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Presidency

The EPP is led by the Presidency, the executivebody of the EPP. It decides on the general political guidelines of the Party and presides over the Political Assembly. According to the EPP statutes, the Presidency is composed of:

  1. The President of the EPP;
  2. The President of the European Commission,
    The President of the European Council,
    The High Representative on Foreign an Security Policy,
    The President of the European Parliament (to the extent that these persons are affiliated to the EPP);
  3. The Chairman of the EPP Group in the European Parliament;
  4. The Honorary President(s);
  5. Ten Vice-Presidents;
  6. The Treasurer;
  7. The Secretary General.

The presidency is elected every three years by the EPP Congress. The last election was held duringthe 2012 Bucharest Congress, after which the composition of the Presidency is as follows:

Members of the Presidency

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European Council & EPP Summit

The European Council is the highest body in the European Union in charge of defining the “general political directions and priorities” in the EU. It is composed of the heads of State and government of each Member State and it’s chaired by a President of the European Council, currently Donald TUSK, a member of the EPP family, who became the president in 2014.

In this sense, the most important event for the EPP is our EPP Summit, which prior to the European Council gathers all EPP heads of State and government and other major leaders of the party (one per country) in the following order of precedence according to the party statutes:

  • The Head of State and Government belonging to an EPP member party;
  • The highest-ranking member of the government belonging to an EPP member party (for example, a Deputy Prime Minister);
  • The leader of the largest opposition party belonging to the EPP.

The EPP Summit is also attended by the whole EPP Presidency and by the Presidents of the European Parliament, European Commission and European Council, as well as the High Representative for Foreign Affairs provided that they belong to the EPP. The President of the EPP can also invite other personalities to the EPP Summit. The EPP Summit allows leaders from our political family to discuss and prepare an agenda, and reach common positions, prior to meetings of the European Council. It allows them as well to discuss the political situations of EU and non-EU countries from the standpoint of the centre-right political family.

The history of the EPP Summit traces back to 1980 when EPP President Leo TINDEMANS called for a leaders meeting in Strasbourg and then again a new meeting was held in 1983 in the Château Val Duchesse in Brussels; but it wasn’t until 1986 at the insistence of German Chancellor Helmut KOHL, that this leaders meetings became a constant matter. The first of those meetings, which then were called Conference of Party and Government Leaders, met in the Palais d’Egmont, in Brussels and all the Christian democratic leaders of the time took part: KOHL (Germany), Wilfried MARTENS (Belgium); Ruud LUBBERS (Netherlands); Jacques SANTER (Luxembourg) and Garret FitzGerald (IRELAND). There are normally two configurations of the EPP Summit: the Statutory Summit in which only leaders of EU Member States take part and the Enlarged Summit, to which non-EU leaders are also invited.

It normally takes a few hours before the European Council but extraordinary Summit are not uncommon. Traditional places for the EPP Summit to meet in Brussels are the Palais des Académies in the Place des Palais and the Bouchout Castle in Meise.

Political Assembly

The Political Assembly defines the political positions of the Party between each Congress, deciding on membership applications and final political guidelines. The Political Assembly also decides on the budget and safeguards the political presence of the EPP between Congress meetings. The Political Assembly is composed of ex-officio and delegated members.

The ex-officio members are, according to the statutes:

  1. Members of the EPP presidency;
  2. Members of the presidency of the EPP Group in the European Parliament;
  3. Presidents of ordinary and associated member parties, member associations or their mandated representatives;
  4. Presidents of the national delegations of member parties of the EPP Group in the European Parliament;
  5. Members of the Presidency of the European Parliament, of the European Commission and of the Presidency of the Committee of the Regions, provided they belong to an Ordinary Member Party;
  6. Presidents of the EPP Groups in the Committee of the Regions and in the Parliamentary Assemblies

The delegated members are designated delegates from EPP member and associated member parties, member associations and groups. The number of delegates for each party is linked to the election result in the last European election so that parties are weighted according to their strength. This allows taking decisions by majority.

The Political Assembly meets three to five times a year. The Political Assembly defines the mandate of the Working Groups which prepare the Party’s policy documents and recommendations. All EPP member and associated member-parties, member associations and groups, as well as members of the EPP Group in the European Parliament, have the possibility to participate in the Working Groups.

Council of the EU and Ministerial meetings

The Council of the European Union is the organ in charge of adopting major European decisions and acts normally along with the European Parliament, making it like that, a true law-maker of the EU.
It is composed of a representative from each member country of the branch or field under consideration; generally a Minister or a Secretary of State.

Although the Council is a single body, it meets in different configurations according to the issues being discussed. There are currently ten configurations which are:

  • General Affairs;
  • Foreign Affairs;
  • Economic and Financial Affairs;
  • Justice and Home Affairs;
  • Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs;
  • Competitiveness;
  • Transport, Telecommunications and Energy;
  • Agriculture and Fisheries and Environment;
  • Education, Youth, Culture and Sport.

Since 2007, the EPP has organised EPP Ministerial Meetings previous to the meetings of the Council of the EU. These Ministerial Meetings are an offspring of the EPP Summit and gather EPP ministers of attending the Council who are often joined by Commissioners and MEPs of the respective fields. As with the EPP Summit, the aim of the Ministerial Meetings is to discuss and harmonise the positions of EPP ministers towards the full meeting of the Council but besides that, they have played an important role in drafting declarations and resolutions that have been later approved by the EPP Congress and promoted as a whole in the Council. The first Ministerial Meeting to be inaugurated in 2007 was that of Ministers of Foreign Affairs under the leadership of Franco Frattini, then Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Elmar Brok, MEP (CDU-DE), chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the European Parliament.

