The President of the European People's Party (EPP), Wilfried Martens has welcomed President José Manuel Barroso's 'Decisive Deal for Europe' and the European Commission's proposal for a statute on European political parties:

“I warmly welcome President Barroso's 'Decisive Deal for Europe' since it tackles the essence of the current crisis in Europe. I am particularly pleased that the 'Decisive Deal for Europe' is dedicated to keeping intact our social market economy and, at the same time, implementing the necessary reforms in order to stabilise the economic and monetary union, boost sustainable growth, and restore competitiveness. This process includes all the necessary elements to create a stronger Europe so I look forward to the Commission's proposals to create a banking union, as well as the political instruments for a deep and genuine economic and monetary union. The EPP is committed to playing an active role in this process and we will make a tangible contribution next month, at our Congress in Bucharest, in the framework of our renewed political platform,” Martens underlined.

“Moreover, the Commission's proposal for a statute for European political parties, which was announced today by President José Manuel Barroso, is a significant step forward for the democratisation of the European Union and its institutions. So indeed, as President Barroso said: 'globalisation demands more European unity, more unity demands more integration, and more integration demands more democracy'. The Commission's call to European political parties to put forward a candidate for President of the European Commission in the upcoming European Parliament elections of 2014, has already been answered in the past by the EPP, since we were the only party to have the courage to put forward our candidate at the 2004 and 2009 elections. Needless to say, we will once again put forward our presidential candidate well ahead of the 2014 elections, so that he/she can spearhead the EPP election campaign. As President Barroso correctly stated today: 'Europe cannot be technocratic, bureaucratic or diplomatic; it has to be ever more democratic',” President Martens concluded.

Note to editors:
The EPP is the largest and most influential European-level political party of the centre-right, which currently includes 73 member-parties from 40 countries, the Presidents of the European Commission and the European Council, 16 EU and 7 non-EU heads of state and government, 13 members of the European Commission and the largest Group in the European Parliament.

For more information:

Kostas Sasmatzoglou, EPP Spokesman, Tel. +32-2-2854147

Javier Jiménez, EPP Senior Press and Communication Officer, Tel. +32-475480446