18/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - During a meeting in Lisbon with Portuguese Prime Minister José Socrates (he will be presiding the European Council during the second half of 2007), President of the EPP-ED group at the European Parliament, Joseph Daul, and the vice presidents from the group, presented their priorities for the coming months: the new EU treaty, the fight against terrorism and organised crime, and continued economic reform. In the context of the treaty, the EPP-ED wants negotiations at the Intergovernmental Conference to be swift, non-confidential and open to the European Parliament and national parliaments. The group is calling for better coordination and efficiency in the fight against terrorism and organised crime. Daul declared: “The Anti-terrorism coordinator, Mr de Vries, resigned months ago without Europe having found a successor to him or, above all, having provided itself with the resources to carry out its work. This cannot go on”. The group is hoping that the spirit of the Lisbon strategy inspires the Portuguese presidency. In the area of external relations, the EPP-ED also put forward priorities: relaunch of dialogue with Washington and progress towards a transatlantic market, the Kosovo question, relations with Moscow and renewed relations with the Mediterranean. (hb)