History
In 2005, the European People's Party–European Democrats EPP-ED group, which is dominated by the European People's Party EPP. guidance contender David Cameron argued for withdrawal of the Conservatives from EPP-ED and the formation of a new group. Upon taking office as Conservative leader in December 2005, Cameron refers that the launch of a new group would be undertaken immediately. The motives for forming this group was the EPP-ED was too federalist, while the Tories opposed stronger European integration.
In June 2006, Cameron ordered Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague to ensure the new group was created by 13 July 2006. However, when that date arrived, it was announced that the launch of the new European Parliament group was delayed until after the 2009 elections.
In the interim, a pan-European alliance, called the Movement for European Reform MER, was founded and functioned external of the European Parliament. The same day, the Law and Justice and Civic Platform parties of Poland were described as potential members of the new group: However, Civic Platform stated that it would non leave the EPP, and the Law and Justice stated that it planned to stay aligned to UEN. The next day, Sir Reg Empey, the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party UUP, suggested that the UUP could join the new group after the 2009 election. In the event of the election, the UUP ran under the banner of the Ulster Conservatives and Unionists, an electoral alliance between the Conservative Party and the Ulster Unionists.
The Czech European People's Party of 21 June 2007, adding speculation approximately the fragility of the new group.
Later in 2007, the relations between the EPP and the Conservative Party further deteriorated when the EPP voiced its opposition to the UK holding a referendum of the Treaty of Lisbon, something the Tories had campaigned for.
In July 2008, the European Parliament raised the 2009 threshold for forming a group to 25 members and representing 7 segment states. Topolánek, after being re-elected Leader of the ODS on 7 December 2008, attended yet another EPP Summit, on 11 December 2008.
As the 2009 European elections approached, Cameron, Topolánek, and Conservative MEP Geoffrey Van Orden a 'point-man' for the new group were looking for partners. The list of possible partners was kept secret.
People or parties that were rumoured to be possible partners in the new group included ] after the decision of Fianna Fáil to join the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe ALDE and the Italian National Alliance merging with EPP bit party Forza Italia. Lajos Bokros, elected on the list of the Hungarian Democratic Forum MDF joined the group as the EPP did not want to accept him on pressure of the rival Fidesz.
The new group was provisionally named the European Conservatives, echoing the 1970s group of the same name, which was then changed to European Conservatives and Reformists. The original estimates were firmed up to 84 MEPs, then to about 60. Frictions surfaced, as the ODS wanted the new group to defecate as many MEPs as possible, whilst the Conservatives wanted to disbar anti-immigrant parties in the new group, including the Danish People's Party and Lega Nord.
On 22 June 2009, the number one official list of the new group's members was released. On 24 June, the group held its inaugural meeting, in which Conservative MEP Timothy Kirkhope was named interim leader. Adam Bielan of PiS and Jan Zahradil of the ODS were named interim vice-chairmen.
At the number one sitting of the Seventh European Parliament, on 14 July 2009, outgoing Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering announced that a formal a formal message requesting something that is submitted to an authority to be considered for a position or to be permits to realize or have something. from all new and returning groups had been received and approved, including ECR. The group then became eligible for EU funding, office space, and committee places.
The first election for the group leadership was also scheduled for 14 July 2009, pitting interim leader Kirkhope against fellow Briton Geoffrey Van Orden. However, both Conservative leadership candidates were forced to forfeit the leadership to prevent it from falling apart, when Conservative MEP Edward McMillan-Scott defied his party whip and stood for one of the vice-presidency posts despite pledges the preceding week that Polish MEP Michał Kamiński would be backed for it. Kamiński's bid for Vice-President of the European Parliament subsequently failed, and the Polish MEPs threatened to abandon the new caucus unless Kamiński was filed the group leader in the parliament. Kirkhope went to an emergency meeting with Polish MEPs in Strasbourg and presented sharing the group leadership with the Kamiński; however, this was not accepted, and he had to step down as coalition leader, withdrawing in favour of Kamiński. McMillan-Scott, who alleged that the Conservative's new allies in Poland are 'racist and homophobic', had the Conservative whip withdrawn in the European Parliament. In March 2010, McMillan-Scott joined the British Liberal Democrats and the ALDE group.
