European Democrats
Encyclopedia
The European Democrats was a loose association of conservative
political parties in Europe
. It is a political group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
. It was also a political group in the European Parliament
, until 1992, when it became a subgroup of EPP-ED.
, Danish Conservative
and other MEPs after their success in the 1979 elections
. It supplanted the earlier European Conservative Group.
In the late seventies and early eighties, the ED was the third-largest group in the Parliament.
However, the group saw its membership fall sharply in the late 1980s, as many centre-right
members moved to the rival European People's Party
group, dominated by the German CDU and the ideology of Christian democracy
in general. The ED had been somewhat further from the political centre and less pro-European
than the EPP. Largely isolated, even hardline eurosceptic
s like Margaret Thatcher
conceded that the British Conservatives could not be effectively heard from such a peripheral group.
members) dissolved, and its remaining members were accorded "associated party" status in the EPP group; that is, being part of the parliamentary group without retaining actual membership in the EPP party organization. This was considered essential for the Conservatives, as the EPP was generally seen as quite favourable to European integration, a stance at odds with their core ideology. The Conservatives' relationship to the EPP would become a sore point in the following years, particularly for the eurosceptic general membership in Britain. William Hague
hoped to put the issue to rest by negotiating a new arrangement in 1999 by which the parliamentary group would rebrand itself as "EPP-ED", with the "European Democrat" nomenclature returning after a seven-year hiatus. This was intended to nominally underscore the Conservatives' status apart from the rest of EPP, and it was hoped that with the coming enlargement of the European Union
numerous newly involved right-wing parties, averse to the EPP proper for its perceived eurofederalism, would be willing to instead enter the ED subgroup, growing the overall alignment.
, made a concerted drive at one point to resurrect the European Democratic Group, but backed off when it became clear that Conservative MEPs would not move voluntarily. The hope that multiple Central and European parties would join ED also proved to be dubious, as only the Czech Civic Democratic Party took up the offer, with the remainder joining EPP proper or other groups such as Union for Europe of the Nations
or Independence and Democracy
. Meanwhile, the ED remained a more eurosceptic
subgroup within the broader EPP-ED bloc that contributed slightly more than 10% of its total MEPs. It resisted the trend of incorporating as a European political party
.
During the 2005 Conservative leadership contest
, eventual winner David Cameron
pledged to withdraw the Conservatives from the EPP-ED coalition, while opponent David Davis
argued in a letter to the editor of the Daily Telegraph that the current ED arrangement allowed the Conservatives to maintain suitable distance from EPP while still having influence in the largest parliamentary grouping. Conservative/EPP-ED MEP Martin Callanan
responded in that paper the following day:
The Czech
Civic Democratic Party (ODS), the Polish
Law and Justice (PiS) party and the French
Rally For France party were among the first to discuss forming a breakaway group under the Movement for European Reform
. Sir Reg Empey
, Leader of the UUP
has committed his party thereunto Its position would be that the European Union
should exist, but as a looser supranational organisation than at present, making the group less eurosceptic than the Union for Europe of the Nations
and the Independence and Democracy
. Some members from the above parties founded a new organization, the Alliance for an Open Europe
, in the midst of this debate, with broadly similar objectives.
Cameron initially intended to form the new group in 2006, though this aspiration had to be cancelled due to their main prospective partners, the ODS and PiS, being unable or unwilling to break away from their then-groupings; the new grouping was put on hiatus until the European Parliament election, 2009
. By then, new factors—including the collapse of the Union for Europe of the Nations
group—made conditions for forming a new political grouping much more favourable. On 22 June 2009, the founder members of the European Conservatives and Reformists
, all signatories of the Prague Declaration announced that they were to leave the EPP-ED, and in virtue of that fact, the European Democrats movement. This announcement ended the 30 year existence of the European Democrats in the European Parliament.
is a political group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
.
