The Alliance for an Open Europe is a Eurosceptic and

free market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...

transnational political organisation, that includes representatives from political parties and

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

Founding

It was initiated by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

(MEP) Daniel Hannan, and its birth came in the midst of renewed questioning of the linkage between the centre-right European People's Party and the further-right eurosceptic

European Democrats The European Democrats were a loose association of conservative political parties in Europe. It was a political group in the European Parliament from 1979 until 1992, when it became a subgroup of the European People's Party–European Democr ...

in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

. Hannan reportedly launched the Alliance with the intention of promoting national sovereignty, free trade and "maximum devolution of power". Some have suggested that the organisation could become the nucleus of a new European political party or that its name be adopted by a newly independent ED group. The Alliance appears to have never received any official sanction from the respective party leadership of its participants, however. In December 2005, future Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron (then new party leader of the British Conservatives pledged to pull his party out of the European People's party in favor of the Alliance for an Open Europe. This move was criticized by former UK Conservative minister Anthony Nelson who argued that the leader of the Tory party "should occupy the centre ground and be inclusive not exclusive." Delegates to its inaugural meeting on 5 December 2005 included representatives from the UK Conservatives, the

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

Civic Democratic Party, the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

Law and Justice party and the French

Rally For France The Rally for France (french: Rassemblement pour la France (RPF); also briefly known in 2003 as Rally for France and European Independence or ) was a political party in France of the right. It was founded in 1999 by the Gaullist and former Interi ...

Uncertain future

In July 2006, the

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. It consisted of the Conservative Party of the United Ki ...

was announced, a broadly similar body, though with a formal mandate from the leadership of the British Conservatives and Czech Civic Democrats. In February/March 2007 the

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

n Union of Democratic Forces also joined the organisation.

References

Euroscepticism {{EU-stub

Founding

Uncertain future

See also

References