‘Euro-Realism' in Multi-Level Party Politics: The Rise of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR)

The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) emerged as the third largest ‘Euro-party’ after the 2014 European elections, and now perform a central role alongside the European People’s Party (EPP) and the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) in the eighth session of the European Parliament. Despite this, relatively little is known about the policies that ECR politicians promote, especially their core party ideology of ‘Euro-realism’. In this article, it is argued that the development of ECR since 2009 is ultimately rooted in a central desire by its member party politicians to reform the European Union (EU) by addressing its ‘democratic deficit’ without destroying the wider integration project altogether. ECR is therefore now the most visible vehicle for ‘soft’ Euro-scepticism in the European Parliament, promoting ‘governance before policy’.