Berlin, 11/01/2001 (Agence Europe) - The 24th Congress of the European Peoples Party opened in the afternoon of 11 January in Berlin with speeches from the President of the CDU Angela Merkel, the EPP President Wilfried Martens and the Secretary General of the Party Alejandro Agag, as well as with speeches from the Heads of Government and party members, and in particular the Prime Minister of Spain Jose Maria Anzar and Luxembourg Jean-Claude Juncker and the Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel, and the Heads of Government of several accession candidate countries: Viktor Orban (Hungary), Mikulas Dzurinda (Slovakia), Mart Laar (Estonia), Edward Fenech Adami (Malta). A speech from the former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl was heard on Thursday evening. The President of the EPP group in the European Parliament Hans-Gert Pottering and the President of the European Parliament Nicole Fontaine will take part in the works.
After the Thursday plenary, the participants will discuss on Friday, within the four working groups, the draft Congress document, entitled "a Union of values", which they have to vote on Saturday morning. Moreover, among the resolutions presented to the Congress are in particular those of the CDU/CSU entitles "Declaration of Berlin: completing European integration".
The long document on "a Union of values" includes six chapters, on the following themes:
The human person at the centre of the Union. This chapter insists in particular on the rejection of racism, xenophobia and social exclusion, and underlined the access of the EPP to the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. Furthermore, it calls for an Union that is open to those who are seeking asylum in escaping persecution and for an active policy for the integration of legal immigrants, and asserts that, in Europe, the Muslims and people practising other religions should be able to organise themselves on the basis of their own traditions, on condition of accepting European values (including the "Judeo-Christian culture" that prevails).
Europe and the economy. The document underlines notably that full employment is the aim of the European Union (and also that the flexibility of the workforce remains crucial), that the European Central Bank must remain independent, but that the management of monetary policy must become transparent and have an external representation that is more coherent, and that Europe must assume a leading role as the new economy develops.
The challenges of the information era. The document, which talks of a "New Democracy", asserts, in particular, that the information revolution will have significant consequences for the way in which "our democracies function" (new technologies will lead to new ways of making policy, and will change the traditional way of leading political parties) and support the use of electronic voting "as an option for the next European elections". Furthermore, the document underlines that bioethics represents an especially important challenge for the EPP, which recognises is huge contribution towards the health and well being, while insisting on the principal of human dignity and the respect for right to the life of each human being "from conception until death" (further down the document reaffirms the regret from abortion).
The European identity of the 21st Century. The document asserts that the European building process does not aim to destroy the nation-states, but to establish what they have lost - the true ability to fulfil their core responsibilities and that, to clarify the relations between the European Union, the Member States and its citizens, the EU needs a Constitution. A Union of 30 members should limit its core tasks, underlines the document, which adds that Europe will not be a federation in the conventional meaning, but as new form of federal system for which the Economic and Monetary Union is the precursor. European Federalism, asserts the document, is a federalism based on competition and solidarity, and its aims - well-being, equality, justice - will not be mainly the result of transfers or a harmonisation as with classic federal States, but a healthy and loyal competition between Member States. Furthermore, the document asserts that clearly defined borders remain crucial for the EU, which must establish different types of relations with third countries and that in certain cases relations based upon the specific needs and interest of these countries seem more appropriate than accession to the EU.
A Europe open to the world. The document insists on the strengthening the UN, the EU's development policy (and on a conditional cancellation of the Third World's debt), the role of the EU in the management of crisis (including in civil matters), the enlargement of the EU towards the East (by indicating that a future enlargement of NATO must be coordinated with that of the EU) and the anchoring of Russia to Europe.
Europe must make its own joint evaluation of global security, states the document, which insists, moreover, on relations between Europe and Islam. It stresses that the Islamic world, "from Morocco to Iran is Europe's nearest and most important neighbour".
6. New approaches and firm values. In this final chapter, the document mainly insists on the role of the civil society, equality between men and women, and solidarity, including with coming generations.
CDU/CSU makes clear the EU must define its geographic size
The Congress will, moreover, vote on several resolutions, and especially on one from the CDU/CSU which affirms that the EU should first of all clarify what it is and what it hopes to become in order to then determine its structure. European integration cannot be decided in negotiations in camera, says the main German opposition party, which believes it is vital for the EU, in order to understand what it really is, to define its geographic size. Not having borders is tantamount to not having an identity, notes the draft resolution, which adds that geographic expansion should not overburden Europe's integration capacity.
The draft resolution also takes a stance in favour of a constitutional treaty which should include a breakdown of powers, the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the institutions and the procedures of the EU, as well as the Union's finances, which should be reformed in conformity with principles of transparency, efficiency and an equitable sharing of the burden. According to the CDU/CSU, the work of drafting this treaty should begin at once, and involve the candidate countries.