New Direction – The Foundation for European Reform is a

political foundation at European level A European political foundation, formally a political foundation at European level, informally a Eurofoundation, is a research and advocacy organization close to, but independent from a Europarty. They are funded by the European Parliament. Th ...

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-govern ...

and publisher affiliated with the

Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe The European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party), 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 conservativ ...

(ACRE). It was established in 2010, under the patronage of

Baroness Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

. It is based in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

with satellite offices in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

. 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 ...

think tank 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 ''CapX'' is a British online newspaper and news aggregator. It was founded by the Centre for Policy Studies, and features columnists and contributors such as Tim Montgomerie, Daniel Hannan, and V. S. Naipaul. The site offers original content and ...

, 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, Tomasz Poreba MEP, is a leading figure in the

Law and Justice Law and Justice ( pl, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość , PiS) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Poland. Its chairman is Jarosław Kaczyński. It was founded in 2001 by Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a direct s ...

Party in Poland and vice-chairman of its delegations of MEPs in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...

. The Secretary-General, Dr Ian Duncan MEP, was the one Conservative MEP for Scotland and a leading parliamentarian in energy, agriculture, and fisheries policy in the

. Its three vice-presidents;

Hans-Olaf Henkel Hans-Olaf Henkel (born 14 March 1940) is a German politician, a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Germany and a publicist. He was formerly a manager at IBM, president of the Federation of German IndustriesBDI and president of thLeibniz ...

MEP, former head at IBM, and former President of the Federation of German Industries (BDI) and the

Leibniz Association The Leibniz Association (German: ''Leibniz-Gemeinschaft'' or ''Wissenschaftsgemeinschaft Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz'') is a union of German non-university research institutes from various disciplines. As of 2020, 96 non-university research insti ...

; Professor

Karol Karski Karol Adam Karski (born 13 May 1966 in Warsaw) is a Polish politician, Quaestor of the European Parliament, and a former Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs. He holds a Doctor of Law degree from the University of Warsaw. Karski has taught at the ...

MEP, former Deputy Foreign Minister of Poland; and Andrew Lewer, former leader of

Derbyshire County Council Derbyshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Derbyshire, England. It has 64 councillors representing 61 divisions, with three divisions having two members each. They are Glossop and Charlesworth ...

and a current vice-president of the

Local Government Association The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national membership body for local authorities. Its core membership is made up of 339 English councils and the 22 Welsh councils through the Welsh Local Government Association. The LGA is p ...

. Its executive director, Naweed Khan, is a former special adviser in the

UK government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_est ...

during the 2010–2015 administration of Prime Minister

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

. The founding president of New Direction is

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 Parliame ...

MEP, who stepped down in 2015.

History

New Direction was established in 2010 and draws its inspiration from the 2009

Prague Declaration The Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism was a declaration which was initiated by the Czech government and signed on 3 June 2008 by prominent European politicians, former political prisoners and historians, among them former ...

, from which the Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists (AECR) and the

European Conservatives and Reformists The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) is a soft Eurosceptic, anti- federalist political group of the European Parliament. The ECR is the parliamentary group of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party) European ...

group (ECR) in the

were founded. As of October 2016, the AECR is known as the

(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 different countries and territori ...

(EYC) and the

International Democratic Union The International Democrat Union (IDU) is an international alliance of centre-right political parties. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, the IDU consists of 84 full and associate members from 65 countries. It is chaired by Stephen Harper, ...

(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. As part of this, 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.

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 is a German author, sociologist and economist and professor emeritus at the University of Bremen. In 1984 he received a ''Lehrstuhl'', a tenured chair in social pedagogy at the University of Bremen. Heinsohn has published on a wid ...

. The New Direction Academy was established to train young academics in strategic leadership, research and effective communications. It aims to inspire citizens to engage with the key issues facing Europe today. By connecting young academics and researchers with best practices, and the strategies and tools to shape politics, New Direction is investing in Europe's next generation.

References

External links

New Direction official website
{{Political foundations at European level Political and economic think tanks based in the European Union Think tanks based in Belgium Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe Political foundations at European level