Political groups of the European Parliament Group" (which eventually became the S&D group), the "Christian Democrat Group" (later EPP group) and the "Liberals and Allies Group" (later ALDE group). As the Parliament developed, other Groups emerged. Gaullists from France founded the European Democratic Union Group. When Conservatives from Denmark and the United Kingdom joined, they created the European Conservatives Group, which (after some name changes) eventually merged with the Group of the European People's Party. The 1979 first direct election established further groups and the establishment of European political parties such as the European People's Party. A full breakdown of Groups by complexion and timeline is
Political groups of the European Parliament such as the above has been increasing, with Simon Hix of the London School of Economics noting in 2007 that The political groups of the European Parliament have been around in one form or another since September 1952 and the first meeting of the Parliament's predecessor, the Common Assembly. The groups are coalitions of MEPs and the European political party and national parties that those MEPs belong to. The groups have coalesced into representations of the dominant schools of European political thought and are the primary actors in the Parliament. Some of the groups (such as the PES and S&D