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Wel com e to th e EPP

EPP in the European Council | EPP Summits

EPP Heads of State and Government

EPP in the European Commission

EPP Presidency an d Political Bureau

EPP Working Groups, Conferences

EPP Foreign Affair s

EPP ELectora l campaigns

dialogue tv

EPP Communication Str ategy

EPP statute and party funding

EPP Internship and EPP Headquarters

EPP Associations

Centre For European Studies

EPP Foundations and Instit utes

EPP highlights 2008

Who is Who - Pr es idency a nd Secr et a ri at

EPP Member Parties and Observers

Map of Europe

EPP Team december'08

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Welcome to the EPP

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Welcome to the European People's Party, the largest European-level party.

With 71 member-parties rom 39 countries, 18 heads o government (twelve EU and sixnon-EU), nine European Commissioners, including the President, and the largest Groupin the European Parliament with 288 members, including the President, the EPP is theleading political orce in Europe.

The EPP is the political amily o the centre-right, whose roots run deep inthe history and civi lisation o the European continent and has pioneered the Europeanproject rom its inception. The EPP is committed to a ederal Europe, based on theprinciple o subsidiarity a democratic, transparent and e icient Europe. Our vision isone o mutual respect, o inclusion o all ree citizens, encompassing all European coun-tries and regions, no matter how diverse a Europe or all. The EPP wants a Europe thatupholds a prosperous and peace ul uture or all its citizens.

2008 was an important year or Europe. During the course o the year, theEPP led the three main EU institutions the Council - in the irst hal o the year withthe Slovenian Presidency headed by Prime MinisterJanez Jana and in the second hal with the French Presidency headed by PresidentNicolas Sarkozy - the Commissionwith Jos Manuel Barroso , and the Parliament withHans-Gert Poettering . Despitethe negative vote in the Irish re erendum on the Lisbon Treaty, the con lict between Ge-orgia and Russia, and the global inancial crisis, the roles o Prime Minister Janez Janaand President Nicolas Sarkozy and the support o the EPP were vital: Europe managedto produce convincing responses to all these challenges and to provide leadership.

2008 was also marked by a number o important political successes by ourmember-parties: the victory o Silvio Berlusconi and his Forza Italia-led coalition, thevictory o Homeland Union Lithuanian Christian Democrats in Lithuania led byAndriusKubiliusand the election victory o the Democratic Liberal Party led byEmil Boc. PrimeMinisters Kubilius and Boc are already actively engaged in our policy-making process atthe EPP Summit o heads o state and government, in addition to the long experienceo Prime Minister Berlusconi. Moreover, the EPP newly-established think-tank, Centre

or European Studies, made a strong showing with the success ul launch o its start-upactivities.

Following the recent revision o the EU Regulation that governs Europeanpolitical parties, the EPP has now been given the exclusive mandate to organize thehorizontal campaign or the 2009 European elections. Thus, the EPP will be preparing inclose cooperation with its member-parties the campaign strategy, internet-based com-

munication e orts, and the election Mani esto that will respond to a number o impor-tant policy challenges such as the economic crisis, security, climate change, demogra-phic challenge, oreign policy, a.o. The EPP will ormally launch its election campaign ata special Congress in Warsaw, Poland on the 29th and 30 th o April, 2009.

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EPP in the European Council | EPP Summits

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At the Summits, the EPP Heads o State and Government, party leaders in coaliti-on governments and in opposition, the EPP Pre-sidency and the EPP Presidents o the Council,the Commission and the Parliament, meet prior

to the European Council Summits. These impor-tant sessions o er EPP leaders in an in ormaland con idential setting the opportunity to airtheir di erences and to seek consensus withinthe EPP amily in an e ort to develop commonpositions at the European Council.

In 2008, ive summit meetings were held while the EPP occupied thehelm o the European Union with its trias politica:Janez Jana and NicolasSarkozy, respective Presidents o the European Council in the irst and secondhal o the year,Jos Manuel Barroso , President o the Commission andHans-Gert Poettering , President o the European Parliament.

