British Conservatives and their colleagues in Europe should continue to work together to reform the EU, even after Brexit, guests at the Conservative Friends of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (CF-ECR) launch heard.
ECR Group Co-chairman Syed Kamall MEP told the London event that the anti-federalist agenda, which lay behind former Conservative leader David Cameron's decision to establish the ECR Group, remained the right course for Europe.
"What binds the ECR together is a belief in a reformed EU," Mr Kamall said. "That will continue to be in our interests as we build a global UK. We want to have prosperous and successful neighbours and that will only happen if Europe is reformed."
Conservative MEPs' leader Ashley Fox MEP added: "This new association is about maintaining links with our friends throughout Europe now and beyond Brexit.
"We are leaving the EU but we are not leaving Europe, so it is important for us to keep in close touch with our allies in the ECR in the years ahead.
"In addition to online contacts, we hope to arrange visits and meetings between party supporters and ECR friends in London, in the nations and regions of the UK, at party conferences and also in Brussels to ensure the relationships we have built up are nurtured in the future."
Former MEP Andrew Lewer, now an MP, is working on establishing a corresponding parliamentary group at Westminster.
About 60 invited guests, including MPs and MEPs, attended the launch event.