The President of the European People’s Party (EPP), Wilfried MARTENS, welcomed the conclusions of the European Council and underlined the preparatory role of yesterday’s Party Summit in Meise (see photos and video report):

"I welcome the conclusions of the European Council and I am particularly pleased that they largely reflect our own conclusions from yesterday’s discussions at the EPP Summit: the formulation a very limited Treaty amendment and the swift implementation of the stability mechanism, a joint strategy on strengthening economic governance, fiscal responsibility, and stimulating economic growth in Europe. I am convinced that today’s decisions signal that 2011 will be a year of stability for the Euro," declared the EPP President.

The EPP also welcomed yesterday at its Summit as a special guest of honor His Majesty ABDULLAH II King of Jordan. The King of Jordan discussed with the EPP leaders the importance of intercultural and interreligious dialogue as well as the situation in the Middle East peace process.

EU institution Presidents Herman VAN ROMPUY, José Manuel BAROSSO and Jerzy BUZEK, as well as Angela MERKEL (Germany), Jean-Claude JUNCKER (Luxembourg – President of the Eurogroup), Fredrik REINFELDT (Sweden), Viktor ORBÁN (Hungary – incoming EU President), Silvio BERLUSCONI (Italy), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS (Latvia), Traian BASESCU (Romania), Boyko BORISOV (Bulgaria), Lawrence GONZI (Malta), and Iveta RADICOVÁ (Slovakia) attended the EPP Summit.

Moreover, Deputy Prime Minister Jyrki KATAINEN (Finland), Deputy Prime Minister Maxime VERHAGEN (the Netherlands), Deputy Prime Minister Karel SCHWARZENBERG (Czech Republic), and opposition leaders Enda KENNY (Ireland), Antonis SAMARAS (Greece), Nikos ANASTASIADES (Cyprus), and Janez JANŠA (Slovenia) also attended the Party Summit.

Non-EU heads of state and government Jadranka KOSOR (Croatia), Nikola GRUEVSKI (FYROM), Sali BERISHA (Albania), Vlad FILAT (Moldova) and Bakir IZETBEGOVIC (Bosnia and Herzegovina) attended the Party Summit.

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 Commission, Council, and Parliament, 14 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