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]