The European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party or simply ECR), formerly known as Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists (AECR, 2009–2016) and Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe (ACRE, 2016–2019), is a conservative, soft Eurosceptic European political party with a main focus on reforming the European Union (EU) on the basis of Eurorealism, as opposed to total rejection of the EU (anti-EU-ism).
The political movement was founded on 1 October 2009, after the creation of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) political group of the European Parliament. It was officially recognised by the European Parliament in January 2010.
ECR Party is governed by a board of directors who are elected by the council, which represents all ECR member parties. The executive board is composed of the President Adam Bielan (Member of the European Parliament), Vicepresidents Carlo Fidanza (Italian MEP), Marion Maréchal (French MEP) and George Simion (Romanian member of the Parliament), and Secretary General Antonio Giordano (Italian member of the Parliament).
The party is affiliated with the European Conservatives and Reformists Group in the European Parliament, the pan-European think tank New Direction – The Foundation for European Reform, and the youth organisation the European Young Conservatives. It is also formally associated with the European Conservatives and Reformists Group in the Committee of the Regions, in the Congress of the Council of Europe, and in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. In the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the ECR Party forms the European Conservatives, Patriots & Affiliates with the Patriots.eu party.
History Foundation The European Conservatives and Reformists Party was founded as the Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists on 1 October 2009, 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.
ECR Party was formally constituted under the chairmanship of Belgian MEP Derk Jan Eppink, who was succeeded by Czech MEP Jan Zahradil. ACRE's first congress took place in Warsaw on 8 June 2010, attended by its founding members, including UK Conservative Party Chairman 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. 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. In November 2015, the Conservatives and Reformists of Italy were admitted as ECR Party members, followed by the Alliance for Progress and Renewal (ALFA) of Germany and M10 party of Romania in March 2016. 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. 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.
More recently, the ECR has seen a shift further towards the conservative right with the acceptance of the Brothers of Italy, Forum for Democracy, Vox, and the Sweden Democrats as members in 2019. On 11 April 2023, the Finns Party joined as the most recent member of the ECR's European Parliament group.
The party has historically been described as centre-right and right-wing. Following the global rise of radical right politics after 2019, the inclusion of new far-right parties led the party to inclination more to the right.
Leadership The ECR Party has had four Presidents:
No. Image Name Tenure Party Member state 1 Jan Zahradil 2010–2020 Civic Democratic Party 2 Giorgia Meloni 2020–2025 Brothers of Italy 3Mateusz Morawiecki2025–2026Law and Justice 4Adam Bielan2026–presentLaw and Justice
Membership Full members CountryPartyLeaderEuropean ParliamentNational lower houseNational upper housePosition in national legislature There is Such a PeopleИма такъв народ (ITN)Slavi Trifonov National Popular FrontΕθνικό Λαϊκό Μέτωπο (ELAM)Christos ChristouCroatian SovereignistsHrvatski suverenisti (HS)Marijan PavličekHome and National RallyDom i Nacionalno Okupljanje (DOMiNO)Mario RadićThe BridgeMostNikola GrmojaCivic Democratic PartyObčanská demokratická strana (ODS)Martin KupkaDenmark DemocratsDanmarksdemokraterne (DD)Inger StøjbergFinns PartyPerussuomalaiset (PS)Riikka PurraIdentity–LibertiesIdentité-Libertés (IDL)Marion MaréchalWe CitizensWir Bürger (WB)Jürgen JoostBrothers of ItalyFratelli d'Italia (FdI)Giorgia MeloniNational AllianceNacionālā apvienība (NA)Ilze IndriksoneLithuanian Farmers and Greens UnionLietuvos valstiečių ir žaliųjų sąjunga (LVŽS)Aurelijus Veryga Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Christian Families AllianceLietuvos lenkų rinkimų akcija – Krikščioniškų šeimų sąjunga (LLRA–KŠS)Waldemar Tomaszewski Alternative Democratic Reform PartyAlternativ Demokratesch Reformpartei (ADR)Alexandra SchoosLaw and JusticePrawo i Sprawiedliwość (PiS)Jarosław KaczyńskiAlliance for the Union of RomaniansAlianța pentru Unirea Românilor (AUR)George SimionThe Right AlternativeAlternativa Dreaptă (AD)Adela MirzaFreedom and SolidaritySloboda a Solidarita (SaS)Branislav GröhlingSweden DemocratsSverigedemokraterna (SD)Jimmie Åkesson