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
political parties in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. It is a political group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe , which held its first session in Strasbourg on 10 August 1949, can be considered the oldest international parliamentary assembly with a pluralistic composition of democratically elected members of parliament established on the basis of an...
. It was also a political group in the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
, until 1992, when it became a subgroup of EPP-ED.
1979-1992
The European Democratic Group (ED) was formed on 17 July 1979 by British ConservativeConservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
, Danish Conservative
Conservative People's Party (Denmark)
The Conservative People's Party , also known as Conservatives is a Danish political party.-History:The party was founded 1915 based mostly on its predecessor, Højre , but also on the Free Conservatives and a moderate faction of Venstre , the liberals.The party has participated in several coalition...
and other MEPs after their success in the 1979 elections
European Parliament election, 1979
The 1979 European elections were parliamentary elections held across all 9 European Community member states. They were the first European elections to be held, allowing citizens to elect 410 MEPs to the European Parliament, and also the first international election in history.Seats in the...
. It supplanted the earlier European Conservative Group.
In the late seventies and early eighties, the ED was the third-largest group in the Parliament.
However, the group saw its membership fall sharply in the late 1980s, as many centre-right
Centre-right
The centre-right or center-right is a political term commonly used to describe or denote individuals, political parties, or organizations whose views stretch from the centre to the right on the left-right spectrum, excluding far right stances. Centre-right can also describe a coalition of centrist...
members moved to the rival European People's Party
European People's Party
The European People's Party is a pro-European centre-right European political party. The EPP was founded in 1976 by Christian democratic parties, but later it increased its membership to include conservative parties and parties of other centre-right perspectives.The EPP is the most influential of...
group, dominated by the German CDU and the ideology of Christian democracy
Christian Democracy
Christian democracy is a political ideology that seeks to apply Christian principles to public policy. It emerged in nineteenth-century Europe under the influence of conservatism and Catholic social teaching...
in general. The ED had been somewhat further from the political centre and less pro-European
Pro-European
Pro-European is a subjective term applied to a person who supports the idea of European unification and generally supports further 'deepening' of European integration, specifically in the context of political argument over the current and future status of the EU and its policies.-The Pro-European...
than the EPP. Largely isolated, even hardline eurosceptic
EuroSceptic
EuroSceptic is the second album of British singer Jack Lucien. It was released in October 2009.Due to being an album influenced by Europop, it features songs with parts in different languages...
s like Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
conceded that the British Conservatives could not be effectively heard from such a peripheral group.
1992-1999
On 1 May 1992, the ED (now largely composed of UK Conservative PartyConservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
members) dissolved, and its remaining members were accorded "associated party" status in the EPP group; that is, being part of the parliamentary group without retaining actual membership in the EPP party organization. This was considered essential for the Conservatives, as the EPP was generally seen as quite favourable to European integration, a stance at odds with their core ideology. The Conservatives' relationship to the EPP would become a sore point in the following years, particularly for the eurosceptic general membership in Britain. William Hague
William Hague
William Jefferson Hague is the British Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State. He served as Leader of the Conservative Party from June 1997 to September 2001...
hoped to put the issue to rest by negotiating a new arrangement in 1999 by which the parliamentary group would rebrand itself as "EPP-ED", with the "European Democrat" nomenclature returning after a seven-year hiatus. This was intended to nominally underscore the Conservatives' status apart from the rest of EPP, and it was hoped that with the coming enlargement of the European Union
Enlargement of the European Union
The Enlargement of the European Union is the process of expanding the European Union through the accession of new member states. This process began with the Inner Six, who founded the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952...
numerous newly involved right-wing parties, averse to the EPP proper for its perceived eurofederalism, would be willing to instead enter the ED subgroup, growing the overall alignment.
1999-2009
The arrangement proved to do little to appease opposition. Hague's successor, Iain Duncan SmithIain Duncan Smith
George Iain Duncan Smith is a British Conservative politician. He is currently the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and was previously leader of the Conservative Party from September 2001 to October 2003...
