Page "European People's Party (European Parliament group)" Paragraph 4

This policy bore fruit, with the Greek New Democracy and Spanish Partido Popular MEPs joining the EPP Group.

The British and Danish Conservatives tried to maintain a group of their own called the European Democrats ( ED ), but lack of support and the problems inherent in maintaining a small group forced ED's collapse in the 1990s, and its members crossed the floor to join the EPP Group.

The parties of these MEPs also became full members of the EPP ( with the exception of the British Conservatives who did not join the Party ) and this consolidation process of the European centre-right throughout the ' 90s with the acquisition of members from the Italian Forza Italia.

However, the consolidation was not unalloyed and a split emerged with the Eurosceptic MEPs who congregated in a subgroup within the group, also called the European Democrats ( ED ).