Global partners CountryPartyLeaderLegislature lower house seatsLegislature upper house SeatsStatus Republican Party of AlbaniaPartia Republikane e Shqipërisë (PR) Fatmir Mediu BPF PartyПартыя БНФ (ПБНФ) Vadzim Sarančukoŭ Centre PartyMiðflokkurinn Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson Likud – National Liberal Movementהַלִּיכּוּד – תנועה לאומית ליברלית Benjamin Netanyahu Domani Motus Liberi(DML) Lorenzo Forcellini Reffi Republican Party(GOP)Joe Gruters
Former members
: Prosperous Armenia (until 2022) : Whole Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (until 2022) : Libertarian, Direct, Democratic (2010–14) : Order, Law and Justice (c. 2009) : IMRO – Bulgarian National Movement (c. 2026) : Reload Bulgaria (until 2019) : Croatian Conservative Party (until 2021, dissolved) : People's Party (until 2022) : Blue Reform (until 2022) : France Arise (2019–20) : Conservative Party of Georgia (2014–22) : Hungarian Democratic Forum (2009–11) : Independence Party (2011–2021) : Conservatives and Social Reformers (2012–14) : Conservatives and Reformists (2015–2017) : Direction Italy (2017–2022; merged into fellow ECR member Brothers of Italy in 2019) : Democratic Party of Kosovo (until 2022) : For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK (2009–11; merged in 2011 into National Alliance, which became a member in 2014) : Șor Party (2018–22) : Istiqlal Party (2014–18) : Movement for Changes (until 2022) : Forum for Democracy (until 2020) : JA21 (until 2023) : National Unity Party (until 2022) : Poland Comes First (2010–13; dissolved) : New Republic (2013–18) : Civic Conservative Party (2009–22) : New Majority (until 2021) : Vox (2019–2024) : Justice and Development Party (2013–18) : Conservative Party (2009–21)
Former regional partners : Liberal Party (until 2022) : Conservative Party (until 2022) : Democratic Centre (until 2022) : Jubilee Party (until 2022) : Progressive Party of Maldives (until 2022) : National Party (until 2022) : VMRO – People's Party (until 2025) : Enough is Enough (until 2025) : Chadema (until 2022) : Afek Tounes (until 2019) (Northern Ireland): Ulster Unionist Party (until 2025)
Individual members
The ECR also includes a number of individual members, although, as most other European parties, it has not sought to develop mass individual membership.
Below is the evolution of individual membership of the ECR since 2019.
Funding
As a registered European political party, the ECR is entitled to European public funding, which it has received continuously since its first application in 2010.
Below is the evolution of European public funding received by the ECR.
In line with the Regulation on European political parties and European political foundations, the ECR also raises private funds to co-finance its activities. As of 2025, European parties must raise at least 10% of their reimbursable expenditure from private sources, while the rest can be covered using European public funding.
Below is the evolution of contributions and donations received by the ECR.
Elected representatives of member parties
European institutions Organisation Institution Number of seats European Parliament European Commission European Council(Heads of Government) Council of the European Union(Participation in Government) Committee of the Regions (as part of ) Parliamentary Assembly
European Council Member StateTitleRepresentativePolitical partyMember of the Council sincePortrait ItalyPrime MinisterGiorgia MeloniFdI
European Commission Member State Portfolio European Commissioner Political party Portrait ItalyExecutive Vice-President for Cohesion and ReformsRaffaele FittoFdI
ECR affiliate groupings 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.
European Parliament
The ECR group is the sixth-largest group in the European Parliament. Founded in 2009, the ECR brings together 64 MEPs from 15 countries. The ECR currently is led by two co-chairmen, Ryszard Legutko of the Polish Law and Justice party and Nicola Procaccini of the Brothers of Italy party.
European Commission In the current European Commission, the ECR has one Commissioner.
PortfolioCommissionerStatePolitical partyPhotoVice-President;European Commissioner for Cohesion Policy, Regional Development, and Cities FdI
European Council Of the 27 heads of state and government that are members of the European Council, one is from the ECR.
Member StateRepresentativeTitlePolitical partyMember of the Council sincePhoto Prime MinisterFdI
In third countries Through its global partners, the ECR has two heads of state or government in non-EU countries.
Member StateRepresentativeTitlePolitical partyIn power sincePhoto Prime MinisterLikud PresidentRepublican Party
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.