Warsaw, 29/04/2009 (Agence Europe) - In Warsaw on Wednesday 29 April, the European People's Party (PPP) opened its Congress, which will this Thursday adopt the "manifesto" of the party for the June European elections. The heads of government or deputy prime ministers of the 19 member states of the EU in which the Christian Democrat family is currently in power will be present in the Polish capital. The list of other guests includes the prime ministers of Croatia (Ivo Sanader), Macedonia (Nikola Gruevski) and Ukraine (Ioulia Timochenko) and the presidents of Albania (Sali Berisha) and George (Mikhaïl Saakachvili).
The study days of the EPP-ED Group of the European Parliament which preceded the Congress, on Tuesday and Wednesday (28-29 April), have already allowed the leaders of the party to address a number of barbed comments towards the European Socialists of the PES party, starting with the economic and financial crisis, which according to Joseph Daul, will be the principal theme of the campaign. "Our political family is clearly in the best position to give credible and responsible answers to our citizens", said Mr Daul at the start of the debates. "The Socialist family claims that it wishes to change the course of Europe and has accused José Manuel Barroso (the president of the Commission and EPP candidate to remain in this post for a further term: Ed) of having led Europe into disaster. I am certain that the Europeans will not be won over with such aberrations", said Mr Daul. Unlike the left wing, "which want to nationalise everything", the EPP is pleading for a "responsible social market economy". This notion of social market economy is a concept which is always defended by the Christian Democrats and which the "Socialists have always, to an extent, pinched" to incorporate in their own electoral programme, added the president of the EPP, Wilfried Martens. To get Europe out of the current economic crisis, we need not only a good political programme but also "responsible players". José Manuel Barroso, the EPP candidate to remain at the head of the European Commission, is just such a responsible player, "confirmed by the fact that he even has the support of three heads of governments of the Socialist family" (Gordon Brown, Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, José Socrates). "The Socialists' criticisms of Barroso are therefore artificial and empty", Mr Martens concluded. Jacek Saryusz-Wolski added that the EPP has a "better recipe than the Socialists to get out of the crisis". Hans-Gert Pöttering, former head of the EPP-ED Group and current President of the European Parliament called on his party to be "proud" of what it has achieved over this latest legislative period. More surprising was that in the Polish capital, Mr Pöttering openly criticised Polish President Lech Kaczynski for not yet having signed the Lisbon Treaty, which has already been approved by the Polish parliament. (H.B./transl.fl)