EPP Congress in Bucharest: 2,000 delegates from 40 countries decide the EP election strategy

The Congress of the European People’s Party kicks off on Wednesday, at Romexpo, in the presence of over 2,000 delegates from over 40 countries. Most of the participants have already arrived in Romania. The European People Party is drafting the strategy for the elections for the European Parliament, establishing the manifesto of the European People’s Party and designating the main candidate for the head of the European Commission. The presidents of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, are also attending.

In the Political Assembly of the European People’s Party on Tuesday, in Bucharest, the registration of Ursula von der Leyen in the competition was accepted. This decision will be voted on at the PPE Congress, on Thursday, starting at 10.00.

In February, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced that she will run for another term in this position, a candidacy confirmed by her German political formation, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). “I am making a conscious and thoughtful decision today: I want to run for a new mandate as president of the European Commission following the European parliamentary elections in June,” said Ursula von der Leyen at the time.

The EPP includes 84 parties and partners from 44 countries, the presidents of the European Commission (Ursula von der Leyen) and the European Parliament (Roberta Metsola), heads of state or government from 12 EU member countries, ten members of the European Commission and the largest political group (178 members) in the European Parliament.

In the sidelines of the Congress, hosted by the Romanian National Liberal Party (PNL), President Klaus Iohannis and Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu scheduled several meetings with the leaders present in Bucharest on Wednesday.

Wednesday’s program Wednesday’s official program includes the meeting of the EPP Group in the European Parliament, but also the first plenary session of the EPP Congress.

The president of PNL, Nicolae Ciucă, will meet with the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, at the Senate, but also with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, at Romexpo.

At 1:30 p.m., there will be a joint press conference of the PNL president, Nicolae Ciucă, and the EPP president, Manfred Weber, at the opening of the Congress.

President Klaus Iohannis has, on Wednesday, one of the busiest agendas from the last period. From 10:00 a.m. to 6:45 p.m., every hour, he has meetings with political leaders present in Bucharest, including the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen and the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, but also with the prime ministers of Luxembourg, Lithuania, Ireland, Croatia and Serbia.

Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu meets with the Prime Minister of Ireland and the President of the European Parliament.

OVP, veto

The Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer will be among the guests, and the PNL leaders say that the full accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen area, “as quickly as possible”, will be requested in the EPP electoral manifesto.

Yet, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s party, ÖVP, will not agree to the EPP manifesto, as it also contains “red lines”, such as nuclear energy or Schengen expansion, the Austrian publication Kurier reports.

ÖVP does not agree with the full accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen Area. “The Schengen system is broken. We need to fix the system and not cover it up,” the general secretary of the People’s Party, Christian Stocker, said.