The discussions ocused on the global economic crisis, the sa egu-arding o our energy supply, the challenge o climate change and the rati ica-tion o the Lisbon Re orm Treaty. Our leaders also gathered at an extraordinarySummit in Dublin in support o Fine Gails campaign or the rati ication o theLisbon Treaty in the Irish re erendum.

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EPP Summit Highlights

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Statutory Summit,Brussels, 15 October 2008

While Manuela Ferreira Leite (Portugal) and Jose Prll

(Austria) were welcomed as newly elected chairs o their parties,Andri-us Kubilius, Chairman o TS-LK and Prime Minister-in-waiting in Lithua-nia was congratulated on his success in the parliamentary elections.

Nicolas Sarkozys, President o the European Council, per-sonal leadership, conviction and willpower in di using the con lict inGeorgia and the handling o the global inancial crisis were consideredproo o the need or the Lisbon Treaty and the oreseen establishmento a permanent President.

Jyrki Katainen , Deputy prime Minister o Finland reportedon the developments o the inancial crisis. A worse scenario had beenprevented thanks to the Euro and the coordination mechanisms withthe Council Presidency andJean-Claude Juncker , President o theEuro-Group in coordination with the ECB and the EIB. A ramework-re-gulation was necessary to correct the proven lawed banking situation.A statement was released to the press in ull support or the European-wide concerted plan to counter the inancial crisis in Europe.

Yulia Tymoshenko , Prime Minister o Ukraine andWil riedMartens , the President o the EPP made a joint statement to the presson Ukraines European vocation and appealed or the strengthening o the orange coalition in the country.

Statutory Summit,

Brussels, 11 December 2008

Angela Merkel (CDU),Horst Seeho er (CSU-Germany) andMariano Rajoy (PP-Spain) were congratulated or their re-election andelection as Chairmen o their parties, and President o RomaniaTraianBsescu on the PD-L winning the elections and leading the next grand-coaltion government.

The Prime Minister o France,Franois Fillon reported on theachievements o the French Presidency o the European Council, whilethe Czech Prime Minister,Mirek Topolnek , on the priorities or 3 Eso the upcoming Czech Presidency. With respect to the economic crisisCommission PresidentJos Manuel Barroso appealed or the unity,which citizens expect and need and German Chancellor Angela Merkelproposed a new EU economic order on the basis o the social marketeconomy model, which would be an example or the world. The coope-ration within the EU and the EuroGroup was proven vital and strengthe-ned con dence in the European economic system.

Statutory Summit,Brussels, 13 March 2008

Congratulations went to the representatives rom Es-

tonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, Slova-kia, Czech Republic on joining the EUs Schengen zone; Malta andCyprus on joining the Eurozone; the European Parliament on its50th anniversary;

Amongst the policies reported on byJanez Jana , Pre-sident o the European Council andJos Manuel Barroso , Pre-sident o the European Commission support was expressed or

urther impetus or the Lisbon Strategy or growth and jobs andthe strengthening o the inancial stability ramework. A ter Com-missionerStavros Dimas report on the Bali Con erence or GlobalLeadership on Climate Change the need or sustainable and securesupplies o energy and or an e ective internal energy market wasexpressed. The issue o Kosovo and Serbia was also reviewed.

Leaders' Meeting,Dublin, 14 April 2008

On the invitation o Enda Kenny, leader o Fine Gail, EPPleaders met in solidarity to support the campaign or the rati ica-tion o the Lisbon Treaty in the Irish re erendum on 12 June 2008.

Statutory Summit,

Brussels, 19 June 2008

Congratulations went toSilvio Berlusconi, Prime Mini-ster o Italy, toYves Leterme , Prime Minister o Belgium, toNikolaGruevski, Prime Minister o FYROM, and toMikheil Saa'kashvili,President o Georgia or their respective victories and government

ormations, and toTraian Bsescu , President o Romania or hispartys positive results in local elections.Jyrki Katainen , DeputyPrime Minister o Finland reported on the oil and ood crisis.

