Brussels, 25/03/2004 (Agence Europe) - After the traditional "pre-European summit" meeting of Prime Ministers and Liberal leaders - attended in particular by the Heads of Government of Belgium (Guy Verhofstadt), Denmark (Anders Fogh-Rasmussen), Finland (Matti Vanhanen), Bulgaria (Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha), Slovenia (Anton Rop) and Turkey (Recep Tayyip Erdogan), as well as the Presidents of the Commission and the European Parliament, Romano Prodi and Pat Cox - Mr Verhofstadt presented to the press the main demands being made by the family of Liberals at the European Council which opened on Thursday evening:
European Constitution. Mr Verhofstadt said there is now "sufficient opening to seek to conclude the IGC as soon as possible, if possible before the European elections". "We have noted the opening given by the Foreign Minister of Poland who now agrees to double majority. The moment has now come to conclude the IGC", he continued. Liberal leaders consider it is important for the IGC to find a solution "in transparency and in a democratic spirit", a solution that can make the EU more effective. In the current context, Liberals also request that, in the future Constitution, justice and home affairs should become a "key competence" of the enlarged EU, Mr Verhofstadt explained.
Fight against terrorism. Absolute priority must be given to practical implementation of the action plan decided after the attacks of September 2001 in the United States. These measures must be "fully implemented", Mr Verhofstadt insisted. In order to better monitor implementation, the Liberals support the idea of creating a "scoreboard" specifying at every moment what measures have still to be applied and in which Member States. The European Summit is also expected to discuss the root causes of terrorism.
Lisbon Strategy. "We need a new method" for attaining the goal fixed for 2010, Mr Verhofstadt insisted - a "method that is not simply limited to benchmarking and to peer reviews", but which is based on true economic governance.
Situation in the Middle East. We trust that the Summit will be able to hold a "full debate" on the Middle East and on the role that the EU will be able to play in order to find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Cyprus. On this issue, which was mainly discussed with Prime Minister Erdogan, the Liberals trust that a solution may be found before 1 May. "Every party involved - and we have had one of these parties with us today - must have an open and constructive attitude", Mr Verhofstadt insisted.
Asked about the possible Liberal candidacy for the post of the new president of the European Commission, neither Mr Verhofstadt nor Mr Rasmussen (to possible candidates) had time to answer, with Romano Prodi judging it opportune to cut the debate short, "This question will not be discussed today", he said.
Asked by a journalist whether he was now part of the Liberal family, Mr Erdogan the Turkish prime minister answered that they had been invited there today and they still had time (his foreign affairs minister Abdullah Gül had taken part in the EPP Congress in February in Brussels, Editor's note).