The leaders of the European Conservative and Reformist (ECR) party, the wider political organization behind the ECR group in Brussels, elected Polish former PM Mateusz Morawiecki (PiS) as its new president on Tuesday, January 14th.
Morawiecki is replacing Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, who announced her resignation last month after “fulfilling her duty” leading the conservative bloc since 2020. The Polish former PM thanked Meloni for her service and pledged to continue working toward Europe’s conservative revival.
“We’re going to be an oasis of common-sense conservatism,” Morawiecki vowed during Tuesday’s press conference in Brussels.
“And we’ll be working with everyone who supports the idea of subsidiarity, the idea of giving back more power to the sovereign nations, away from the centralized power of the European Commission. We’ll be doing everything possible to revert back from the wrong track that the European Commission is now on.”
Morawiecki outlined three key areas for ECR to focus on in the coming period: the freedom of speech, the sovereignty of nation-states, and the revival of good transatlantic relations. Pursuing Europe’s interests can only work in the broader geopolitical context, he said, and that is why the ECR is sending a delegation to Trump’s inauguration next Monday.
At the same time, the new president highlighted that the two components in the party’s name—conservatism and reforms—are equally important. “The European Union needs reforms, revamps, back to a common-sense approach from the recent ideological madness,” Morawiecki said.
ECR, with 80 MEPs, is the fourth-largest group in the European Parliament, and the second-largest among the sovereigntist conservative blocs after the Patriots for Europe (PfE).
When asked whether ECR’s growing cooperation with the EU mainstream, especially Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s EPP (European People’s Party) group, will continue, Morawiecki said his goal was to work together with anyone as long as there’s common ground.
“We are very pragmatic. We might disagree with EPP on many issues, but if there’s an opportunity to cooperate with the EPP or with the Patriots for Europe [PfE] on some things, we can do so,” the president said.
He also highlighted that ECR is in a unique situation given that it’s the only true “centrist” party in the Parliament.
“We can realize that ECR is in the center: on our right is the Patriots and some other people [Europe of Sovereign Nations Group], and on our left is EPP. EPP is now left of center, that’s a fact. But we can cooperate with all of those for the good of Europe and the good of the nation-states of Europe.”
The ECR also elected three new vice presidents: MEP Marion Maréchal, the vice-president of the French Reconquête party, MEP Carlo Fidanza from Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia (FdI) party, and George Simion, the president of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) party.
Maréchal talked about ECR’s mission including defending Europe’s identity and civilizational values, and also highlighted the importance of protecting families. Simion mentioned Romania’s ongoing “constitutional crisis” in the wake of the annulled presidential elections, and promised that ECR “will continue our efforts to fight for real democracy in Europe.”