The leaders decided to examine the reasons or the Novote in the Irish re erendum on the Lisbon Treaty and supportedthe continuation o the rati ication process.Donald Tusk , PrimeMinister o Poland invited the EPP to hold its Congress in preparati-on o the European elections in Warsaw on 29 and 30 April 2009.

A statement was released in support o the continuationo accession negotiations with Croatia.

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The EPP continues to sustainits position as the strongest political

orce in Europe. With 12 Governments o EU Member States and 6 o non-EU coun-tries, our EPP member-parties have thewidespread trust o European societies.

Worth o particular mentionwere the EPP election victories in Italy,Lithuania and Georgia. On 14 April 2008,Silvio Berlusconi was elected Prime Mi-nister o Italy in a landslide victory, whichtook his centre-right coalition back intoo ice or the third time. In Lithuania, theTS-LKD won the October 2008 parlia-mentary elections and ormed a centre-right government under the leadershipo Andrius Kubilius. A month later, thePD-L o Romania won the parliamentaryelections and its leader,Emil Boc, beca-me Prime Minister. In Georgia,MikheilSaa'kashvili was victorious both in theJanuary presidential elections which re-

con irmed him as President o Georgia,and in the May parliamentary elections.

The EU Presidents and Prime Ministers o the EPP played a key role in the decisionstaken at EU level in 2008, especially as aras the adoption o the EU Re orm Treatyand the resolution o the global inancialcrisis are concerned.

EPP Heads of state and government

Jan Peter BALKENENDE,Netherlands, CDA

Traian BSESCU,Romania, PD

Lawrence GONZI,Malta, PN

Jean-Claude JUNCKER,Luxembourg, CSV

Kostas KARAMANLIS,Greece, ND

Fredrik REINFELDT,Sweden, MOD

Nicolas SARKOZY,France, UMP

Donald TUSK,Poland, PO

Mikheil SAA'KASHVILI,

Georgia, UNM

Nikola GRUEVSKI,

F.Y.R.O.M., VMRO-DPMNE

Recep Tayyip ERDOAN,

Turkey, AKP

Ivo SANADER,

Croatia, HDZ

Andrius Kubilius,Lithuania, TS-LK

Victor YUSHCHENKO,

Ukraine, NSNU

Silvio BERLUSCONI,Italy, Forza Italia

Angela MERKEL,Germany, CDU

Sali BERISHA,

Albania, DP

non EU Members

EU Members

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Herman VAN ROMPUY,Belgium, CD&V

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EPP in the OSCE-PA

During the winter session o the OSCE-PA in Vienna on 21 Fe-bruary 2008Walburga Habsburg Douglas (MOD, Sweden) was electednew Chairman o the EPP and likeminded Group succeedingPanosKammenos (ND, Greece). SenatorConsiglio di Nino (CP, Canada),Mi-chel Voisin (UMP, France) andRoberto Migliori (FI, Italy) were electedVice-Presidents. At the same time it was decided to create an enlargedpresidency, where all the Bureau members o the OSCE-PA, who belongto the EPP Group are ex o cio members. The main topics o discussionduring the Group meetings were the situation in Georgia, democracy-building, as well as the topic o "Transparency in the OSCE-area".

During the summer meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan (29 June -3 July)Gran Lennmarker s (MOD-Sweden) term ended, subsequentlybecoming "President Emeritus" with a seat in the Bureau. The EPP Groupsucceeded in getting a great majority o the O cers in the Three Com-

EPP-ED GRoup in the european parliamentEPP in the osce-pa

mittees, and a majority o the Vice-Presi-dents o the Assembly.

The Fall-meeting in Toronto,Canada (18-21 September) mainly dealtwith Georgia our Group members werevery active in the debate, especially tho-se rom Georgia (UNM).Walburga Habs-burg Douglas also led the panel discus-sion on human rights. During the Groupmeeting it was decided to hold regular

meetings during international events inorder to strengthen the coherence o theGroup, and at the same time adopted itsinternal rules to improve its e iciency.

