Struan Stevenson: New centre-right bloc breaks Brussels' cosy consensus

Published on Wednesday 1 July 2009 21:36

THE millions of people in Britain and the European Union who are tired of the relentless drive towards a federal united states of Europe suddenly have an official voice.

A powerful new voting bloc has been formed in the European Parliament that effectively marks the birth of the official opposition to the cosy federalist consensus, which has seamlessly bound the main parliamentary groupings from left to right for decades.

The new European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR) consists of 58 MEPs from the UK, Poland, the Czech Republic, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Hungary and Latvia. Together with the support of centre-right MEPs, we will now be able to achieve an overall majority.

Born out of David Cameron's pledge to take the 26 UK Conservative MEPs out of the main centre-right EPP-ED Group, the ECR alliance will wield significant power, which it intends to use to protect individual sovereignty and to prevent domination by Brussels.

Along with founding members such as Poland's Law and Justice Party and the Civic Democratic Party from the Czech Republic, it will be the fourth-largest group in the parliament. This makes it bigger than the Greens, where Scotland's two SNP MEPs sit.

The new group will extend considerable influence. Under the complex system for allocating key parliamentary posts to groups depending on their size, the ECR will be entitled to two vice-presidents of parliament, two senior committee chairs and members in each of the main committees.

This will give voice to our members' pledge to pursue free enterprise, free and fair trade and competition with minimal regulation, lower taxation and small government.

The catastrophic setback for Labour and Europe's left-leaning parties during the recent European elections means that the ECR, together with the 264 MEPs in the centre right EPP-ED group, will be able to push through legislation. We will be able to outvote the might of the socialist, Green, Communist and Liberal Democrat groups put together.

This places the ECR in a crucial position as power broker, holding the balance in the European Parliament and ending the need for deals to be struck between the right and left. The ECR's support could be the deciding factor in whether or not Jose Manuel Barroso is reappointed as European Commission president.

Lurid stories of Polish homophobes and Latvian supporters of the Waffen SS have poured out from those who see the ECR as a threat to their dream of a European superstate, where power is vested in the hands of unelected bureaucrats in Brussels.

In fact, the ECR bloc contains two former finance ministers, a former senior commission official and prominent figures from parties either in government or aspiring to government from ten EU member states.

The new group is committed to the urgent reform of the EU based on openness, accountability and democracy in a way that respects the sovereignty of nations and concentrates on economic recovery, growth and competitiveness. It places great emphasis on the need for a strong Transatlantic relationship and a revitalised Nato. It demands effective controls on immigration and an end to the abuse of asylum procedures.

The Conservatives have always argued that Britain should be part of Europe – not run by Europe. Our role in the formation of the ECR is an effective demonstration of our position. There is no question that the old federalist mould has been broken – the anti-federalists are on the march.

&#149 Struan Stevenson is a Conservative Euro MP for Scotland