Origins (2005–2006) In 2005, the British
Conservative Party held a
leadership contest. During the
sixth term of the European Parliament, Conservative Party MEPs sat in the
European Democrats (ED), a subgroup of the
European People's Party–European Democrats (EPP-ED) group, which is dominated by the
European People's Party (EPP). Leadership 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 indicated that the launch of a new group would be undertaken immediately. In June 2006, Cameron ordered
Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague to ensure the new group was created by 13 July 2006. When that date arrived, it was announced that the launch of the new European Parliament group was delayed until after the 2009 elections.
Movement for European Reform In the interim, a pan-European alliance, called the
Movement for European Reform (MER), was founded and functioned outside of the European Parliament. The same day, the
Law and Justice and
Civic Platform parties of Poland were identified as potential members of the new group: However, Civic Platform stated that it would not 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
Civic Democratic Party (ODS) was part of MER but its leader,
Mirek Topolánek, did not rule out staying in EPP-ED. Topolánek then attended the EPP Summit (a meeting of heads of state and government of the
European People's Party) of 21 June 2007, adding speculation about 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 Conservatives had campaigned for. Topolánek, after being re-elected Leader of the ODS on 7 December 2008, attended yet another EPP Summit, on 11 December 2008.
2009 European Parliament elections As the
2009 European elections approached, Cameron, Topolánek, and Conservative MEP
Geoffrey Van Orden, who was a "point-man" for the new group, People or parties that were rumoured to be possible partners in the new group included
Law and Justice;
Order, Law and Justice;
Libertas;
Civic Union;
Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania, the independent
Indrek Tarand; and the Italian
National Alliance merging with EPP member 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 approximately 60. Frictions surfaced, as the ODS wanted the new group to have 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.
Formation On 22 June 2009, the first official list of the new group's members was released.
Adam Bielan of PiS and
Jan Zahradil of the ODS were named interim vice-chairmen. At the first sitting of the
Seventh European Parliament, on 14 July 2009, outgoing Parliament President
Hans-Gert Pöttering announced that applications 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. 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 previous 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 made the group leader in the parliament. Kirkhope went to an emergency meeting with Polish MEPs in
Strasbourg and proposed 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.
Leadership and membership changes (2009–2014) 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 following dissatisfaction with the direction and leadership of
Jarosław Kaczyński. Kamiński initially remained chairman 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. In late March, David Cameron invited 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.
2014 European Parliament elections , former leader of Alternative for Germany The
2014 European elections were held on 22–25 May 2014. In the weeks following the election, several parties joined the ECR, including the
Danish People's Party and the
Finns Party (both of which switched from the EFD group),
Alternative for Germany, the
Family Party of Germany,
Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OĽaNO) and
New Majority (NOVA) from Slovakia, the
Independent Greeks,
Bulgaria Without Censorship, the Dutch
Reformed Political Party, and the Belgian
New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) (previously attached to the
Greens/EFA group). As a result of these additions, the ECR overtook ALDE to become the third biggest group in the European parliament, assuming the role of "kingmakers" in the new Parliament. On 23 June, Irish
Fianna Fáil MEP
Brian Crowley joined from the
ALDE group, but without the permission of his party or its leader
Micheál Martin, who removed Crowley's party whip the following day. On the same day,
IMRO – Bulgarian National Movement joined, 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 each party has a criminal conviction.
Morten Messerschmidt, lead candidate for the Danish People's Party, was convicted in 2002 for publishing material that appeared to suggest that there is a link 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". 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.
Changes in membership 2014–2019 On 2 October 2014, the leader of the Slovak party
Freedom and Solidarity (SaS),
Richard Sulík, left the ALDE group to join the ECR, and was formally accepted six days later. In November 2014, the sole Croatian member of the group,
Ruža Tomašić, left the party she founded,
Croatian Party of Rights dr. Ante Starčević, to lead a new party, the
Croatian Conservative Party. On 24 January 2015,
Amjad Bashir, the
UKIP MEP for
Yorkshire and the Humber, changed affiliation to the Conservative Party and subsequently joined the ECR. On 18 May 2015,
Raffaele Fitto, formerly of Italian party
Forza Italia and EPP group member, joined the ECR group: forming a party called the
Conservatives and Reformists after the ECR. On 7 July 2015,
Remo Sernagiotto left the EPP to join the ECR. On 27 October 2015,
Monica Macovei, from
M10 political party left the EPP to join the ECR. On 8 March 2016,
Eleni Theocharous of the Cypriot
Democratic Rally was admitted to the group from the EPP. On 5 October 2016,
Timothy Kirkhope was forced to quit after being created a
life peer in the UK
House of Lords, and thus becoming ineligible to continue serving in the
European Parliament. His seat was succeeded by John Procter. On 3 July 2018,
Peter Lundgren and
Kristina Winberg, from
Sweden Democrats left EFDD group to join ECR group. On 17 December 2018,
Stefano Maullu left the EPP group to join the ECR group after his defection from
Forza Italia to the
Brothers of Italy.