Antonio Lpez-Istriz EPP Secretary General

Joseph Daul EPP-ED Group Chairman

Wilfried Martens EPP President

Martin Kamp EPP-ED Group Secretary General

Walburga Habsburg Douglas

page 6

The EPP-ED Group is the largest political group in the Eu-ropean Parliament with its 288 Members rom all 27 Member States.Joseph Daul , (UMP, France) chairs the Group since January 2007.

Major successes o the Group include the energy and climatepackage, which places the EU in the global ore ront in the ight againstclimate change. Says ChairmanDaul: "With the adoption o the energy-climate package, the European Parliament has taken an historic step inthe ight against the climate changes which threaten to make li e unbe-arable on our planet. The EPP-ED Group has worked tirelessly to ensurethe success o this political project, o major importance or generationsto come. Without the centre-right, this result would not have been pos-sible. We have listened to all the political and economic actors, in order

to acilitate and put in place conditions or a compromise, without everlosing sight o the need to reassure the public on their uture. Thanksto the vote in the European Parliament, Europe is putting itsel on the

rontline in the ight to save the environment, and will assume its role asa world leader in this ield."

The response o the EPP-ED Group to economic crisis has been reso-lute: EU must act to restore stability, growth and employment. While acknow-ledging the merits o the extensive overhaul o the European nancial serviceslegislation in the past years, the Group has been unequivocal in its demands tothe Commission on enhancing nancial supervision and global cooperation.

Group successes in the legislative work include the healthcheck o the Common agricultural policy, liberalisation o the energysector in bene t o consumers and large overhaul o existing EU rules ontelecommunications. Better regulation goals have been ollowed - withthe aim to reduce administrative costs o companies and make Europemore competitive in the global arena. The added value o European co-operation is clearly visible in the European digital library project, champi-oned by the EPP-ED Group, which aims to setting up a digital library in theEuropean Union that would enable researchers, students, teachers, andpeople with physical disabilities to access in ormation without rontiers.This project o real European identity would also show the cultural andlinguistic diversity o the EU.

The EPP-ED Group Study Days took place in Paris, France in2-4 July 2008, concentrating on themes related to security: ranging romour response to terrorism through common security and de ence policyto energy supply and ood sa ety. Moreover, the Group has organisedparliamentary hearings on topics such as Russia, globalisation, enlarge-ment, transatlantic relations and demographic change.

To communicate more e ectively with the citizens, the Grouplaunched its Web TV which highlights the Group's key events in severalweekly programmes: www.epp-ed.tv.

For more in ormation on the EPP-ED Group, please visit:www.epp-ed.eu

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EPP in the Commit tee of the R egions

As the largest political Group and the only one to haverepresentatives rom each o the 27 Member States, the EPP is thedriving orce in strengthening the role and in luence o local andregional authorities in EU decision-making. This year,Luc Van denBrande (CD&V, Belgium) was elected President o the CoR and inclose cooperation with the Group President,Isidoro Gottardo (FI,Italy), the EPP has led the CoR's poli tical agenda.

During 2008, the EPP Group held ive meetings in Brus-sels and welcomed a number o external speakers - including Eu-ropean CommissionerViviane Reding , Chie Executive o the Eu-ropean Policy CentreHans Martens , and Lonce Bekemans , JeanMonnet Chair at the Padova University, Italy - to debate key topicso regional policy. In addition to this, the Group held met outside o Brussels or extraordinary meetings in Valencia, on the invitation o Francisco Camps Ortiz, and Katerini, on the invitation o GeorgiosPapastergiou . The irst o these meetings was dedicated to climate

change and addressed the concerns o local and regional authoritieswith respect to energy and water resources. During the conclusions,the EPP Group issued a declaration in support o the Covenant o Ma-yors and stressed the need or ur ther involvement o local and regionalauthorities in the ight against climate change. The issue o Europe's li-mited gas and oil supplies was also the topic or a Group seminar duringthe Open Days: Week o Cities and Regions, which attracted more than200 participants and was eatured on the EPP's Dialogue TV. In Octo-ber, the extraordinary seminar in Katerini ocussed on the importanceo cultural and natural heritage or sustainable regional developmentwith participation romDolores Cristina , Minister o Education andCulture or Malta, and MEPGeorgios Papastamkos .

