On 25 April 2014, just a month before the European Parliamentary Elections, EPP politicians will gather in the Polish city of Poznan for a Summit of EPP regional and local political leaders. Together with their candidate for the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude JUNCKER, participants will debate how to bring growth and jobs back to Europe’s regions and cities.

Prime Minister of Poland, Donald TUSK will deliver the keynote address.

The summit of EPP regional and local political leaders aims to provide a platform for EU politicians, including EPP candidates for the new European Parliament mandate, to explore the challenges and successes of implementing EU regional policies together with representatives from the regional and local level. It will also showcase EU success stories and recipes for managing European funds in a smart way.

Economic recovery and job creation are two objectives that cannot be reached without a leading role of regional and local authorities as their budgets make up to 34% of total public spending in the European Union.

Date: Friday, 25 April 2014
Venue: Poznan Congress Centre (PCC) – Earth Hall, ul. Glogowska 14, 60-734 Poznan

Co-organised by the European People’s Party, the EPP Group in the Committee of the Regions and Platforma Obywatelska, the Summit is hosted by the President of the Wielkopolska Region, Marek WOŹNIAK.
Other leading EU politicians and officials to speak at the event include Janusz LEWANDOWSKI (European Commissioner for Financial Programming and Budget),Valdis DOMBROVSKIS (former Prime Minister of Latvia), Wilhelm MOLTERER (Vice President of European Investment Bank), Reiner HASELOFF (Minister – President of Saxony – Anhalt), Tomáš HUDEČEK (Mayor of the City of Prague), MEP Jan OLBRYCHT and Konstantinos KYRANAKIS (President of YEPP).

Detailed information can be found at http://poznan2014.epp.eu.
For updates on Twitter:
@EPP @EPP_CoR and @Platforma_org
Hashtags:#POznanEPP (for the Summit) #EP2014 (for the European elections)

Press Accreditation:
Journalists wishing to attend the Summit must register by Thursday 24 April at 12 noon via the dedicated form at:
http://poznan2014.epp.eu/

For more information:
Natasha Bertaud, Press and Media Juncker Team;
+32 2 309 28 75
Mobile: +32 471 99 85 12;
nbertaud@epp.eu

Dominik Krakowiak, EPP/CoR Group Press and Communications Officer,
Tel. +32 472 84 26 75 or +48 606 27 19 19;
Dominik.Krakowiak@cor.europa.eu

Katie Owens, EPP/CoR Press and Communications Officer, Tel. +32 494 39 27 98Kathryn.Owens@cor.europa.eu

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 39 countries, the Presidents of the European Commission and the European Council, 12 EU and 5 non-EU heads of state and government, 13 members of the European Commission and the largest Group in the European Parliament.

The European People’s Party Group is a driving force in the Committee of the Regions to the European Union: a consultative body, which was created in 1994 to give locally and regionally elected representatives of government a say over the content of EU legislation. Members include Presidents of regional governments, Mayors and Councillors from 26 Member States of the European Union.

The Civic Platform was founded in 2001 and is the biggest party in the Polish Parliament with 203 members of Sejm and 62 of Senate. Its leader Donald Tusk has served his country as Prime Minister since 2007. The Civic Platform is a member of the European People’s Party.