, made a concerted drive at one point to resurrect the European Democratic Group, but backed off when it became clear that Conservative MEPs would not move voluntarily. The hope that multiple Central and European parties would join ED also proved to be dubious, as only the Czech Civic Democratic Party took up the offer, with the remainder joining EPP proper or other groups such as Union for Europe of the Nations
Union for Europe of the Nations
Union for Europe of the Nations was a political group of the European Parliament between 1999 and 2009.-History:UEN was formed on 20 July 1999, supplanting the earlier Union for Europe. Its member parties Fianna Fáil and National Alliance were the driving forces behind the group, despite their...
or Independence and Democracy
Independence and Democracy
The Independence/Democracy Group in the European Parliament was a group of eurosceptic and eurorealist political parties in the 2004-2009 term of the European Parliament. It collapsed following the 2009 European elections after losing many of its MEPs....
. Meanwhile, the ED remained a more eurosceptic
EuroSceptic
EuroSceptic is the second album of British singer Jack Lucien. It was released in October 2009.Due to being an album influenced by Europop, it features songs with parts in different languages...
subgroup within the broader EPP-ED bloc that contributed slightly more than 10% of its total MEPs. It resisted the trend of incorporating as a European political party
European political party
A European political party, formally a political party at European level, informally a Europarty, is a type of political party organization operating transnationally in Europe and in the institutions of the European Union. They are regulated and funded by the European Union and are usually made up...
.
During the 2005 Conservative leadership contest
Conservative Party (UK) leadership election, 2005
The 2005 Conservative leadership election was called by party leader Michael Howard on 6 May 2005, when he announced that he would be stepping down as leader in the near future. However, he stated that he would not depart until a review of the rules for the leadership election had been conducted,...
, eventual winner David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
pledged to withdraw the Conservatives from the EPP-ED coalition, while opponent David Davis
David Davis (British politician)
David Michael Davis is a British Conservative Party politician who is the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Haltemprice and Howden...
argued in a letter to the editor of the Daily Telegraph that the current ED arrangement allowed the Conservatives to maintain suitable distance from EPP while still having influence in the largest parliamentary grouping. Conservative/EPP-ED MEP Martin Callanan
Martin Callanan
Martin Callanan is a British Conservative Party politician. He has been a Member of the European Parliament for the North East England constituency since 1999, and was re-elected in 2004 and 2009...
responded in that paper the following day:
The Czech
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
Civic Democratic Party (ODS), the Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
Law and Justice (PiS) party and the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Rally For France party were among the first to discuss forming a breakaway group under the Movement for European Reform
Movement for European Reform
The Movement for European Reform, abbreviated to MER, was a pan-European alliance of national centre-right political parties with conservative, pro-free market and Eurosceptic inclinations...
. Sir Reg Empey
Reg Empey
Reginald Norman Morgan Empey, Baron Empey of Shandon, OBE, – known as Sir Reg Empey prior to 2011 – is a former Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party and Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for East Belfast...
, Leader of the UUP
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
has committed his party thereunto Its position would be that the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
should exist, but as a looser supranational organisation than at present, making the group less eurosceptic than the Union for Europe of the Nations
Union for Europe of the Nations
Union for Europe of the Nations was a political group of the European Parliament between 1999 and 2009.-History:UEN was formed on 20 July 1999, supplanting the earlier Union for Europe. Its member parties Fianna Fáil and National Alliance were the driving forces behind the group, despite their...
and the Independence and Democracy
Independence and Democracy
The Independence/Democracy Group in the European Parliament was a group of eurosceptic and eurorealist political parties in the 2004-2009 term of the European Parliament. It collapsed following the 2009 European elections after losing many of its MEPs....
. Some members from the above parties founded a new organization, the Alliance for an Open Europe
Alliance for an Open Europe
The Alliance for an Open Europe is a eurosceptic and free market transnational political organisation, that includes representatives from political parties and think tanks.- Founding :...