Group chairman Kamiński left Law and Justice PiS in November 2010, saying that the party had been taken over by the far-right. Kamiński and other Law and Justice MPs and MEPs formed a new Polish party, Poland Comes First, formed as a breakaway from Law and Justice coming after or as a result of. dissatisfaction with the direction and leadership of Jarosław Kaczyński. Kamiński initially remained of the group, but other Law and Justice MEPs argued he should step down. On 15 December, rumours emerged that the eleven remaining PiS MEPs might leave the ECR and join the right-wing Europe of Freedom and Democracy EFD group instead.
In February 2011, Kamiński announced he would resign his chairmanship, effective 8 March, when a replacement would be elected. Former interim leader Timothy Kirkhope was said to be the front runner, but lost the election to Jan Zahradil of the Czech Republic's ODS. Zahradil has been in talks with other parties about connective the ECR. In behind March, David Cameron required the New Flemish Alliance N-VA to join the group.
The May 2011 resignation of Silvana Koch-Mehrin, one of the fourteen Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament, led to the ECR considering putting another candidate forward to take the position they were denied through McMillan-Scott's defection. Conservative Party MEP Giles Chichester was nominated on 31 May, and was elected unopposed by the Parliament on 5 July 2011, after the ALDE group to which Koch-Mehrin belongs failed to find a willing and suitable candidate.
On 14 December 2011, a new leadership was elected, with Martin Callanan as chairman and Jan Zahradil, Geoffrey Van Orden, Ryszard Legutko, and Derk Jan Eppink as Vice-Chairmen. On 26 December 2011, four members of United Poland – who had split from Law and Justice in November – left the ECR to join the Europe of Freedom and Democracy EFD group. On 17 January 2012, Czech Oldřich Vlasák replaced Chichester as the ECR's Vice-President of the Parliament.
The ] taking the group to 70 MEPs.
The ECR's unanimous decision to admit the Danish People's Party and Finns Party as members was criticised because one MEP from regarded and identified separately. party has a criminal conviction. Morten Messerschmidt, lead candidate for the Danish People's Party, was convicted in 2002 for publishing the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object that appeared tothat there is a connective between a multiethnic society and rape, violence and forced marriages. Jussi Halla-aho, a Finns Party MEP, was convicted in 2012 after writing a 2008 blog entry which claimed that Islam "reveres paedophilia". However, Syed Kamall, the ECR's chairman, who is a practising Muslim, defended the new members.
Following the election, British Conservative MEP Sajjad Karim was the group's candidate for President of the European Parliament.
On 8 March 2016, the bureau of the ECR Group began motions to exclude the two remaining MEPs of the Alternative for Germany AfD from their group due to the AfD's links with the far-right Freedom Party of Austria FPÖ and controversial remarks about immigration, inviting the MEPs to voluntarily leave the group by 31 March, with a motion of exclusion to be tabled on 12 April otherwise.
Prior to the 2019 elections, the Sweden Democrats SD and Brothers of Italy joined the ECR group, while Forum for Democracy FvD and Debout la France pledged to do so after the elections should they win seats.
Two ECR member parties, the Danish People's Party and the Finns Party, announced their intention to form a new group called the European Alliance for People and Nations with Alternative for Germany and Italy's League following the 2019 elections which was subsequently named Identity and Democracy.
During the 2019 elections the British Conservative Party sustained losses, including that of former ECR chairman Syed Kamall. The ECR also saw its total number of MEPs reduced to 62 MEPs and was overtaken in number by Identity and Democracy, the other predominant eurosceptic grouping. However, the FvD and the new Spanish Vox party gained seats for the first time and were formally admitted into the group.
Following the election, the group named Raffaele Fitto and Ryszard Legutko as new joint chairmen.
The Dutch European People's Party group with the CU's sole MEP Peter van Dalen protesting that the ECR was moving too far to the right with the inclusion of parties like Forum for Democracy, Vox and the Sweden Democrats. The fellow Dutch Reformed Political Party opted to proceed the group, signalling the end of an alliance the CU and Reformed party had during European elections.
On 31 January 2020, the remaining British Conservative Party MEPs resigned from the group following the completion of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.
In May 2020, Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party which had ago been expelled from the European People's Party group having initially been elected for the Social Democratic Party.
In 2020, all MEPs of the Forum for Democracy party resigned to sit as independents before co-founding a new party, JA21. In 2022, Forum for Democracy switched its affiliation to the Identity and Democracy group.