Reformist Movement

Ideology and policies

Over the years, the MR has always oscillated between ideological markers closer to conservative liberalism or social liberalism. Its fundamental principles remain however the same through time, such as defending civil liberties, free market, entrepreneurial freedom, and equal opportunities. The MR is generally positioned in the centre-right or right of the political spectrum.

During Georges-Louis Bouchez's tenure as party president, the party is said to have shifted further to the right, with critics of the party even going so far as to say that the positions of some of its members were increasingly moving towards the far-right. Bouchez has for example often publicly pointed out some excesses of the woke movement and he welcomed former members of the far-right Chez Nous party to the MR.

On its current platform, the party advocates higher revenues through lower taxes; time-limited unemployment benefits; life extension of the most recent nuclear reactors; greater investment in police, justice and defense; less government and state neutrality. MR is "belgicain", in favor of Belgian unity and a strong federal state.

Foreign policy

The MR is also a strong supporter of the European Union and NATO. It has always defended support, including military aid, for Ukraine since the Russian invasion in 2022. In 2024, the MR was the only party from De Croo Government to be opposed to Belgium recognizing the State of Palestine.

Electoral positioning

During the 2019 election campaign, the RePresent research centre — composed of political scientists from five universities (UAntwerpen, KU Leuven, VUB, UCLouvain and ULB) — studied the electoral programmes of Belgium's thirteen main political parties. This study classified the parties on two "left-right" axes, from "-5" (extreme left) to "5" (extreme right): a "classic" socio-economic axis, which refers to state intervention in the economic process and the degree to which the state should ensure social equality, and a socio-cultural axis, which refers to a divide articulated around an identity-based opposition on themes such as immigration, Europe, crime, the environment, emancipation, etc.

The MR then presented a centre-right programme (0.85) on the socio-economic level, and the most centrist (0.4) of the Belgian political spectrum on the socio-cultural level.

The RePresent centre repeated the exercise during the 2024 election campaign for the twelve main parties. The MR's positioning shifted towards the right on the socio-cultural axis (1.35) and especially on the socio-economic axis (3.57), where it became the most right-wing Belgian political party.

Presidents

• 2002–2003: Daniel Ducarme
• 2003–2004: Antoine Duquesne
• 2004–2011: Didier Reynders
• 2011–2014: Charles Michel
• 2014–2019: Olivier Chastel
• 2019: Charles Michel
• 2019–present: Georges-Louis Bouchez

Representation in EU institutions

In the European Parliament, Mouvement Réformateur sits in the Renew Europe group with three MEPs: Sophie Wilmès, Olivier Chastel and Benoit Cassart.

In the European Committee of the Regions, Mouvement Réformateur sits in the Renew Europe CoR group, with two full and three alternate members for the 2020-2025 mandate. Willy Borsus is second vice-president of the Renew Europe CoR Group.

Election results

Chamber of Representatives

Senate

Regional

Brussels Parliament

Walloon Parliament

European Parliament

Notable figures

• Sophie Wilmès
• Charles Michel
• Didier Reynders
• Louis Michel
• Pierre-Yves Jeholet
• Willy Borsus
• Christine Defraigne
• Daniel Ducarme
• Antoine Duquesne
• Jean Gol
• Sabine Laruelle
• Jacques Simonet
• Gérard Deprez

References

References

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21. Marneffe, Adrien de. (2025-05-12). ""Si le MR continue d'avoir un discours proche de l'extrême droite, ce sera compliqué de gouverner avec eux"".
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34. "Advanced search {{!}} Search {{!}} MEPs {{!}} European Parliament {{!}} Belgium".
35. "Members Page CoR".
36. "Members Page CoR".
37. "Bureau".