New Direction – The Foundation for European Reform is a

European political foundation A European political foundation, formerly known as a political foundation at European level,European political foundations were referred to as "political foundation at European level" in Regulation 1524/2007, which set up a framework for their ...

think tank A think tank, or public 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-governme ...

and publisher affiliated with the

European Conservatives and Reformists Party The European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party or simply ECR), formerly known as Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists (AECR, 2009–2016) and Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe (ACRE, 2016–2019), is a ...

(ECR). It was established in 2010, under the patronage of Baroness Thatcher. It is based in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

with satellite offices in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. New Direction is a

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 ...

that promotes European reform through the strengthening of accountability, transparency and democracy. Through publications, conferences and debates, New Direction is committed to serving as a resource for parliamentarians, policy makers and the public. New Direction is also a founding international partner of CapX, a digital service which commissions and aggregates news on popular capitalism from around the world.

Executive team

The executive board and Senior Management team is made up Members of the European Parliament and policy experts. The President of New Direction, MEP

Nicola Procaccini Nicola Procaccini (born 21 January 1976) is an Italian politician who has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2019. He is a member of Brothers of Italy Brothers of Italy (, FdI) is a National conservatism, nationa ...

, was the second most voted MEP from Fratelli d’Italia after Giorgia Meloni in the June 2024 European Parliament elections and serves as Co-President of the ECR Group in the European Parliament. His two Vice Presidents are Robert Zīle, a Member of the European Parliament since 2004, representing the Nacionālā Apvienība party, a member of the ECR Group, and Vice President of the European Parliament; and Alexandr Vondra, a Member of the European Parliament since 2019 and a representative of the Občanská Demokratická Strana. In September 2020, the Polish national Witold d'Humilly de Chevilly, Brussels lobbyist, was appointed as New Direction's executive director, and in May 2021 Robert Tyler, a British ECR strategist at the European Parliament, joined the foundation as a senior policy advisor. Until January 2025, the President of the Foundation was

Tomasz Poręba Tomasz Piotr Poręba (born 1973 in Grybów, Poland) is a Polish politician, civil servant and journalist, who was a Member of the European Parliament in the VII, VIII and IX term from Poland, historian and Political science, political scientist. ...

History

New Direction was established in 2010 and draws its inspiration from the 2009 Prague Declaration, from which the Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists (AECR) and the

European Conservatives and Reformists European Conservatives and Reformists may refer to: *European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party), a soft Eurosceptic European political party *European Conservatives and Reformists Group The European Conservatives and Reformists ...

group (ECR) in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two 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 ...

were founded. As of October 2016, the AECR is known as the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe (ACRE). New Direction is affiliated to the

European Young Conservatives The European Young Conservatives (EYC) is a grouping of youth wings of conservative and centre-right political parties in Europe. As of 2014, the group has a membership of 25 political youth organisations from 22 countries and territories, in ad ...

(EYC) and the International Democratic Union (IDU).

Role and Mission

* Advancing Conservatism and a Europe of nation states: New Direction's vision for Europe is for the advancement of small government, private property, free enterprise, lower taxes, family values, individual freedom, strong defence, a Europe of sovereign states and a strong trans-Atlantic alliance. * Leading the debate on European reform: The mission of New Direction is to strengthen the movement for European reform, by leading the debate on both sides of the Atlantic and around the world. The think tank aims to shift the EU onto a different course – away from the current orthodoxy of 'ever closer union' and central bureaucratic governance onto a path that promotes the freedom, prosperity and security of EU nations and their citizens. * Influencing key players: New Direction's strategy is to promote its values and ideas by influencing key players; ministers and elected officials from across Europe and the world, government officials, public policy experts, academics, business leaders, and the media. New Direction works closely with those who share a commitment to its values and works around the world to promote its constituent principles and issues. New direction regularly hosts high-profile speakers including leading politicians and policy experts for panel discussions, interviews, roundtables, seminars, conferences, and public events in Europe, America, Asia and Africa. The New Direction Academy was established to train young academics in strategic leadership, research and effective communications.

Research and publications

New Direction publishes timely reports, discussion papers, policy memos, articles, opinion pieces and blogs to serve as a resource for parliamentarians, policy makers and the public. It publishes on topics including the Eurozone, finance and the economy; energy and the environment, defence, foreign policy and security; accountability, transparency and efficiency; immigration, justice and society; and transatlantic relations.

Initiatives, Prizes and Awards

The New Direction Liberty Award was created to honour people who have "rendered outstanding services to political culture, freedom and civil society." The annual jury for the award is made up of notable European politicians, academics and policy specialists. Recipients of the award have included the former Head of British Military Intelligence in West Germany, Brigadier Geoffrey Van Orden MEP, and Professor Dr

Gunnar Heinsohn Gunnar Heinsohn (21 November 1943 – 16 February 2023) was a German author, sociologist and economist and professor emeritus at the University of Bremen where he had a chair in social pedagogy from 1984. Heinsohn published on a wide array of ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:New Direction Think tanks based in Europe Think tanks based in Belgium European Conservatives and Reformists Party European political foundations