Movement for European Reform
The Movement for European Reform (English Movement for European Reform, MER ) was an alliance established in 2006 moderate- conservative eurosceptic parties. She was the successor organization to the European Democrats and led by the 2009 European election for the creation of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), a political group in the European Parliament. In October 2009, the members of the ECR founded a European political party, the Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists ( AECR ) in which rose the MER.
Member parties
- Conservative Party, United Kingdom
- Občanská demokratická strana, Czech Republic
History
The MER was planned as the successor organization of the European Democrats ( ED), which until 1992 constituted a separate group in the European Parliament in 1979. After this fraction had reached a certain importance in the early eighties, came in the late eighties many member parties in the European People's Party ( EPP) over so that the ED consisted almost entirely of the British Conservative Party. Not to be completely isolated, founded the remaining ED Members 1992 Community Group with the EPP within which increasingly lost the ED as a separate organization in importance.
In 2005, asked during the internal party election campaign for the leadership within the Conservative Party who later became party leader David Cameron's exit from the party of the EPP- ED Group. After his victory, this led on 13 July 2006 establishing the Movement for European Reform with the Conservative Party and the Czech ODS.
Early March, subsequently announced the Bulgarian EPP member party Sajus na Demokratitschni Sili (SDS ) its accession to the MER to, but this led to fierce criticism within the EPP. After the defeat in the first Bulgarian European Parliament elections of 2007, in which the SDS did not reach a single seat in the European Parliament, she let her plan therefore fall again and announced to remain in the EPP to.
Although this attempt, other members of the EPP to move to join the MER, initially was not successful, the MER planned the constitution as a European party and starting your own faction after the European elections in 2009. For this purpose, however, were members of parties at least seven EU countries required. During the accession of the Northern Ireland Ulster Unionist Party, the Italian Partito Pensionati and Portuguese Partido Popular, which had previously belonged to the ED, initially was considered a largely safe, the membership of other parties was uncertain. Possible other candidates in particular, several parties who also Eurosceptic Alliance for Europe of the Nations ( AEN ), about the French RPF or the Polish PiS were. After the beginning of 2009, however, the AEN had lost for various reasons already two members ( the Irish FF came to the liberal ELDR over, the Italian AN went on in the PdL, the EPP is a member), was instead taken a complete fusion of MER and AEN eye.
On 30 May 2009, the leader of the British Conservative Party, the ODS and the Polish PiS announced their wanting to create a joint new Group in the European Parliament after the 2009 elections. This took place on 22 June, the new faction was named European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR). It included the MER - members, a majority of previous AEN and the Northern Ireland UUP, but not Portuguese Partido Popular, which joined the European People's Party, nor the Italian Partito Pensionati, who scored no mandate in the European Parliament more.
On 1 October 2009, finally announced the members of the ECR Group, the establishment of a new European party, the Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists ( AECR ) on. Thus, the MER had served its purpose and terminating the activities.