Brussels, 11 February 2010

The President of the of the European People’s Party (EPP), Wilfried Martens, and EPP Secretary General Antonio Lopez-Isturiz, welcomed the outcome of the EU Summit held today in Brussels. The 27 EU heads of state and government focused on implementing a renewed economic strategy for employment and growth in the EU and declared their support for Greece in resolving its budgetary crisis.

“The support given today to Greece by the EU member-states underlines the strength of our European economy and the solidarity that the Eurozone offers to its members. Without the euro, many countries would be more vulnerable to the effects of the global economic and financial crisis and would fall victim to financial speculators,” Martens stated.

“The EPP has always taken the lead in the launching major European policies, such as the economic and monetary union, and will continue to support common efforts and solidarity for countries in both the EU and the eurozone in order to deal with the challenges of the current economic and financial crisis. We need to restore dynamism in the European economy, to kick-start stronger growth, and to generate new jobs,” Lopez-Isturiz added.

“Finally, I would like to congratulate Council President Herman Van Rompuy for organizing with great success his first Summit meeting. I look forward to welcoming him together with President Barroso and President Buzek at the upcoming EPP Summit of heads of state and government of 25 March 2010,” Martens concluded.

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 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, EPP Spokesman, Tel. +32-2-2854147 Javier Jiménez, EPP Press Officer, Tel: +32-475480446