The heads of state and government of the European People’s Party (EPP) gave today their full support to the President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso for a second term at the EPP Summit.

The EPP formally endorsed during the election campaign President Barroso for a second term and was the only European political party to do so during the campaign.

The EPP leaders today met for the first time in Brussels after a resounding victory in the European elections earlier this month. The EPP elected 264 members in the European Parliament and is by far the largest Group.

“Today, all of our heads of state and government gave their full political backing to President Barroso for a second term. At the meeting of the European Council later today and tomorrow, we are confident that President Barroso will receive a unanimous political decision to be nominated; this decision will give enough time for the new political Groups in the European Parliament to form and to exercise appropriate consultations on the matter, according to the Dehaene report. Following these consultations, the Council will, in turn, formalize its decision in order for President Barroso to be elected in the European Parliament on the 15th of July,” stated EPP President Wilfried MARTENS.

“I would like to point out that President Barroso is the only candidate that has come forward to seek the nomination from the Council and this is not as surprise since he has the backing not only of EPP heads of state and government but also from Socialists and Liberals. Therefore, the EPP looks forward to the decision of the Council not only because President Barroso is the best candidate but also because in this moment of global economic and financial crisis, it is important to have stability in the European institutions and strong leadership. I believe that all EU heads of state and government understand what is at stake and they will show appropriate statesmanship at this very delicate moment for the European Union” added the EPP President.

The EPP Summit was attended by the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel BARROSO, by the outgoing President of the European Parliament Hans-Gert POETTERING, by the incoming President of the European Council Fredrik REINFELDT (Sweden), François FILLON (France), Angela MERKEL (Germany), Jan-Peter BALKENENDE (The Netherlands), Jean-Claude JUNCKER (Luxembourg), Silvio BERLUSCONI (Italy), Kostas KARAMANLIS (Greece), Andrius KUBILIUS (Lithuania), Lawrence GONZI (Malta), Donald TUSK (Poland), Traian BASESCU (Romania), Emil BOC (Romania), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS (Latvia). The Chairman of the EPP Group, Joseph DAUL, also participated.

Josef PRÖLL, Vice Chancellor of Austria; Lene ESPERSEN, Deputy Prime Minister of Denmark; Jyrki KATAINEN, Minister of Finance (Finland); and Michel BARNIER, Minister of Agriculture (France) were also present. In addition, EPP Opposition Leaders and chairmen of EPP member parties that participated at the Summit included Mariano RAJOY (PP, Spain), Janez JANSA (SDS, Slovenia), Nicos ANASTASIADES (DR, Cyprus), Manuela FERREIRA LEITE (PSD, Portugal), Mikulas DZURINDA (SDKU-DS, Slovakia), Viktor ORBAN (Fidesz, Hungary) and Enda KENNY (Fine Gael, Ireland).

The EPP Summit also confirmed the decision of the EPP Political Bureau to accept the PdL of Italy as the successor member party of Forza Italia.

For more information:

Kostas Sasmatzoglou, Spokesman, Tel. +32-476393042

Javier Jiménez, Press Officer, Tel: +32-475480446