Press Release
10/01/2001EPP CONGRESS - Press Briefing Summary
On the eve of the XIV Congress of the European People's Party in Berlin, Wilfried Martens, EPP President, outlined the main themes of the Congress. He referred to the Congress document "A Europe of Values", which he said was designed to complete and update EPP policies and their implementation in a modern context. The Congress would also restate its commitment to a sustainable social market economy and deal with the consequences of the Treaty of Nice. Martens said that the EPP wished to see a constitutional Treaty providing, inter alia, for a definition and division of the responsibilities of each level of government, national and European. The EPP favoured a federal Europe based on subsidiarity, he said. The EPP President favoured a new IGC on the basis of an agenda - the Laaken Declaration - to be published during the Belgian Presidency in the second half of 2001.
Angela Merkel, President of the CDU, said the CDU/CSU had submitted to the Congress a comprehensive resolution on the follow up to the Nice Treaty. This draft Berlin Declaration sets out a vision of the future development of the EU and its enlargement. She said urgent action was needed, especially because the Socialists had no vision of the future needs and aspirations of Europe.
The Chairman of the EPP-ED Group in the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering, said the strength of the EPP rested on two pillars - the union of 42 like-minded political parties throughout Europe and the Parliamentary Group in the European Parliament. The EPP-ED Group was, with 232 Members, the largest political Group in the European Parliament, larger than the next two groups, Socialists and Liberals combined. Poettering said that the draft NiceTreaty was unsatisfactory in a number of respects. It failed to extend majority voting in the Council, failed to extend co-decision with the European Parliament: the new system of voting in Council was also cumbersome and likely to hinder rather than help the decision making progress. He called for an end to "Nice-type" Intergovernmental Conferences and for the next IGC to be based on the successful model of the Convention on fundamental rights and a clear division of competencies between the EU and Member States. He called for the Heads of State and government to make full use of the provisions of the Maastricht Treaty to move issues into the sphere of Qualified Majority Voting and co-decision.
Karl Lamers, EPP Vice-President, also referred to the CDU/CSU draft resolution on the Nice Treaty. He said that it was necessary to complete the Nice Treaty. He also called for more attention to events and relationships outside Europe, particularly the USA.
EPP Secretary General told the press briefing that he welcomed the provisions of the Nice Treaty on political parties and would ensure that the EPP became a true European Party, a vital necessity to support cohesion in a larger Europe. The Congress proper begins at 16h00, today, 11 January, 2001.
For further information contact Robert Fitzhenry, EPP Press Office on Tel: +32 475 493356
