Brussels, 24/06/2003 (Agence Europe) - The Parliamentary group EPP-ED will celebrate its 50th anniversary on 1 July. The group will meet on this date (from 6-8pm) in the Council of Europe auditorium, with addresses by the group's German president, Hans-Gert Pöttering (CDU), Pier Ferdinando Casini, President of the Italian House of Deputies, Slovakian Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda, European Commissioner Loyola de Palacio, French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, and the Chairman of the European People's Party, Wilfried Martens.
The leading Christian Democrat group was founded on 23 June 1953, within the Common Assembly of the ECSC. A book re-tracing the group's 50-year history "at the service of the united Europe" will be presented at this anniversary ceremony.