2019 European Parliament elections and shift to the right 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.
Membership changes (2019–2024) The Dutch
Christian Union (CU) quit the group following the 2019 elections and switched to the
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 remain in 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,
Cristian Terheș announced he was joining the ECR group as an MEP for the Romanian
Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (which had previously 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. In 2023, the
Finns Party switched back its affiliation from the
Identity and Democracy group to the ECR group citing the
Russian invasion of Ukraine and their change in policy regarding NATO membership.
2024 European Parliament elections For the
2024 European Parliament election the ECR campaigned for revisions to the European Green New Deal and for stronger border control measures. The group increased its number of MEPs to 84 and became the third largest group in the European Parliament, overtaking
Renew Europe. After the election, the
Alternative Democratic Reform Party of Luxembourg, the Cypriot
National People's Front, the
Homeland Movement, the
Alliance for the Union of Romanians and the
Romanian National Conservative Party were formally admitted into the group along with
Reconquête (which had stood on a joint ticket with the Mouvement Conservateur) and the
Denmark Democrats. In June 2024, four out of the five newly elected Reconquête MEPs were expelled or resigned to sit as independents within the group after lead candidate Marion Marechal called on members of the party to support the National Rally during the French legislative election. Reconquête's sole remaining MEP
Sarah Knafo joined the new
Europe of Sovereign Nations group instead while the former members stayed with the ECR. Prior to the election, there was media speculation that Hungary's
Viktor Orbán and his
Fidesz party would join the group after talks with
Brothers of Italy leader
Giorgia Meloni, however after the election it was alleged Fidesz was blocked from joining the ECR while other press outlets claimed that Fidesz chose not to join due to previous disagreements with the Alliance for the Union of Romanians. After this Orbán formed the
Patriots for Europe group. On 3 July 2024 the group elected
Nicola Procaccini (
FdI) and
Joachim Brudziński (
PiS) as co-chair, with 4 vice-chairs and 2 co-treasurers. Also on 3 July 2024,
Jaak Madison, an independent Estonian MEP who formerly was a member of the
Conservative People's Party of Estonia, joined the ECR Group. On 22 August, Madison joined the
Estonian Centre Party. Although the Estonian Centre Party is currently part of the
Renew Europe group, Madison will remain a member of the ECR Group, and the Centre Party's leader,
Mihhail Kõlvart, stated that the party is considering leaving Renew Europe. On 5 July, the Spanish
Vox, with 6 MEPs, announced its intention to leave the ECR to join the new
Patriots for Europe group. In a statement on
Twitter, Vox leader
Santiago Abascal expressed gratitude to the ECR group and said his party would continue to maintain strong relations with Meloni, but argued the move was a "historic opportunity to fight against a coalition of centre-right, socialist and far-left forces." Following Vox's departure,
Se Acabó La Fiesta (SALF), with 3 MEPs, announced it would seek to join the ECR after SALF leader
Alvise Pérez suddenly withdrew from negotiations with
Alternative for Germany about joining their proposed
Europe of Sovereign Nations group. The ECR stated it would make a decision in September on whether to admit SALF though it ultimately declined SALF's request. The ECR subsequently changed its position in December 2024 and agreed to admit two SALF MEPs
Diego Solier Fernández and
Nora Junco García as members while Pérez remained as a
Non-Inscrits. On 29 July 2024, the
Sweden Democrats,
Denmark Democrats and
Finns Party formed the '
Nordic Freedom' alliance within the ECR, due to shared positions on Russia, immigration and EU regulations. On 31 August 2024, Homeland Movement MEP
Stephen Nikola Bartulica left the party, making him an independent member of the ECR. In May 2025, the two SALF MEPs announced they had resigned from their party to sit as independent MEPs within the ECR citing disputes and legal controversies surrounding SALF leader Alvise Pérez. In June 2025, Following the expulsion of Luxembourgish
Alternative Democratic Reform Party (ADR) MEP
Fernand Kartheiser from the ECR for visiting Russia, the
Patriots for Europe group approached the ADR for talks. The ADR stated that while it was considering what group the party wanted to belong to if the whole party were fully expelled from the ECR, it was not yet actively discussing membership with any other political group. In March 2026 two MEPs from the Dutch
Farmer–Citizen Movement defected from
European People's Party to ECR. ==Ideology==