congress of the Council of Europe

    The ECR group in the Congress of the Council of Europe brings together representatives in local government from across Europe. It has 31 members, 26 of whom represent parties in the ACRE. The ECR group is led by Halldór Halldórsson of the Icelandic Independence Party.

    European Young Conservatives

    The European Young Conservatives (EYC) is the ACRE's youth wing. It brings together conservative and centre-right political parties from across Europe. As of 2015, the group has a membership of 23 political youth organisations from 22 different countries and territories. Its patron was Margaret Thatcher until her death in 2013. The current chairperson of EYC is Keti Mumalashvili from the Georgian Young Conservatives.

    Conservatives and Reformists Initiative

    The Conservatives and Reformists Initiative (CRI) is a flagship project of ACRE, and its partner New Direction – the Foundation for European Reform, launched in Tunis, Tunisia on 14 November 2015 (covered extensively on the Al Jazeera news network).

    The CRI aims to strengthen the moderate centre-right in emerging and developing democracies. It runs practical programmes designed to strengthen the organisational capacity of each political party, support party campaign and communications operations, assist with policy development, and provide regional support for like-minded political parties and support elected representatives at all levels, particularly in communications with constituents and the media.

    Two CRI Summits have so far been held:

  • 2015 Conservatives and Reformists Summit: Tunis (Tunisia)
  • 2016 Conservatives and Reformists Summit: Antalya (Turkey)

    • References

    Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe Wikipedia
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