Bruges Group

The Bruges Group is a think tank based in the United Kingdom.

Although the group is often associated with the Conservative Party, it is independent of it. Its honorary president was Baroness Thatcher, and its chairman is Barry Legg, who was chief executive of the Conservative Party and a former Member of Parliament, but many senior Labour politicians have addressed their meetings, including the Labour MPs Frank Field and Gisela Stuart and peers Lord Stoddart of Swindon and Baron Shore of Stepney.

Set up in February 1989, its original aim was to promote the idea of a less centralised European structure than that emerging in Brussels. Its inspiration was Margaret Thatcher's Bruges speech in September 1988, in which she remarked that, "We have not successfully rolled back the frontiers of the state in Britain, only to see them re-imposed at a European level". The Bruges Group's research now includes looking into alternative international relationships for the UK and a complete restructuring of Britain’s relationship with other European countries.

The Bruges Group seeks to keep debate on European issues centre stage by commissioning and publishing independent research and by holding meetings and conferences to discuss relevant issues. These seek to inform decision-makers and opinion-formers especially those in Parliament and the media. The Bruges Group also monitors and assesses the voting of Members of Parliament.

The Bruges Group contends that the EU seeks to extend its influence over individual states’ right to manage their own affairs. As a result, the Group has extended its remit to monitor the EU’s policies and regulations relating to the increasing costs of membership, defence, international relations, climate change, national identity, immigration and healthcare.

Internationally the Bruges Group has been particularly active in supporting Euroscepticism in Estonia and discussing issues relating to Turkey and the EU.

The group was set up by Lord Harris of High Cross and an Oxford University student Patrick Robertson following Margaret Thatcher's Eurosceptic speech delivered in Bruges in September 1988. It quickly became a focus for Eurosceptic opinion and opposition to the then president of the European Commission, Jacques Delors. The Bruges Group is considered to be the common ancestor of the many British Eurosceptic parties and groups that emerged in the 1990s.

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