 The President of the European Council, Prime Minister Fredrik REINFELDT, the President of the European Commission Jose Manuel BARROSO, and the President of the European Parliament Jerzy BUZEK, together with the European People’s Party (EPP) heads of state and government and party leaders gathered earlier today in a Summit meeting hosted and chaired by EPP President Wilfried MARTENS, to discuss the agenda of the European Council. The EPP currently has 13 out of 27 EU heads of state and government in the European Council. The members of the EPP Presidency, the EPP Secretary General Antonio LOPEZ-ISTURIZ, and the Chairman of the EPP Group in the European Parliament Joseph DAUL also participated in the debate (for a video report see EPPTV; for pictures click here).
In the EPP Summit, Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt underlined his intention to remove in the next 24 hours the last obstacle for the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty (ie. formulating a solution for the unexpected opt-out request demanded by the Czech President before signing the Treaty). He underlined the determination of the Swedish Presidency to launch the implementation phase of the Lisbon Treaty in the coming weeks in order for the new EU institutions to start functioning as soon as possible.
The President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso also gave an update on the nominations that he has received so far for the composition of the new Commission and urged all leaders put forward also qualified female candidates. He also expressed his confidence that the implementation phase of the Lisbon Treaty will kick-start in the coming weeks.
The President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek also reiterated the readiness of Parliament to having, in line with the Lisbon Treaty, the hearings for the new Barroso Commission.
“The performance of Fredrik Reinfeldt and the Swedish Presidency is truly impressive. During the Swedish Presidency, Prime Minister Reinfeldt had to deal with many thorny issues such as the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, the response to the economic and financial crisis, climate change and much more. The work of the Swedish Presidency is truly exemplary and Fredrik Reinfeldt has the full backing of EPP leaders in the European Council; I am convinced that he will find the way to overcome the final hurdle of the Lisbon Treaty,” stated Wilfried Martens.
The EPP Heads of State and Government that participated were Angela MERKEL (Germany), François FILLON (France), Jan-Peter BALKENENDE (The Netherlands), Jean-Claude JUNCKER (Luxembourg), Andrius KUBILIUS (Lithuania), Lawrence GONZI (Malta), Donald TUSK (Poland), Traian BASESCU (Romania), Boyko BORISOV (Bulgaria), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS (Latvia), Jadranka KOSOR (Croatia), Nikola GRUEVSKI (FYROM), Sali BERISHA (Albania) and Mikheil SAAKASHVILI (Georgia).
Josef PRÖLL, Vice Chancellor of Austria, Lene ESPERSEN, Deputy Prime Minister of Denmark, Jyrki KATAINEN, Deputy Prime Minister of Finland, Franco FRATTINI, Foreign Minister of Italy, and Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Hryhorii NEMYRIA. Moreover, party leaders Enda KENNY (Fine Gael, Ireland), Viktor ORBAN (Fidesz, Hungary), Janez JANSA (SDS, Slovenia), Nicos ANASTASIADES (DR, Cyprus), Manuela FERREIRA LEITE (PSD, Portugal), Mikulas DZURINDA (SDKU-DS, Slovakia), Cyril SVOBODA (KDU-CSL, Czech Republic), Erna SOLBERG (H, Norway), Mart LAAR (IRL, Estonia), and Sulejman TIHIC (SDA, Bosnia and Herzegovina) also took part in the debate.
Moreover, the Danish Minister for Climate and Energy Connie HEDEGAARD, who attended the EPP Summit as a special guest, gave an update on the preparations of the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference of Copenhagen (COP15) and underlined the need for the European Union and the EPP to take the lead in the efforts to combat climate change.
Also, in view of the upcoming EPP Congress in Bonn (9-10 December 2009), Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is hosting the Congress, praised Wilfried Martens for the extraordinary performance and political successes of the EPP under his leadership and proposed him for new term as President of the EPP. All leaders accepted her proposal by acclamation. The Congress in Bonn will be electing the President, the Secretary General, the Vice Presidents and the Treasurer of the EPP.
EPP Secretary General Antonio Lopez-Isturiz gave a report to the leaders on the preparations for the Congress in Bonn (9-10 December 2009) where over 1500 delegates across Europe are expected to participate:
“At the EPP Congress we will, among others, be updating one of our fundamental ideological pillars, the ‘Social Market Economy’, which is currently guiding us with confidence through the economic and financial crisis. The EPP and our governments will soon put Europe on a path to renewed economic development and prosperity,” said Lopez-Isturiz.
For more information:
Kostas Sasmatzoglou, Spokesman, Tel: +32-2-2854147
Javier Jimenez, EPP Press Officer, Tel: +32-475480446 |
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