The European Reform Forum (ERF) is a committee of senior British politicians, journalists, academics, and businessmen who are seeking to produce a report on the future direction of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. The members are drawn predominantly from a Conservative background. It was launched on 30 June 2005 in the

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...

in front of a large number of press. Over the six months of the UK presidency of the

European Council The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body (directorial system) and a symbolic collective head of state, that defines the overall political direction and general priorities of the European Union (EU). It is composed of the he ...

the ERF took evidence from numerous people on both sides of the debate and produced a final report in December 200

It advocated the renegotiation of British membership.

Membership

* Chairman – David Waddington, Baron Waddington, Lord Waddington

GCVO The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

PC QC DL *

Lord Tebbit Norman Beresford Tebbit, Baron Tebbit, (born 29 March 1931) is a British retired politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet from 1981 to 1987 as Secretary of State for Employment (1981–1983), Secretary of State ...

CH PC * Lord Weatherill PC DL * Lord Rees-Mogg *

Lord Blackwell Norman Roy Blackwell, Baron Blackwell (born 29 July 1952) is a British former businessman, civil servant, Conservative politician, campaigner and policy advisor. Early life The son of Albert and Frances Blackwell, he was educated first at La ...

* Sir Oliver Wright

GCMG The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

DSC DSC or Dsc may refer to: Education * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dyal Sin ...

David Heathcoat-Amory David Philip Heathcoat-Amory (born 21 March 1949) is a British politician, accountant, and farmer. He was the Conservative Member of Parliament for Wells from 1983 until he lost the seat in the 2010 general election. He became a member of the ...

MP *

Bernard Jenkin Sir Bernard Christison Jenkin (born 9 April 1959) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Harwich and North Essex, previously Colchester North then North Essex, since 1992. He also served as ...

MP * Secretary –

Bill Cash Sir William Nigel Paul Cash (born 10 May 1940) is a British politician who served as a member of Parliament (MP) from 1984 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he was first elected for Stafford and then for Stone in Staffordshire in ...

MP * Brigadier

Geoffrey Van Orden Brigadier Geoffrey Charles Van Orden (born 10 April 1945) is a British politician and former British Army officer who served as Leader of the Conservatives in the European Parliament from 2019 to 2020. He was a Member of the European Parliamen ...

MBE MEP * Professor

Tim Congdon Timothy George Congdon CBE (born 28 April 1951) is a British economist. Early life He was educated at Colchester Royal Grammar School and St. John's and Nuffield colleges at the University of Oxford. Career Over the years, he has accumulated ...

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

* Professor

Patrick Minford Anthony Patrick Leslie Minford (born 17 May 1943) is a British macroeconomist who is professor of applied economics at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, a position he has held since 1997. He was Edward Gonner Professor of Applied Ec ...

CBE * Martin Howe QC * Roger Brooke * Andrew Roberts *

Ruth Lea Ruth Jane Lea, Baroness Lea of Lymm, (born 22 September 1947) is a British parliamentarian and political economist. Lady Lea entered HM Civil Service, before being recruited by the Institute of Directors, a private-sector employer lobbyist, ...

Janet Daley Janet Daley (born 21 March 1944) is an American-born conservative journalist living and working in Britain. She is currently a columnist for ''The Sunday Telegraph''. Life and career Daley studied philosophy at the University of California a ...

People who have given evidence

* Lord Howell of Guildford PC * Professor

Lord Wallace of Saltaire William John Lawrence Wallace, Baron Wallace of Saltaire, (born 12 March 1941 in Leicester), is a British academic, writer, and Liberal Democrat politician, who was a Lord in Waiting from 2010 to 2015. Early life Wallace was educated at Wes ...

Frederick Forsyth Frederick McCarthy Forsyth ( ; 25 August 1938 – 9 June 2025) was an English novelist and journalist. He was best known for thrillers such as ''The Day of the Jackal'', ''The Odessa File'', ''The Fourth Protocol'', ''The Dogs of War (novel), ...

CBE * Charles Grant, Director of the

Centre for European Reform The Centre for European Reform (CER) is a London-based think tank that focuses on matters of European integration. In 2021 it was ranking 58th among the top think tanks worldwide (non-US) in the Global Go To Think Tank Index Report published by th ...

External links

European Reform Forum website
Politics of the European Union {{UK-org-stub