View source for European Democrats

{{Short description|Former conservative political group of the European Parliament}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox European Parliament group
| name = European Democrats
| title = European Democrats
| from = 17 July 1979<ref name="t1s7"/>
| to = 1 May 1992<ref name="t1s7"/>
| precededby = [[European Conservative Group]]
| succeededby = [[European People's Party Group|European People's Party–European Democrats]]
| englishabbr = ED<ref name="t1s1"/><ref name="t1s2"/><ref name="t1s3"/>
| frenchabbr = DE<ref name="t1s7"/>
| formalname = European Democratic Group<ref name="t1s3"/><ref name="t1s49"/>
| ideology = [[Conservatism]]<ref name="Nordsieck">{{cite web|url=http://parties-and-elections.eu/eu.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207031003/http://parties-and-elections.eu/eu.html|archive-date=7 December 2013|title=European Union|last=Nordsieck|first=Wolfram|year=2013|access-date=27 April 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref><br />[[Economic liberalism]]<ref name="Nordsieck"/><br />[[Euroscepticism]]<ref name="Nordsieck"/>
| position = {{nowrap|[[Centre-right politics|Centre-right]]<ref>{{cite news |last1=Barnes |first1=John |title=Lord Kingsland: Lawyer and politician who led the Tories in Europe and went on to serve as Shadow Lord Chancellor |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/lord-kingsland-lawyer-and-politician-who-led-the-tories-in-europe-and-went-on-to-serve-as-shadow-lord-chancellor-1759010.html |access-date=17 June 2024 |work=The Independent |date=24 July 2009}}</ref> to [[Right-wing politics|right-wing]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Krekó |first1=Péter |title=Fidesz's Exit From the European People's Party Will Diminish Hungary's Influence in the EU |url=https://www.institutmontaigne.org/en/expressions/fideszs-exit-european-peoples-party-will-diminish-hungarys-influence-eu |website=Institut Montaigne |access-date=17 June 2024 |language=en |date=11 March 2021}}</ref>}}
| chairs = [[James Scott-Hopkins]],<ref name="t1s49"/><br />[[Henry Plumb, Baron Plumb|Henry Plumb]],<ref name="EPHenryPlumb"/><br />[[Christopher Prout]]<ref name="EPChristopherProut"/>
| meps = 63 (17 July 1979)<br />50 (23 July 1984)<br />34 (25 July 1989)
|}}{{Conservatism in Europe}}

The '''European Democratic Group''', more commonly known as '''European Democrats''', was a [[conservative]] [[Political groups of the European Parliament|political group]] that operated in the [[European Parliament]] between 1979 and 1992. At its height in July 1979, it had 63 [[MEPs]].

Ideologically, ED was more [[Eurosceptic]] and [[right-wing]] than its centre-right rival [[European People's Party Group|European People's Party]] (EPP). Its members included parties such as the UK [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] of [[Margaret Thatcher]], Danish [[Conservative People's Party (Denmark)|Conservative People's Party]], and Spanish [[People's Alliance (Spain)|People's Alliance]]. In 1992, ED became a subgroup of EPP, now the [[European People's Party group|European People's Party–European Democrats]]. ED split from EPP in 2009 to re-create the group as the [[European Conservatives and Reformists Group|Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists]].

==European Democrats in the European Parliament==

===1979–1992===
The [[European Democratic Group]]<ref name="t1s3"/><ref name="t1s49"/> (ED) was formed on 17 July 1979<ref name="t1s7"/> by British [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]], Danish [[Conservative People's Party (Denmark)|Conservative People's Party]] and other MEPs after their success in the [[1979 European Parliament election|1979 elections]]. It supplanted the earlier [[European Conservative Group]].

In the late seventies and early eighties, the ED was the third-largest [[Political groups of the European Parliament|political group in the European Parliament]].

However, the group saw its membership fall sharply in the late 1980s, as many [[centre-right politics|centre-right]] members moved to the rival [[European People's Party]] (EPP), dominated by the [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany]] (CDU), Italian [[Christian Democracy (Italy)|Christian Democrats]] and the ideology of [[Christian democracy]] in general. The ED had been somewhat further from the [[Centrism|political centre]] and less [[Pro-Europeanism|pro-European]] than the EPP. Largely isolated, even hardline [[Euroscepticism|eurosceptic]]s like [[Margaret Thatcher]] conceded that the British Conservatives could not be effectively heard from such a peripheral group.

