The President of the European People’s Party (EPP), Wilfried Martens, expressed this afternoon his disappointment with the negative result of the Irish referendum to approve the Lisbon Treaty.

“I respect the result, but I am very disappointed because it seems that most Irish citizens were poorly informed about the content of the Treaty and its importance for Ireland and Europe,” said the EPP President.

“Considering the seriousness of the situation, in the upcoming EPP Summit of Heads of state and government (19/06/08) I will assess together with all our EPP Prime Ministers the Treaty impasse and discuss future options that will move Europe forward. I am convinced that the Irish result should not block the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty - the process of ratification has to continue,” underlined the EPP President.

“Furthermore, I would like to express my frustration that the EPP and all other European political parties were not allowed to inform the Irish citizens on the value of the Treaty simply because the European Regulation that governs European political parties (*) forbids us from using our resources to campaign in referenda. On the other hand, I would like to commend the spectacular efforts of EPP Vice-President and Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, to support the “Yes” vote during the referendum campaign. Kenny showed great leadership in promoting the interests of Ireland and the European Union”, the EPP President concluded.

(*) Reg, No 1524/2007, 17/12/07, Article 8
For more information: Javier Jimenez, EPP Press Officer, Tel.: +32 475 480 446