The European Conservative Group was a conservative political group that operated in the European Parliament between 1973 and 1979.
On 1 January 1973 the Community enlarged for the first time to include Denmark, Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom.
[1][4] In the ensuing years, the group collected additional centre-right members, and on 17 July 1979[4] it changed its name to the "European Democratic Group".
[2][7] In March 2009 it was reported that the European Conservatives could be re-created as a group in the European Parliament, led by the British Conservative Party if they withdraw from the European People's Party–European Democrats (EPP-ED) group and succeed in meeting the minimum requirements for a political group in the Parliament.
[8][9] On 22 June 2009, the British Conservative Party with their colleagues launched the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group.