, in the midst of this debate, with broadly similar objectives.
Cameron initially intended to form the new group in 2006, though this aspiration had to be cancelled due to their main prospective partners, the ODS and PiS, being unable or unwilling to break away from their then-groupings; the new grouping was put on hiatus until the European Parliament election, 2009
European Parliament election, 2009
Elections to the European Parliament were held in the 27 member states of the European Union between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Members of the European Parliament were elected to represent some 500 million Europeans, making these the biggest trans-national elections in history...
. By then, new factors—including the collapse of the Union for Europe of the Nations
Union for Europe of the Nations
Union for Europe of the Nations was a political group of the European Parliament between 1999 and 2009.-History:UEN was formed on 20 July 1999, supplanting the earlier Union for Europe. Its member parties Fianna Fáil and National Alliance were the driving forces behind the group, despite their...
group—made conditions for forming a new political grouping much more favourable. On 22 June 2009, the founder members of the European Conservatives and Reformists
European Conservatives and Reformists
The European Conservatives and Reformists, abbreviated to ECR, is a conservative anti-federalist political group in the European Parliament. The group currently comprises 57 MEPs, making it the fourth-largest group in the European Parliament....
, all signatories of the Prague Declaration announced that they were to leave the EPP-ED, and in virtue of that fact, the European Democrats movement. This announcement ended the 30 year existence of the European Democrats in the European Parliament.
Former member parties
The following political parties were associated with the European Democrats at some point:| Party | Abbr. | Country | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Civic Democratic Party | ODS |  Czech Republic |
14 July 2004 | 22 June 2009 |
| Conservative People's Party Conservative People's Party (Denmark) The Conservative People's Party , also known as Conservatives is a Danish political party.-History:The party was founded 1915 based mostly on its predecessor, Højre , but also on the Free Conservatives and a moderate faction of Venstre , the liberals.The party has participated in several coalition... |
K |  Denmark |
17 July 1979 | 1 May 1992 |
| Pensioners' Party Pensioners' Party (Italy) The Pensioners' Party is a centrist Italian political party. It was founded in 1987 in Milan and its current leader is Carlo Fatuzzo.... |
PP |  Italy |
20 July 1999 | 14 July 2009 |
| Democratic and Social Centre – People's Party | CDS–PP |  Portugal |
20 July 2004 | 2006 |
| People's Alliance | AP |  Spain |
10 June 1987 | 25 July 1989 |
| Conservative Party Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House... |
 United Kingdom |
17 July 1979 | 22 June 2009 | |
| Ulster Unionist Party Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland... |
UUP | United Kingdom |
20 July 1999 | 22 June 2009 |
European Democrats in PACE (Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe)
The European Democrat GroupEuropean Democrat Group
The European Democrat Group is a conservative group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. It was originally founded as the Group of Independent Representatives in 1970 by British and Scandinavian members of PACE, having about 35-40 members from the UK, Ireland, Norway, Denmark,...
is a political group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe , which held its first session in Strasbourg on 10 August 1949, can be considered the oldest international parliamentary assembly with a pluralistic composition of democratically elected members of parliament established on the basis of an...
.
Sources
- Political Groups of the European Parliament
- Development of Political Groups in the European Parliament
- Europe Politique
- European Parliament MEP Archives
- Democracy in the European Parliament
See also
- Alliance for an Open EuropeAlliance for an Open EuropeThe Alliance for an Open Europe is a eurosceptic and free market transnational political organisation, that includes representatives from political parties and think tanks.- Founding :...
- Movement for European ReformMovement for European ReformThe Movement for European Reform, abbreviated to MER, was a pan-European alliance of national centre-right political parties with conservative, pro-free market and Eurosceptic inclinations...
- European People's Party–European DemocratsEuropean People's Party–European DemocratsThe Group of the European People's Party , abbreviated to EPP Group, is a centre-right political group of the European Parliament...