The success of this meeting was followed in 2008 by the inauguration of a meeting of Economy and Finance, chaired by then-EPP Vice President and Finnish Finance Minister Jyrki Katainen.

As of today, the EPP counts with a total of 10 Ministerial Meetings which are, in order of their creation, the following:

  • Foreign Affairs:
    Chaired by Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sebastian Kurz and Elmar Brok, MEP (CDU-DE), chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament.
  • Economic and Financial Affairs (ECOFIN):
    Chaired by the Spanish Minister of Economy and Competitiveness Luis de Guindos and the Polish Minister of Finance Mateusz Szczurek.
  • Employment:
    Chaired by the Portogues Minister of Solidaridy and Social Security, Pedro Mota Soares.
  • Competitiveness:
    Chaired by European Parliament Vice President Antonio Tajani and Irish Minister of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton.
  • Defence:
    Chaired by German Minister of Defence Ursula von der Leyen.
  • Agriculture:
    Chaired Irish Minister of Agriculture Andrä Rupprechter and Simon Coveney.
  • Environment:
    Chaired by Portuguese Minister of Environment Jorge Moreira Da Silva.
  • Energy:
    Chaired by EPP Vice President Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, MEP (PO-PL).
  • Justice and Home Affairs:
    Chaired by the German Minister of the Interior Thomas de Maizière and Esteaban González Pons (PP-ES).
  • General Affairs:
    Chaired by Spanish Secretary of State for the European Union Íñigo Méndez de Vigo (PP-ES), and EPP Vice President Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, MEP (PO-PL).
  • Trade:
    Chaired byIrish Minister of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton, and German MEP and EPP Group Spokesman on Internation Trade in the European Parliament, Daniel Caspary, MEP (CDU-DE).

Working groups

Working Groups are the backbone of the EPP’s political work, where representatives from the EPP member parties develop common positions and strategies on major policy areas and submit specific recommendations to the Political Assembly for final approval. A Working Group can be given a specific mandate for preparative work for EPP Summits and the EPP Congress. Working Groups are also responsible for organising conferences, roundtable discussions and other important events.

European Policy

Working group I

Co-chaired by EPP President Joseph DAUL and EPP Vice-President and MEP David McAllister, the Working Group has the task of preparing the EPP’s most vital policy papers and Congress documents on European issues.

Economic & Social Policy

Working group II

The working group, co-chaired by Irish Minister for European Affairs and Data Protection and EPP Vice-President Dara Murphy and EPP Vice-President Corien Wortmann-Kool, is focused on responding to the current economic and financial crisis, the Lisbon process, demographic issues, and research and development.

Membership

Working group III

Chaired by EPP Vice-President and MEP Paulo Rangel this Working Group is mandated to promote, facilitate and incorporate new EPP members, associate members, and observers throughout the continent. When a party is accepted in the EPP, its elected representatives automatically join the EPP Group in the European Parliament, and all other EPP Groups and organisations.

Congress

The Congress is the highest decision-making body of the Party. It is composed of delegates from EPP member and associated member parties, member associations and groups. The EPP Congress meets ordinarily once every three years. It elects the EPP Presidency and decides on the main policy documents and electoral programmes, and provides a platform for the EPP heads of government and party leaders.
The EPP has organized a total of 21 Congress meetings:

  • 2014 Congress XXII – Dublin elected Jean-Claude Juncker as common EPP candidate and approved the “Action Programme” and the “Electoral Manifesto” ahead of the European Parliament elections
  • 2012 Congress XXI – Bucharest approved the new “Party Platform” and “Manifesto”
  • 2011 Congress XX – Marseille approved the document “Moving Europe Forward”
  • 2009 Congress XIX – Bonn approved the document “The Social Market Economy in a Globalised World”.
  • 2009 Congress XVIII – Warsaw approved the “Strong for the People” EPP Election Manifesto.
    Endorsed José Manuel BARROSO as its candidate for a second term as Commission President.
  • 2006 Congress XVII – Rome approved the “Rome Manifesto”.
  • 2004 Congress XVI – Brussels where the main objective was to prepare for the European Elections. The “Action Program 2004-2009″ was approved.
  • 2002 Congress XV – Estoril prepared for the Constitution process, and declared that EU needed “A Constitution for a strong Europe”.
    EDU formally merged with EPP.
  • 2001 Congress XIV – Berlin revisited its roots, and adopted the working document “A Union of Values”.
  • 1999 Congress XIII – Brussels outlined its new vision for Europe, “On the Way to the 21st Century”. EUCD formally merged with EPP.
  • 1997 Congress XII – Toulouse approved the document “We are all Part of One World”.
  • 1995 Congress XI – Madrid was hosted under the thematic slogan “EPP- Force of the Union”.
  • 1993 Congress X was held in Brussels and adopted the action program, “Europe 2000: Unity in Diversity”.
  • 1992 Congress IX in Athens discussed, drafted, and approved the EPP “Basic Programme”.
  • 1990 Congress VIII – Dublin faced a new political landscape and published “A federal constitution for the European Union”.
  • 1988 Congress VII – Luxembourg prepared for another European Election and approved the document “On the Side of the Citizens”.
  • 1986 Congress VI – The Hague focused on Economic Development and Environmental Problems.
  • 1984 Congress V – Rome formulated the EPP Action Program.
  • 1982 Congress IV took place in Paris under the slogan “Preserve Peace – Create Peace – Unite Europe”.
  • 1980 Congress III – Cologne discussed the overall theme “The Christian Democrats in the Eighties – securing Freedom and Peace Completing Europe”.
  • 1979 Congress II also in Brussels, decided the electoral platform for the first direct elections to the European Parliament.
  • 1978 Congress I held in Brussels adopted the EPP’s political program.