European Conservatives and Reformists Party

The Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe was founded as the Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists on 1 October 2009,[14] 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.[15] 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.[16] In November 2015, the Conservatives and Reformists of Italy were admitted as ACRE members,[17] followed by the Alliance for Progress and Renewal (ALFA) of Germany and M10 party of Romania in March 2016.[18] 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 officially changed its name to the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe (ACRE) on 6 October 2016.[19]

In December 2018, ACRE was ordered to repay more than half a million euros of EU funds, following an investigation into their spending. This included €250,000 for a three-day conference in Miami and €90,000 for a trade meeting in Kampala. ACRE had previously been asked to return €121,000 given to the Prosperous Armenia party.[20]

More recently the ACRE has seen a shift further towards the hard right with the acceptance of the Brothers of Italy, Forum for Democracy, Vox and Sweden Democrats as members in 2019.[21][22] All four members are nationalist, right-wing populist and anti-immigration marking a departure from the more moderate positions of the majority of members.

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.

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.

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).

Country	Party name	Members		Other affiliations
		Full	Affiliate	Europarty	EU Parliament	International
Czech Republic	Civic Democratic Party	3	1	ACRE	ECR	IDU
Denmark	Danish People's Party	0	2	MELD	ECR	None
Finland	Finns Party	1	1	ACRE	ECR	None
Lithuania	Independent	1	3	None	None	None
Netherlands	Christian Union	1	1	ECPM	ECR	None
Poland	Law and Justice	1	4	ACRE	ECR	None
Slovakia	Independent politician	1	0	None	None	None
United Kingdom	Conservative Party	7	8	ACRE	None	IDU
United Kingdom	Ulster Unionist Party	0	1	ACRE	None	IDU

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:[26]

Country	Party name	Members	Other affiliations
			Europarty	EU Parliament	International
Armenia	Prosperous Armenia	2	ACRE	N/A	None
Armenia	Republican Party of Armenia [A]	1	None	N/A	None
Azerbaijan	New Azerbaijan Party	4	None	N/A	None
Azerbaijan	Independent	1	None	N/A	None
Czech Republic	Civic Democratic Party	2	ACRE	ECR	IDU
Denmark	Danish People's Party	1	None	ECR	None
Greece	Independent Greeks	1	None	ECR	None
Iceland	Independence Party	2	ACRE	N/A	IDU
Norway	Progress Party	2	None	N/A	None
Poland	Law and Justice	7	ACRE	ECR	None
Poland	United Poland	1	MELD	No MEPs	None
Turkey	Justice and Development Party [B]	13	ACRE	N/A	None
Turkey	Nationalist Movement Party[C]	1	None	N/A	None
Ukraine	Party of Regions [D]	4	None	N/A	None
Ukraine	Sovereign European Ukraine	1	None	N/A	None
Ukraine	Independent	1	None	N/A	None
United Kingdom	Conservative Party	17	ACRE	N/A	IDU
United Kingdom	Democratic Unionist Party	1	None	N/A	None
^A One of the three members of the Republican Party of Armenia sit with the EC Group. The other two members sit with the European People's Party. ^B Eleven of the thirteen members of the Justice and Development Party sit with the EC Group. One sits with the European People's Party and one sits with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. ^C One of the two members of the Nationalist Movement Party sits with the EC Group. The other member sits with the Socialist Group. ^D Four of the seven members of Party of Regions sit with the EC Group. Two sit with the Socialist Group and one sits with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.

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.

Country	Party name	Members	Other affiliations
			Europarty	EU Parliament	International
Armenia	Prosperous Armenia	1	ACRE	N/A	None
Czech Republic	Civic Democratic Party	3	ACRE	ECR	IDU
Czech Republic	Independent	2	None	N/A	None
Denmark	Danish People's Party	1	None	ECR	None
Iceland	Independence Party	2	ACRE	N/A	IDU
Norway	Progress Party	2	None	N/A	None
Poland	Law and Justice	1	ACRE	ECR	None
Poland	Independent	1	None	N/A	None
Turkey	Nationalist Movement Party	5	None	N/A	None
Ukraine	People's Party	1	None	N/A	None
United Kingdom	Conservative Party	11	ACRE	ECR	IDU
United Kingdom	Ulster Unionist Party	1	ACRE	ECR	None

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).[27][28][29]

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)[30]
• 2016 Conservatives and Reformists Summit: Antalya (Turkey)[31]

Conservatism portal

• European Conservatives
• European People's Party

• European Conservatives and Reformists Party Official website