===1992–1999===
On 1 May 1992,<ref name="t1s7"/> the ED (now largely composed of UK [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] members) dissolved, and its remaining members were accorded "associated party" status in the [[European People's Party Group]] (EPP Group); that is, being part of the parliamentary group without retaining actual membership in the [[European People's Party]] (EPP) itself. 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. Then-leader of the British Conservative Party [[William Hague]] hoped to put the issue to rest by negotiating a new arrangement in 1999 by which the EPP's parliamentary group would rebrand itself as the [[European People's Party Group|European People's Party–European Democrats]] (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 politics|right-wing]] parties, averse to the EPP proper for its perceived [[Federal Europe|European federalism]], 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 Smith]], 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 (Czech Republic)|Civic Democratic Party]] took up the offer, with the remainder joining EPP proper or other groups such as [[Union for Europe of the Nations]] (UEN) or [[Independence and Democracy]] (IND/DEM). Meanwhile, the ED remained a more [[euroscepticism|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 Party leadership election|2005 Conservative leadership contest]], eventual winner [[David Cameron]] pledged to withdraw the Conservatives from the EPP-ED group, while opponent [[David Davis (British politician)|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:
{{Blockquote|SIR - David Davis (Letter, November 10) is sadly misinformed about our Conservative MEPs' relationship with the European People's Party (EPP) in the European Parliament. He claims that "Conservatives are members of the European Democrat group, which forms an alliance with the EPP". In reality, though, the ED does not exist. It has no staff or money and is, in effect, a discussion group within the EPP. […] Far from being a symbolic step, as Mr Davis suggests, leaving the EPP is the one hard, bankable commitment to have come out of this leadership campaign.<ref name="callanan">{{cite web|last1=Callanan|first1=Martin|title=Daily Telegraph letters |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/letters/3620966/Daily-Telegraph-letters.html |work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=27 February 2016|date=11 November 2005}}</ref>}}

The Czech [[Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic)|Civic Democratic Party]] (ODS), the [[Law and Justice]] (PiS) of Poland and the [[Rally For France]] party were among the first to discuss forming a breakaway group under the [[Movement for European Reform]]. [[Reg Empey|Sir Reg Empey]], Leader of the [[Ulster Unionist Party]] (UUP) has committed his party thereunto<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.uup.org/newsrooms/speeches/text-of-a-speech-by-sir-reg-empey-to-the-agm-of-the-ulster-unionist-council-on-saturday-may-31-2008-.php |title=Leader's speech 2008 |access-date=27 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080924010621/http://www.uup.org/newsrooms/speeches/text-of-a-speech-by-sir-reg-empey-to-the-agm-of-the-ulster-unionist-council-on-saturday-may-31-2008-.php |archive-date=24 September 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>  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 UEN and IND/DEM groups. Some members from the above parties founded a new organisation, 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 [[2009 European Parliament election|2009 European elections]]. By then, new factors&mdash;including the collapse of the UEN group&mdash;made conditions for forming a new political grouping much more favourable. On 22 June 2009, the founder members of the [[European Conservatives and Reformists Group]] (ECR Group), 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.

===Members===
The following political parties were associated with the European Democrats at some point:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Country
! colspan="3"| Name
! Ideology
! Membership
|-
| rowspan="2"| {{flag|United Kingdom}}
! style="background:{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}"|
| [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]]
| Conservatives
| [[Conservatism]]<br />[[Euroscepticism]]
| 17 July 1979–22 June 2009
|-
! style="background:{{party color|Ulster Unionist Party}}"|
| [[Ulster Unionist Party]]
| UUP
| [[Conservatism]]<br />[[British unionism]]
| 20 July 1999–22 June 2009
|-
| {{flag|Denmark}}
! style="background:{{party color|Conservative People's Party (Denmark)}}"|
| [[Conservative People's Party (Denmark)|Conservative People's Party]]
| DKF
| [[Liberal conservatism]]<br />[[Social conservatism]]
| 17 July 1979–22 June 2009
|-
| {{flag|Spain}}
! style="background:{{party color|People's Alliance (Spain)}}"|
| [[People's Alliance (Spain)|People's Alliance]]
| AP
| [[Liberal conservatism]]<br />[[National conservatism]]
| 10 June 1987–25 July 1989
|-
| {{flag|Italy}}
! style="background:{{party color|Pensioners' Party (Italy)}}"|
| [[Pensioners' Party (Italy)|Pensioners' Party]]
| PP
| [[Conservatism]]<br />[[Soft Euroscepticism]]
| 20 July 1999–22 June 2009
|-
| {{flag|Czech Republic}}
! style="background:{{party color|Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic)}}"|
| [[Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic)|Civic Democratic Party]]
| ODS
| [[National conservatism]]<br />[[Soft Euroscepticism]]<ref>{{Cite book |first=Geoffrey |last=Pridham |chapter= European Party Cooperation and Post-Communist Politics |editor1=Aleks Szczerbiak |editor2=Paul Taggart |title=Opposing Europe? The Comparative Party Politics of Euroscepticism |volume=2 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2008 |page=89}}</ref>
| 14 July 2004–22 June 2009
|-
| {{flag|Portugal}}
! style="background:{{party color|CDS – People's Party}}"|
| [[CDS – People's Party]]
| CDS–PP
| [[Christian democracy]]<br />[[National conservatism]]
| 14 July 2004–22 June 2009
|}

