Brussels, 25 March 2010

The European People’s Party (EPP) concluded earlier today its Summit of heads of state and government and EU institution leaders to prepare the European Council. This major European centre-right gathering featured Commission President Jose Manuel BARROSO, Council President Herman VAN ROMPUY and Parliament President Jerzy BUZEK as well as 10 EU heads of state and government : Angela MERKEL (Germany), Jean-Claude JUNCKER (Luxembourg), Fredrik REINFELDT (Sweden), Jan-Peter BALKENENDE (Netherlands), Silvio BERLUSCONI (Italy), Traian BASESCU (Romania), Boyko BORISOV (Bulgaria), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS (Latvia), Lawrence GONZI (Malta), and Yves LETERME (Belgium). Joseph DAUL, Chairman of the EPP Group in the European Parliament, Antonio LOPEZ-ISTURIZ, EPP Secretary General, and members of the EPP Presidency also attended. Photos of the Summit can be found at Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eppofficial

At the end of the Summit, EPP President Wilfried MARTENS made the following statement:

“In our meeting today, we the EPP, took into account the lessons we have learned since the beginning of the global economic and financial crisis and, in particular, the G20 decisions that call for effective regulation and supervision of the markets. The EPP supports the efforts of the European Commission, which will realize these new rules and new framework.

Moreover, we exchanged different points of view and encouraged President Barroso to find the common ground needed for reinforcing the stability of the Eurozone. In addition, I believe that we have to draw upon the inspiration from our leaders who established many years ago the Community Method.”

Deputy Prime Minister Jyrki KATAINEN (Finland), Deputy Chancellor Josef PRÖLL (Austria), and opposition leaders Viktor ORBÁN (Hungary), Enda KENNY (Ireland), Mariano RAJOY (Spain), Antonis SAMARAS (Greece), Janez JANŠA (Slovenia), and Mikuláš DZURINDA (Slovakia) also attended the Summit.

Non-EU heads of state and government Jadranka KOSOR (Croatia), Nikola GRUEVSKI (FYROM), Sali BERISHA (Albania), Mikheil SAAKASHVILI (Georgia), and opposition leaders Erna SOLBERG (Norway) and Alexander MILINKEVIC (Belarus) were also present at the EPP Summit.
Finally, the leaders also welcomed the resolution on Cuba, which was adopted by the EPP Presidency (available at www.epp.eu). The resolution was tabled by the leader of the Partido Popular, Mariano RAJOY.

Note to editors

The EPP is the largest and most influential European-level political party of the centre-right, which currently includes 72 member-parties from 39 countries, the Presidents of the Commission, Council, and Parliament, 13 EU and 5 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. +32-2-285 4147

Javier Jiménez, EPP Press Officer, Tel: +32-475 48044