Brussels, 26/03/2010 (Agence Europe) - The European People's Party (EPP) held a summit on Thursday 25 March ahead of the European Council, backing the “Community Method” and solidarity as means of action at European level. “I believe that we have to draw upon the inspiration from our leaders who established the Community Method many years ago,” commented the chair of the EPP, Wilfried Martens, at a press conference. The EPP held discussions with President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso, encouraging him to “find the common ground needed for reinforcing the stability of the eurozone,' added Martens. He explained: “In our meeting today, we the EPP, took into account the lessons we have learned since the beginning of the global economic and financial crisis and, in particular, the G20 decisions that call for effective regulation and supervision of the markets,” after a meeting with Barroso, President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek, and heads of state of ten EU countries. Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, Luxembourg's Prime Minister (who is also the chair of Eurogroup) Jean Claude Juncker, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, Dutch Prime Minister Peter Balkenende, Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Bulgaria's Boyko Borisov, Latvia's Vladis Dombrovskis, Malta's Lawrence Gonzi and Belgium's Yves Leterme also attended the summit.
After the EPP summit, EU Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier told a reporter that there were lessons to be learned from the crisis in terms of governance, regulation and supervision and a different type of growth was needed that was different from the growth of the past 20 years. He hoped the new type of growth would be more environmentally-friendly, adding that this was the direction moved in by Barroso's EU 2020 strategy. Barnier recommended putting people first in the European project and, after nearly 30 years in the attempt, to finally manage to introduce a European Patent for small businesses. He said that it costs ten times more to take out a patent in Europe to protect inventions than it does in the United States.
The EPP issued a statement on Cuba, noting continued deterioration in the situation in the country and stating the EPP's “support and solidarity” for the Cuban democratic opposition. The European centre-right leaders urged the EU to enter dialogue with the Cuban government on areas including humanitarian aid and development cooperating, and to step up and maintain the dialogue, describing the latter two areas as “crucial” with “all areas” of Cuban society. The EPP says the situation in Cuba must be an issue on the agenda of transatlantic dialogue and the EU-Latin America and Caribbean summit in Madrid on 15 and 16 May 2010. (A.By./transl.fl)