==European Democrats in PACE (Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe)==

The [[European Conservatives Group|European Democrat Group]] in the [[Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe]] was 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, Turkey, Sweden and Switzerland. It adopted the European Democrats Group name in September 1980, later becoming the [[European Conservatives Group]] in 2014.

==Sources==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110517163147/http://www.kas.de/wf/de/71.4504/ Political Groups of the European Parliament]<ref name="t1s2">[https://web.archive.org/web/20110517163147/http://www.kas.de/wf/de/71.4504/ Political Groups of the European Parliament] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110517163147/http://www.kas.de/wf/de/71.4504/ |date=17 May 2011 }}</ref>
*[http://www.ena.lu?doc=4327&lang=2 Development of Political Groups in the European Parliament] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607130820/http://www.ena.lu/?doc=4327&lang=2 |date=7 June 2011 }}<ref name="t1s3">[http://www.ena.lu?doc=4327&lang=2 Development of Political Groups in the European Parliament]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607130820/http://www.ena.lu/?doc=4327&lang=2 |date=7 June 2011 }}</ref>
*[http://www.europe-politique.eu Europe Politique]<ref name="t1s7">{{cite web|url=http://www.europe-politique.eu/democrates-europeens.htm|title=ED on Europe Politique|access-date=16 February 2008|archive-date=13 February 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090213174017/http://www.europe-politique.eu/democrates-europeens.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*[http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/archive.do?language=EN European Parliament MEP Archives]<ref name="t1s49">{{cite web|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/archive/term1/view.do?language=EN&id=1393| title = European Parliament profile of James Scott-Hopkins}}</ref><ref name="EPHenryPlumb">{{cite web|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/archive/alphaOrder/view.do?id=1389&language=en| title = European Parliament profile of Henry Plumb}}</ref><ref name="EPChristopherProut">{{cite web|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/archive/alphaOrder/view.do?id=1392&language=en| title = European Parliament profile of Christopher Prout}}</ref>
*[http://emlab.berkeley.edu/users/groland/pubs/HNR-Democracy_in_the_EP-11July05.pdf Democracy in the European Parliament]<ref name="t1s1">{{cite web|url=http://emlab.berkeley.edu/users/groland/pubs/HNR-Democracy_in_the_EP-11July05.pdf| title = Democracy in the European Parliament}}</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|conservatism}}
* [[Alliance for an Open Europe]]
* [[Movement for European Reform]]
* [[European People's Party–European Democrats]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.epp-ed.org/europeandemocrats/ European Democrats official website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060822230518/http://www.epp-ed.org/europeandemocrats/ |date=22 August 2006 }}
*[http://www.edgpace.org/ European Democrat Group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe]{{Dead link|date=November 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

{{Conservatism footer}}
{{European Parliament groups}}
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[[Category:1979 establishments in Europe]]
[[Category:1992 disestablishments in Europe]]
[[Category:Centre-right parties in Europe]]
[[Category:Conservative parties in Europe]]
[[Category:European People's Party–European Democrats]]
[[Category:Eurosceptic parties]]
[[Category:Former European Parliament party groups]]
[[Category:Political parties disestablished in 1992]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1979]]
[[Category:Right-wing parties in Europe]]