Fiuggi, 19/09/2008 (Agence Europe) - Some 300 members of the EPP-ED group are meeting in Fiuggi, Italy, at the European Ideas Network (EIN) summer school. The meeting started on Thursday 18 September 2008 with discussion on the role of values in an uncertain world.
The president of the EPP-ED group at the European Parliament, Joseph Daul, said he was certain of the need for a complex-free affirmation of the group's ideals and the establishment of ambitious reforms. He discussed what he described as the four pillars of European values, namely historical values, legal values, spiritual values and the philosophical heritage of the age of the enlightenment. He asked how these values were of use in the middle of the world financial crisis, urging participants at the Fiuggi summer school to come up with answers.
Spaniard Jaime Mayor Oreja, EIN president and EPP-ED vice-president, referred to the Dutch, French and Irish no votes, claiming that the Europe that Europeans needed was not today's EU, hence the need for political efforts by European leaders. He said the best candidates had to be picked for the European elections.
'We need more Europe.' Referring to the summer school's theme, the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, made a rather worrying comment about modern Europe. He said the theme for the summer school was particularly apt because there are many uncertainties of a political, economic and institutional nature. He said the coming months would be tough (referring to the economic crisis) and economic activity would be significantly reined in. Other uncertainties he quoted included the highly critical situation in the Caucasus, an uncertain outcome in Iran, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the elections in the United States.
Barroso also warned of the risk of a return of protectionism following the collapse of the Doha trade round talks and slammed chauvinistic, even xenophobic behaviour. On the economic crisis, he said the EU would come through the crisis better than crises in the past, welcoming the excellent work by the European Central Bank. Europe can help the economy, he said, adding that to take up these challenges, cooperation among the Member States was essential. He said more Europe was needed, rather than less.
The President of the Commission also discussed the EU's energy and climate package, stressing the importance of the European Parliament approving the package rather than pulling it apart.
US President to address EP. The President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, defended the idea of new relations with the United States. Several months ahead of the American elections, he said he had invited the two presidential candidates to address the European Parliament and the new President of the US might address the April 2009 plenary ahead of the NATO Summit in Strasbourg-Kehl.
He also mentioned the crisis in Georgia saying that one of the lessons to be learned was that energy supplies had to be diversified and calling for the Nabucco pipeline to be built to bypass Russia to the south in order to supply the EU with natural gas. (L.B.S.)