Convinced of their superiority over the other European political forces, the Christian Democrats opened their electoral congress on Wednesday 6 March in Bucharest under the immense blue dome of the Romexpo, declaring themselves ready to lead the ‘European People’s Party’ (EPP) to victory once again in the European elections in June.
In his opening address, the Chairman of the EPP Party and the EPP Group in the European Parliament, Germany’s Manfred Weber, welcomed the 1,500 delegates from his political family, “the largest” in Europe. We are the largest Group in Parliament, we have 12 - soon to be 13 - Heads of State or Government in the European Council, and we have the largest number of local and regional elected representatives in Europe, he said.
He allowed himself a dig at his Social Democrat rivals. “You probably don’t know this”, he quipped, but last Saturday the Social Democrats nominated Luxembourg’s Nicolas Schmit as their lead candidate (‘Spitzenkandidat’) in “a very different room from ours” (see EUROPE 13363/15). He added: We have an election manifesto with concrete proposals, while they only have “ideological demands and vague formulas”; we have Ursula von der Leyen and Roberta Metsola, “two strong leaders”, while they have Mr Schmit and Mr Borrell as their “main candidates”; we’re struggling to fit all the media into the room, “while they haven’t even been able to make headlines outside the ‘Brussels bubble’”.
Schengen. Earlier, before the press, Mr Weber had explained the importance for the Christian Democrats of meeting in Romania, at the invitation of the ‘National Liberal Party’ (PNL) (see EUROPE 13363/13), to bear witness to the importance of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, particularly because of their proximity to Ukraine and Moldavia. There are no second-class members in the EU, stressed the Bavarian leader, reiterating the EPP’s support for Romania’s full integration into the Schengen area of free movement of people.
At the end of March, air and sea border controls will be abolished between Romania, Bulgaria and the Schengen area countries, while land border controls will remain (see EUROPE 13320/4).
This appeal was relayed by the leader of the Romanian PNL, Nicolae Ciucă, who is convinced that Romania has fulfilled its obligations in this area. We owe it to “our diaspora”, which numbers around 4 million Romanians in the EU, he said. He welcomed the fact that the EPP’s election manifesto included such a request, despite opposition from the Austrian Christian Democratic Party.
“This is also the case for the Austrian Social Democrats, so we have an Austrian problem”, said Mr Weber.
The EPP President also outlined a number of campaign themes that the Christian Democrats will be defending. In his view, the answer to the threats and challenges facing Europe, both from outside and from within, is not the selfishness of populists and extremists, but unity and “solidarity” among Europeans. “The EU is not perfect, but it is the best Europe we have ever had”, he said, advocating a “positive” message to convince voters.
“Freedom, prosperity and security has never come from the East”, said Hunor Kelemen, speaking on behalf of the UDMR party representing Romania’s Hungarian community. He turned down a resolutely pro-European and Atlanticist agenda.
Migration. In the manifesto, which the 800 delegates with voting rights approved unopposed on Wednesday, the European Christian Democrats stress the importance of stepping up the fight against illegal immigration through a “fundamental” change to EU asylum law.
In particular, they put forward the “concept of safe third countries”, whereby an asylum seeker in the EU would be transferred to a safe third country with which the EU has concluded a specific agreement, so that he or she can obtain asylum and settle there “in a civilised and safe way”, in compliance with the Geneva Convention for refugees, instead of entering the EU.
As this idea is included in the EPP’s election manifesto, Mr Weber believes it is only natural that his future main candidate, Ursula von der Leyen, should defend it during the campaign. “We must reduce the number of arrivals” by differentiating between refugees and illegal migrants who will not be able to enter the EU, he argued.
‘Spitzenkandidat’. Present in the stands of the Romexpo on Wednesday, the President of the European Commission, Mrs von der Leyen, will receive broad support from the EPP on Thursday, with the exception of the French party Les Républicains and Slovenian parties.
“Many are acting the part without much enthusiasm”, said France’s Jean-François Bellamy on the fringes of the conference. According to him, during her time at the head of the European Commission, Mrs von der Leyen has “not sought to cultivate a special link with the EPP”, even appearing at a meeting in Bordeaux organised by French President Emmanuel Macron’s political movement.
As for the content, M. Bellamy reminded that the EPP was opposed to the legislative initiatives on nature restoration and building renovation, two texts of the ‘European Green Deal’ put forward by the European Commission.
Within the EPP, it is possible to have “different opinions”. He praised the democratic nature of the imminent appointment of Mrs von der Leyen, which will take place in a “secret ballot”. The Social Democrats, for their part, proceeded by acclamation, he noted in a second dig.
See the election manifesto adopted by the EPP: https://aeur.eu/f/b4n (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)