English abbr. EPD From 16 January 1973 | French abbr. DEP To 24 July 1984 | |
Name European Progressive Democrats Formal name Group of European Progressive Democrats | ||
The Group of European Progressive Democrats was a heterogeneous political group with seats in the European Parliament between 1973 and 1984.
History
The French Gaullists split from the Liberal Group on 21 January 1965 and created a new Group called the "European Democratic Union". The Group was renamed on 16 January 1973 to the "Group of European Progressive Democrats" when the Gaullists were joined by the Irish Fianna Fáil, and renamed itself again on 24 July 1984 to the "Group of the European Democratic Alliance".
The group was never a close alliance. In 1973, the only common platform was on the issues of regionalism, social policy and the Common Agricultural Policy. Fianna Fáil, an Irish nationalist party, was reluctant to identify too closely with the Gaullists, who also had an alliance with the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom at the time.