Brussels, 09/07/2004 (Agence Europe) - The Conference of the Presidents of the political groups of the EP will meet on Thursday 15 July at the Binnenhof, the seat of the Chamber of Representatives of the Netherlands, in The Hague. After a working lunch with the President designate of the Commission José Manuel Durao Barroso, the MEPs will meet the Dutch Presidency, especially Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, Foreign Minister Ben Bot and the Minister for European Affairs, Atzo Nicolaï. On the agenda will be: the procedure to appoint the new Commission and the conclusions of the European Council of 17 and 18 June.
It is also worth noting that following his appointment to the post of President of the European Commission, Mr Barroso will be met and heard by the various political groups of the EP on 13 and 14 July. On Tuesday he will be the guest of the PES, Greens/EFA, GUE/NGL and UEN groups. On Wednesday, he will be received by the EPP-ED groups, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), the "Independence and Democracy" (ID) group, which is made up of members of the former EDD group, and MEPs from the League of Polish Families and Sweden's June List.