06/09/2005 (Agence Europe) - At a press conference in Strasbourg on Tuesday, the president of the ALDE group, Graham Watson, welcomed the fact that an informal summit is to be held in London on 27 and 28 October on the future of Europe and the European social model: it will provide an opportunity to hold the kind of debate we particularly need after the French and Dutch "no" to the European Constitution, because this vote shows that people are not convinced that the EU is reacting adequately to the challenges of globalisation, said the British Liberal Democrat. The preparations for the summit will be a priority, the leader of the Socialist group, Martin Schulz, said during his press conference, calling for Europe not to threaten national "social structures", but to help to protect them, and for the debate on the future of Europe to be held in public, rather than behind closed doors.