The President of the European People's Party (EPP) Wilfried Martens expressed today his confidence that Thursday’s Eurozone Summit will contribute to the stabilization of the financial situation in Europe:

“I am certain that the Eurozone Heads of State and Government understand fully the complexity of the situation and will respond with a solution that restores market confidence. The EPP leaders are working hard to safeguard the European interest and will also tackle the different challenges that some Eurozone member countries are currently experiencing. EPP stakeholders in the EU institutions are coordinating regularly at all levels and are acting with determination and responsibility,” said the EPP President.

“The unstable economic situation of the past few months has shown us that we need more convergence, better coordination among national fiscal policies, and more discipline from Eurozone members. The EPP stands firmly behind deeper economic integration and is ready to support this long-term strategy,” underlined President Martens.

“Efforts and reforms are also needed at the national level. We have to prove to the markets that we are open to investors, we are becoming more competitive, and that we can secure the sustainability of our economies and our public finances,” President Martens stated.

Referring to last week’s attack of the Party of European Socialists (PES) against the EPP, President Martens remarked:

“The PES statement was neither coherent nor substantial and its only purpose was to attack the EPP. It’s a superficial statement from a superficial ‘meeting’ and it proves once again that the PES has an archaic understanding of economics. The PES claims to be progressive but its statements and policies are actually regressive and out of touch with reality,” underlined the EPP President.

Regarding the PES attack on the EPP, the only EU Prime Minister associated with this initiative is Greece’s George Papandreou (who is also President of the Socialist International):

“I was flabbergasted to see Mr Papandreou in particular, talking on behalf of the PES about the lack of political will in Europe. Instead of wasting time on nonsensical political maneuvers with his Socialist colleagues, Europe expects Mr Papandreou to put all of his time and energy on implementing the agreed measures and reforms which Greece urgently needs,” Martens concluded.

Note to editors:
The EPP is the largest and most influential European-level political party of the centre right, which currently includes 75 member-parties from 39 countries, the Presidents of the Commission, Council, and Parliament, 17 EU and 6 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, Spokesman, Tel: +32-2-2854147
Javier Jiménez, Senior Press and Communication Officer, Tel: +32-475480446