Which way now for conservatism in Europe?

Viewed from the banks of the Rhine, a tide of centre-right support is sweeping into shape the European Union for the next generation, as Europe enters a new phase of development with the Lisbon Treaty.  The EPP is firmly at the helm with Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Council President Herman Van Rompuy and Parliament President Jerzy Buzek - and today's debates should help to steer the EPP into fresh policy directions.  As President of the EPP Party Wilfried Martens reminded journalists on the eve of this Bonn meeting: "We now have ambitious political instruments and capabilities to function more effectively, transparently, democratically.  We have new leadership; we have the capacity to promote our foreign relations; we have a simplified decision-making process".

The centre-right political family is in the ascendancy - just as their Christian Democrat forebears were when the Treaty of Rome was created.  In many ways, the EU is a Christian Democrat and Conservative construct based on four freedoms that essentially underpin greater individual choice and stimulate economic prosperity.  Right from the start, these parties have understood how to build and shape an ever closer Union.  The EPP has evolved significantly since the early 1990s into a catch-all coalition of the centre-right in European politics.  The party's priorities consist of pragmatic economic and domestic policy objectives, reflecting the mood of European opinion and the growing range of its member parties.

Since 1999, the EPP Group has been by far the largest political group in the European Parliament.  Six months ago it won 265 seats in the June Euro-elections: roughly the same as the next two Groups - 184 for the Socialists (PES) and 84 for the Liberals (ALDE) - combined.  The recent announcement of the new European Commission has further strengthened the EPP position with a total of 13 members, compared to the ALDE's 8 and the PES's 6.  And finally one should not forget that the EPP has nineteen Heads of Government in Europe - thirteen EU and six non-EU.

The mainstream parties of the centre-right have understood that in the EU it is best to work closely alongside your friends and allies.  With over seventy parties from almost forty nations, within the EU and beyond, there is bound to be a considerable diversity of views on some issues within the bloc: it is certainly no monolith.  But many of the EPP's national member parties have been firmly in the forefront of economic reform in recent years - for example, the Spanish Partido Popular, the Slovakian Democratic and Christian Union, the Portuguese PSD, the Danish Conservatives, and the Greek New Democracy.  The EPP itself is firmly committed to the reform path.

The EPP is the party of standard-bearers for economic liberalisation - including European leaders such as Angela Merkel of Germany, Jan Balkenende of the Netherlands, and Fredrik Reinfeldt of Sweden.  The political priorities and language of many senior EPP figures are not very different from those of David Cameron and the British Conservatives.  Yet time and again Mr Cameron has chosen the path of isolation over that of influence, casting his MEPs in Brussels into the wilder fringes of European politics and refusing to understand that being in the mainstream EPP Group in the European Parliament is in the British national interest.

Watching as Europe's leading politicians rush between the plenary sessions and crucial bilateral talks, locked in discussions that will shape Europe's future and seal new deals between national leaders, it is easy to see how the EPP Party has become the driving political force of Europe.  The EPP clearly understands how to leverage national political power at the European level by working together and setting shared objectives - in turn becoming a powerful international force, with strong links to the US Republican Party and other key players around the world.  Until six months ago this is something that British Conservatives also understood and took an active part in.  Between 1992 - when John Major took them in as 'allied' members - and June 2009, Britain's Conservative MEPs played a significant role in shaping the EPP's agenda whilst remaining completely free to vote their own whip: an incredible achievement that combined the best of both worlds - to influence while being able to ignore - something Mr Cameron decided to throw away.

Then there are the EPP Summits that are organised four times a year ahead of each European Council meeting.  These have become major EU events not to be missed, with the next one taking place this week in Bonn - after the formal Congress has finished and the Presidency elections are completed.  British Conservative leaders William Hague, Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard recognised the unique chance these meetings gave to operate at an international level and they decided to attend - opting to maximise their profile on the European stage.  But by contrast David Cameron chose to turn down this regular opportunity to meet Angela Merkel, Nicolas Sarkozy and the other EPP centre-right leaders - something which many took as a direct snub.  Instead of forming friendships across Europe, the barely concealed Cameron contempt for European affairs has annoyed and irritated those who should be his natural allies.  By removing himself from the centre-right negotiating table and running off to the fringes, Mr Cameron excludes himself from the prospect to discuss tactics and priorities with friends and allies before meetings of the European Council.

David Cameron fails to understand the real momentum behind transnational political parties and groups in Brussels.  Put simply, the way to pursue political and national interests is by forming coalitions with like-minded parties - with the maxim that biggest is best in order to win the key votes in the European Council and Parliament.  To this end, the EPP is building up its power base through quarterly Summits - and now holds pre-Ministerial meetings with centre-right ministers from the powerful Economic and Finance (Ecofin), Eurogroup, Foreign Affairs and Defence Councils.  These mostly monthly meetings allow Conservative and Christian Democrat ministers from across Europe to discuss and agree informally common positions before going into battle with Socialist and Liberal rivals.  Alongside developments in the European Parliament, one can see the evolution of a more political Europe revolving around three key transnational political parties - with the EPP leading the way with innovative thinking.  But where in this new political EU landscape are the British Conservatives?

The half-baked efforts to cobble-together a new European Conservative and Reformist group - that The Economist describes as "this shoddy, shaming alliance" - has marginalised the Conservative party in Brussels.  British Conservative power and influence has collapsed in Brussels just when it should be on the increase ahead of Mr Cameron leading the largest party in the House of Commons after next year's general election, either as a government or in coalition.  Leaving the EPP Group in the European Parliament and rejecting the EPP Party has caused dismay and disquiet as leaders who could be David Cameron's natural friends and allies fear an ever more difficult relationship with the island off Europe under Mr Cameron's control.

The British Conservative MEPs have lost their influence, walking away from the ability to shape the policy positions of the largest group in the European Parliament from within.  As allied members of the former EPP-ED Group, they used to be completely free to promote their policies on Europe and to vote their own whip whenever they chose.  But in deciding to be poles apart from the mainstream centre-right, the Conservative MEPs can only now make suggestions from the outside: no alternative to the real reach enjoyed when being an EPP insider.  This sharp decline in Conservative power was recently highlighted by their failure to get any of the eleven parliamentary reports on financial reform legislation.

Leaving the EPP is seen by many as a mistake based on poor analysis and showing a lack of political responsibility.  The problems David Cameron faces in Europe and beyond - with aides close to President Obama  and Hillary Clinton expressing alarm at the Conservative choice of odd allies in Brussels - have led commentators to question his knowledge of European and international affairs, and to ponder about his judgement and choice of advisers.

Listening to those who want Britain to leave the European Union only serves short-term domestic interests and smacks of a desperate bid to delay internal divisions over Europe.  It was foolish to accept the advice of anti-Europeans to sever links with Continental colleagues in Brussels.  By walking away from his mainstream centre-right European allies, David Cameron has taken the British Conservatives from a position of influence at the heart of Europe to one of side-lined irrelevance.  It can only be hoped that Mr Cameron shows a better grasp of European politics between now and the general election by leading his party back into the heart of Europe.