The President of the European People’s Party (EPP), Wilfried Martens, has welcomed the large backing the European Parliament gave today at its plenary session in Strasbourg to EPP Group MEP Marietta Giannakou’s report on EU level parties and their foundations (click here for details). Giannakou’s report, which received 560 votes in favor, 93 against and 22 abstentions calls for, among others, the creation of a legal personality based directly on EU law:

"I am very pleased with the result of today’s vote in the European Parliament since it shows a clear cross-party commitment for creating a strong EU-level party political process based on EU law. Needless to say, such a process will make the EU more democratic, transparent, and accountable to the European citizens," the EPP President underlined.

"I would also like to take the opportunity to pay special tribute to Marietta Giannakou: without her dedication, conviction, and tireless work today’s result would not have been possible. On behalf of the entire EPP family, I warmly thank her," 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 75 member-parties from 39 countries, the Presidents of the Commission, Council, and Parliament, 15 EU and 6 non-EU heads of state and government, 13 members of the European Commission and the largest Group in the European Parliament.

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