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 most significant political group (178 members) in the European Parliament.

Among the presidents and prime ministers, we mention:

• The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis
• The Prime Minister of Finland, Petteri Orpo
• The Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Luc Frieden
• The President of Cyprus, Nikos CHRISTODOULIDES
• Chancellor of Austria, Karl Nehammer
• The Prime Minister of Ireland, Leo Varadkar
• The Prime Minister of Croatia, Andrej Plenkovic
• The Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk
• The Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis
• The Prime Minister of Lithuania, Ingrida Simonyte

Approximately 2000 participants from 44 countries have been invited to take part.

The forthcoming 2024 EPP Congress in Bucharest, jointly hosted by the Romanian party PNL, will center on the election of our lead candidate and the unveiling of our electoral manifesto for the European Parliament elections scheduled for June 6-9, 2024. The Congress represents a moment of unity, reflection, and inspiration, allowing us to celebrate achievements and address challenges such as Russia’s war in Ukraine, the increasing cost of living, and the threats posed by populism and extremism. As the EPP stays true to its values, we emphasize empowering the people of Europe, preserving our deep-rooted values, and protecting the Union against internal and external threats.

EPP official communication

EPP CONGRESS IN BUCHAREST PROGRAMME

WEDNESDAY, 6 MARCH 2024

08:00-09:30
EPP Ethics Committee

08:30-12:30
EPP Group Study Days 1st session (including a session with EPP Group CoR)

10:00-12:00
Resolution Committee

14:00
Congress: 1st Plenary Session
Welcome speeches

14:30
Debate focusing on the voice of villages, cities and regions

15:15
Debates and exchanges with Presidents of the Parliamentary Assemblies Council of Europe, NATO, OSCE, Chairpersons of Groups, EPP Associations, WMCES President
• Discussion on defence and security
• Discussion on intergenerational solidarity
• Discussion on the economy and jobs

16:15
Interventions by non-EU Heads of State and Government, non-EU Opposition and Party Leaders

17:15
Presentation and vote on ordinary and emergency Resolutions and Statutory changes

18:15
EPP Electoral Manifesto: Presentation and Vote

19:15
Closing Remarks

EPP reception and family dinner co-hosted by PNL

THURSDAY, 7 MARCH 2024

8:00-09:00
Women Empowering Perspectives for Peace

8:00-09:00
EPP-CoR Group Local Dialogue on Enlargement

8:00-09:00
EPP Group Study Days 2nd session

9:00
Congress: 2nd Plenary Session
Interventions by EU Opposition and Party Leaders

9:45
Address by EPP President

10:00
Speech(es) by nominee(s) for EPP Lead Candidate

10:15–11:45
Election of the EPP Lead Candidate for President of the European Commission (Secret Ballot)

10:15- 11:45
Interventions by Deputy Prime Ministers and EU Heads of State and Government

11:45-12:10
Address by EU institutions Presidents and President of Romania

12:15-12:30
Announcement of the result of the election of the EPP Lead Candidate
Acceptance Speech of the EPP Lead Candidate
Closing of the Congress

For more details on the Congress, please visit the dedicated website https://www.epp2024.eu/.

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The European Council released a report involving press freedom in Romania. It was released on the same day that a local press investigation revealed that specific political parties in Romania had created a system for self-promotion on television news, with public funds flowing to the trusts’ accounts via media agencies. Because of the secrecy surrounding these million-euro contracts, the European Council commission claims that “the use of public funds by political parties to finance the media and influence their content based on secret contracts represents the greatest concern,” potentially compromising editorial independence.

According to the European Council, financing the media in Romania by the political parties compromises both the freedom of the press and the democratic process. As a result, the Council calls for the implementation of legislation requiring the disclosure of covert agreements between political parties and the media, upon which public funding for the media is based. This is a common sense request, as the parties use tax-payers money for sponsoring the media institutions.

According to the Council, Romania has achieved significant strides in the legal system and the fight against corruption, even though Romania still has a flawed democracy. However, the institution expresses its worry about Romania’s justice laws, as well, saying in the report that the justice laws, which should be discussed at this time in the Romanian Parliament, do not adhere to the view of the Venice Commission and GRECO in the Monitoring Report of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (Group of States Against Corruption). To make new revisions to the justice legislation, the Council requests that the Romanian legislature consider the European institutions’ advice in this regard.

There is no doubt about the power of media in influencing Romanian public opinion and how political parties most often handle this power. A thing and a habit have been known for years without anyone taking measures in this regard. It is unknown if it will change with all the warnings of the European Council because Romania is a former communist country where some communist habits, such as bribing others to make them silent or to behave accordingly, are still unscathed after 30 years of early democracy.

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The strategy of the European Commission is clear: the Schengen area has to be enlarged for the member countries to reinforce mutual trust between them, but also for the free travel of the citizens and goods from all the EU countries.

So far, Romania and Bulgaria are the countries that accomplish the conditions for entering Schengen. Not from now, not from yesterday, but 2011 and 2010 respectively. Based on this, the European Parliament has called for the European Commission to speed up the acceptance of the two in the space of free travel. Yet, countries such as France or the Netherlands blocked the accession of Romania and Bulgaria. Why?

Apparently, the reason behind the decision of blocking the accession of Romania and Bulgaria is the level of corruption in the two EU member states, which could interfere with their capacity to defend their borders, thus the European borders as well.

Now it is not the European Parliament, but the very European Commission itself which asked the European Council to get the agreement from all member states for the three countries to be accepted in the free-travel space. As the agreement from all the EU member states is required, if one single country slams the proposal, the space remains closed for the candidates.

The post European Commission: “Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia Should Join Schengen Area” appeared first on Valahia.News.

Recently, Romanian mass-media announced, in breaking news, that the European Parliament voted for a resolution which requests the immediate accession of Romania and Bulgaria into the Schengen space. The news is not new, though, as year after year the European Parliament votes for the admission of the two countries into the European borderless space. The fact is that the European Parliament does not have the decisive position for approving the admission of any country to the Schengen space, but the European Council does.

Romania fails the European Council’s exam. The conspiracy theory on this subject says Romania is strongly refused by the Netherlands because the Western country wouldn’t want Constanta, the main Romanian Black Sea harbor, to be part of the Schengen area, as it would be a competitor for Rotterdam. On top of that, there are voices who claim that the Dutch asked for being granted the management of Constanta harbor by the Romanian authorities, but the latter refused.

This conspiracy theory is also analysed by other English speaking publication focused on the Eastern European economics and politics. Balkan Insight published an interesting fact-checking article on this subject, their conclusion being that there is no direct connection between the ‘jealousy’ of the Dutch and their refusal to admit Romania into Schengen area.

Still, even if Romanians gladly received the news of the vote from the European Parliament, the country would undoubtedly fail once more the test of the European Council. There would be no explanation for that and the conspiracy theory will last for another year.

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