Thursday

28th Mar 2024

UK Tories confirm they are to leave the EPP

The UK's Conservative Party has confirmed to the European People's Party - the main centre-right grouping in the European Parliament - that it intends to leave and form a new political grouping in the chamber.

According to the BBC, the party's critic on Europe, Mark Francois, said that he, opposition foreign affairs critic William Hague and the leader of the Tories in the European Parliament, Timothy Kirkhope, on Wednesday (11 March) visited the chairman of the EPP, Joseph Daul, in Strasbourg to inform him of their intentions.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

  • 'European Conservatives' may be the name of the new group (Photo: Steve Back - www.politicalpictures.co.uk)

Tory leader David Cameron in 2005 during his leadership campaign had pledged to leave the parliament's centre-right political family due to his party's disagreement with its support for the Lisbon Treaty and, more generally, for its euro-federalist orientation.

Though the British Tories are committed to remaining in the European Union, euroscepticism has long flourished amongst their members of parliament, their voters and the conservative press in the UK.

Nevertheless, the length of time Mr Cameron has taken to fulfil his promise led some to believe he would not carry it out.

The move would also severely restrict the UK Tories participation in considering European legislation. The EPP is the largest grouping in the parliament and is expected to remain so after the June European elections.

Outside the EPP, the UK party will have considerably reduced influence in the chamber.

The UK public broadcaster reports that it has been told that the Tories intend to leave the EPP in May ahead of the elections and will form an entirely new political grouping in the parliament after the results are known.

Until now, speculation had suggested that if the Tories were to leave the EPP, they might join the second conservative grouping in the parliament, the Union for a Europe of the Nations (UEN).

The UEN is an uncomfortable amalgam of centre-right parties such as Ireland's Fianna Fail and hard-right parties such as Italy's xenophobic Northern League and the post-fascist Alleanza Nazionale.

However, Fianna Fail is set to leave the UEN after the elections and join the centrist Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe (ALDE), while the Italian the post-fascist Alleanza Nazionale has merged with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom party, which is a member of the European People's Party, and will thus join the EPP in July.

"The meeting was amicable and during the course of it, we confirmed to Mr Daul our long-standing intention to leave the EPP and establish a new grouping in the European Parliament after the 2009 elections," said Mr Francois.

The BBC reports that the new political family in the parliament may be called 'European Conservatives'.

New pro-EU party appears on British right

A new political party, the 4 Freedoms, is the first UK party to be affiliated to the European People's Party (EPP) since the British Conservatives left the centre-right group in 2009.

"Swiftly dial back" interest rates, ECB told

Italian central banker Piero Cipollone in his first monetary policy speech since joining the ECB's board in November, said that the bank should be ready to "swiftly dial back our restrictive monetary policy stance."

Podcast

Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza

This week's Euroscopic explores the consequences of Moscow's terror attack, the convergence of public safety and border/migration policy in an EU election year, and the United Nations Security resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Opinion

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Investigation

How migrants risk becoming drug addicts along Balkan route

Psychotropic drug abuse is one of the many dangers migrants face along the Balkan route. In overcrowded camps, doctors prescribe tranquilisers to calm people down. And black market circuits and pharmacies selling drugs without prescription contribute to the issue.

Podcast

Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza

This week's Euroscopic explores the consequences of Moscow's terror attack, the convergence of public safety and border/migration policy in an EU election year, and the United Nations Security resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Latest News

  1. "Swiftly dial back" interest rates, ECB told
  2. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  3. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult
  4. EU unveils plan to create a European cross-border degree
  5. How migrants risk becoming drug addicts along Balkan route
  6. 2024: A Space Odyssey — why the galaxy needs regulating
  7. Syrian mayor in Germany speaks out against AfD
  8. Asian workers pay price for EU ship recycling

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us