1 January 1981
A new step towards European Union: Greece becomes the tenth member of the Community. Membership of the European Parliament rises to 434. Members from the New Democracy party join the Parliament as independents (European Elections were held in Greece on 18 October 1981).

2/3 April 1981
Ceremony in Rome to commemorate the centenary of Alcide DE GASPERI's birth in the presence of Pope John Paul II. DE GASPERI was a passionate believer in the ideal of European unification and played a key role in Italy's post-war recovery and in the establishment of the European Community.

19 November 1981
Emilio COLOMBO and Hans-Dietrich GENSCHER, the Italian and German Foreign Ministers, present their draft "European Act" to the European Parliament.

"We are calling for a revival of European integration, we want the institutions strengthened and the decision-making process improved and we want to encourage and extend to a greater degree the pragmatic process whereby political cooperation is achieved among our ten countries. In this way, cooperation will become more widespread on matters ranging from security to culture and law, which will bring us closer to the basic aims of a European Union. We will achieve this by adopting a flexible approach and through the mutual support of political, economic and social aspects in turn, and as we gradually progress, it will be possible to set ourselves, and meet, new targets." (From the speech by Emilio COLOMBO).

23 December 1981
The Greek "Nea Demokratia" delegation joins the EPP, bringing the Group complement to 117 Members.

20 January 1982
Paolo BARBI becomes the new Chairman of the EPP Group in the European Parliament.

30 June 1982
The Council, the Commission, and the Parliament agree on the budgetary procedure. The three Presidents sign an agreement laying down the powers of those concerned in establishing the Community budget.

15 September 1982
Institution by Parliament of proceedings against the Council for failure to act (Article 175 EEC), on the grounds of the latter's failure to draw up a common transport policy. The Court's judgment of 22 May 1985 was widely interpreted as a victory for the Parliament.

6 - 8 December 1982
IV EPP Congress in Paris: "Establishing peace - preserving freedom - uniting Europe". Adoption of various resolutions on economic and social policy, development policy, policy to secure peace, and on the institutional strategy of the EPP. Leo TINDEMANS is re-elected EPP Chairman.

1983
Merger of the EUCD Secretariat (hitherto in Rome) and the EPP Secretariat in Brussels. Giulio ANDREOTTI (DC-Italy) elected President of the EUCD. Thomas JANSEN appointed Secretary-General of the EPP and EUCD. The Greek Nea Demokratia join the EPP and EUCD.

14 February 1984
Adoption by the European Parliament, with strong EPP Group support, of the Draft Treaty Establishing the European Union (the "Spinelli Treaty").

24 April 1984
V EPP Congress in Rome: Adoption of an Action Plan for the EPP Group for the 1984-1989 parliamentary term, "Uniting Europe for peace, freedom, and justice".

10-13 June 1984
Second direct elections to the European Parliament. The member parties of the EPP Group win 110 seats. Overall turnout was 61 per cent.

24 July 1984
The former Prime Minister of France, the Christian-Democrat Pierre PFLIMLIN, is elected President of the European Parliament.

1985
Piet BUKMAN (CDA-NL) elected President of the EPP as successor to Leo TINDEMANS who had held the post since the foundation of the EPP. Emilio COLOMBO (DC-I) elected President of the EUCD.

14 June 1985
The Commission presents its proposals (the 'Cockfield White Paper') on the measures needed to complete the Single Market by the end of 1992. At the meeting of the European Council in Milan a fortnight later, the decision is taken to embark upon an inter-governmental conference to discuss changes to the Treaties, with a view to speeding up decision-making and to increasing the power of the European Parliament.

1 January 1986
Accession of Portugal and Spain to the European Community.

The Parliament is now composed of 518 Members. Of these, 60 were allocated to Spain and 24 to Portugal. The Portuguese CDS, the Spanish Unión de Centro Democrático (UCD), the Catalan Unió Democràtica de Catalunya (UDC) and the Basque Partido Nacionalista Vasco (PNV) join the EPP Group. The size of the EPP Group increased by 9 MEPs to 118. In March 1986, a French MEP join the Group, increasing the number of MEPs to 119.

17/18 February 1986
The Single European Act is signed in Luxembourg. It extends qualified majority voting, especially on Single Market measures, introduces a new two-reading procedure for consulting the European Parliament and an assent procedure for agreements with non-member countries, and makes improvements to the machinery for foreign policy coordination.

10-12 April 1986
VI EPP Congress in The Hague: "EPP's 10th anniversary - striving for a people's Europe". Adoption of the resolutions on the environment and quality of life, employment and the economy, and the EPP's declaration on human rights.

1987
Jacques SANTER elected EPP President.

20 January 1987
Lord PLUMB, the leader of the British Conservative MEPs, is elected to the Presidency of the European Parliament.

1 July 1987
Entry into force of the Single European Act.

From this point, the EPP Group establishes a degree of cooperation with the Socialist Group to enable the Parliament to muster the majorities which enable it to play a full role in the cooperation procedure.

26 October 1987
Adoption in The Hague of Western European Union's 'Platform on European Security', marking the revival of WEU as the European component of NATO.

7/8 November 1988
VII EPP Congress in Luxembourg: "The EPP - a reliable and effective party for the people". Adoption of an Action Programme for the third parliamentary term of the EP, 1989-1994: "On the People's Side".

15-18 June 1989
Third direct elections to the European Parliament.

Overall turnout was 58.5 per cent. The member parties of the EPP Group (including the Spanish Partido Popular, which transfers to the EPP Group from the Conservatives) win 122 seats.

17 July 1989
Austria applies for membership of the European Community.

18 October 1989
Creation by the EPP Group of the Foundation for the Cooperation of Christian-Democrats in Europe (since 1994 "Robert Schuman Foundation").

9 November 1989
The opening of the Berlin Wall marks the end of the division of Germany (formalised 3 October 1990).

10 May 1990
Election of Wilfried MARTENS, former Prime Minister of Belgium, as President of the EPP.

19 June 1990
The Benelux countries, France, and West Germany sign the Convention to bring into effect the 1985 Schengen Agreement on the easing of border controls at the internal frontiers of participating states.

1 July 1990
Sweden applies for membership.

3 July 1990
Cyprus applies for membership.

16 July 1990
Malta applies for membership.

15/16 November 1990
VIII EPP Congress in Dublin: "A federal and democratic constitution for the European Union". Declaration on the constitution of the European Union.

10 December 1990
Agreement in the European Council on the Treaty on European Union (the Maastricht Treaty, signed 7 February 1992).