Movement for European Reform Bewegung für europäische Reform Mouvement pour la réforme européenne Movimento per la riforma europea Movimiento para la reforma europea | |
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| President | None appointed |
| Founded | 13 July 2006 (2006-07-13) |
| Dissolved | 1 October 2009 (2009-10-01) |
| Succeeded by | Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists |
| Headquarters | 25 Victoria Street,London SW1H 0DL |
| Ideology | Conservatism Economic liberalism Atlanticism Soft Euroscepticism[1] |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| European Parliament group | European Conservatives and Reformists Group |
| International affiliation | None |
| Colours | Dark blue |
| Website | |
| www.europeanreform.eu | |
TheMovement for European Reform (MER) was acentre-rightEuropean political alliance withconservative,pro-free market andEurosceptic inclinations. It consisted of theConservative Party of theUnited Kingdom and theCivic Democratic Party of theCzech Republic.
Founded on 13 July 2006, MER was created as a precursor to theAlliance of European Conservatives and Reformists (AECR) andEuropean Conservatives and Reformists (ECR),[2] apolitical group in theEuropean Parliament that was launched in June 2009 followingEuropean elections. Its operations folded into the ECR and the AECR later that year.
MER was formed as an interim measure to function outside the European Parliament[3] until a newgroup could be formed within it after the 2009 elections.[4] Until then, its MEPs continued as members of the now-dissolvedED subgroup within the broaderEPP-ED group.
Since its launch, it was unclear as to whether the MER would remain a simple pan-European alliance or apply for official recognition as aEuropean political party. The body's founding statement expressly offered membership to parties from non-EU member states, a characteristic of other European political parties, and its commitment to fight the 2009 election together suggested an appetite for recognition.
After the2009 European election, members of the MER initiated theEuropean Conservatives and Reformists Group, a newpolitical group in the European Parliament.
The MER website stopped being updated in 2007 and, in June 2009, the British ConservativeShadow Foreign SecretaryWilliam Hague said that the MER's aims and activities would be folded into the new European Parliamentary group.[5]
MER's position was that theEuropean Union should exist; however, it should be a looser supranational organisation than the current structure. This makes it moreEurosceptic than the three majorEuropean-level political movements (theEuropean People's Party,Party of European Socialists andEuropean Liberal Democrat and Reform Party), but less Eurosceptic than formations such as theEurope of Freedom and Democracy, the successor to theIndependence and Democracy group in the European Parliament.
Members of MER were:
In the first week of March 2007, underPetar Stoyanov, theBulgarianUnion of Democratic Forces (UDF) decided to join. A day after the UDF's announcement, the Presidency of theEuropean People's Party (EPP) recommended that UDF be suspended from the EPP. The President of the EPPWilfried Martens justified the suspension, arguing that:
...It is not compatible for a member party of the EPP to join such an initiative and at the same time remain in our party. The EPP is committed to reforming the European Union (EU) and we are open for constructive dialogue with our non-EPP allies but, at the same time, we expect UDF to be loyal and committed to its membership obligations...[6][7]
In mid April 2007, the UDF backtracked and stated that it remained loyal to the EPP and that it would never leave the EPP section of theEPP-ED Group to join another Group. A month later, in the first-ever elections for the European Parliament in Bulgaria (20 May 2007) the UDF failed to elect any seats. As a result, Petar Stoyanov - who was accused by his critics of making poor decisions during the campaign, including the MER choice - resigned as UDF leader. In September 2007, the UDF formally withdrew from the MER and re-affirmed its membership with the EPP.[8]
Parliamentary group:European Conservatives and Reformists Group | |||||
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