The EPP continued with its expanded communication strate-

gy throughout 2008 by holding the third edition o the annual "Sum-mer University or regional and local journalists" in June. More than50 journalists rom across the EU discussed the role o the media in amulticultural and religious Europe, during the European year dedicatedto this theme. Key note speakers i ncluded European CommissionerJnFigel' and EPP PresidentWil ried Martens. The Group has also orga-nized a photography competition, Europe@Home, to give young peo-ple the chance to show how they see the impact o the European Unionat home, in their regions and cities. Moreover, a group o thirty MastersStudents rom twenty-two countries were invited to Brussels to directlycontribute to the CoR Plenary Session during its rst EPP/CoR Study Visit.

For more in ormation on the EPP Group in the Committee o the Regions,please visit: www.epp.cor.europa.eu

EPP in the Committee of the RegionsEPP in the Council of Europe

EPP/CD Group in the Parli am entary Assem bly of the Cou nci l of Europe

The Group o the European Peoples Party in the Parlia-mentary Assembly o the Council o Europe promotes co-operationin Europe in a democratic and social ramework, based on individual

reedom, linked to the concept o Christian responsibility and accor-ding to the principles and the values o the EPP. The EPP/CD Group ischaired byLuc Van den Brande (CD&V, Belgium) since January 2005

During the course o 2008, members o the EPP/CD Groupat the Parliamentary Assembly participated in election observationmissions covering Presidential elections in Serbia; Armenia; the Rus-sian Federation; Montenegro and Azerbaijan and legislative electionsin Monaco; Serbia; Georgia; and FYROM.

Group members joined Assembly colleagues at the Euro-pean Friends o Israel seminar in November in Paris and participatedin the European day o Tolerance marking the 3rd World HolocaustForum commemorating the seventy years since Kristallnacht, held in

Brussels in November.

As no other international organisation on the continent, theCouncil o Europe ound itsel in August 2008 in a situation o war bet-ween two o its Member States Georgia and the Russian Federation. TheAssembly has debated the matter at length and adopted a Resolutionand a Recommendation to the Committee o Ministers on the issue. EPP/CD Group President Luc Van den Brande, Assembly Rapporteur or theRussian Federation, led Assembly visits to both Georgia and the RussianFederation throughout the summer months and held high-level mee-tings. The Assembly Presidential Committee paid separate visits to theregion as did the Council o Europe Secretary General,Terry Davis, andCarl Bildt(MOD, Sweden) Foreign Minister and Chairman in O ice o theCommittee o Ministers o the Council.

For more in ormation on the EPP/CD Group in the Parliamentary Assembly o theCouncil o Europe, please visit:www.epp-cd.eu

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Luc Van den Brande

Isidoro Gottardo

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The Presidency decides on the general political guidelines and presides over the Po-litical Bureau. The Presidency is composed o the President, 10 Vice-Presidents, theSecretary General and the Treasurer. The Chairman o the EPP-ED Group in the Euro-pean Parliament is alsoex officio Vice President o the EPP

The Congress is the highest decision-making body o the Party. It is composed o delegates rom EPP member parties, associate member parties, and EPP recognisedassociations. The number o participants re lects the number o delegates or thePolitical Bureau. The EPP Congress meets once every three years. It elects the EPPPresidency and decides on the main policy documents, electoral programmes andprovides a plat orm or the EPP Heads o Government and Party Leaders.

The Political Bureau de ines the political positions o the party between Congresses,deciding on membership applications and inal political guidelines. The Political Bu-reau also decides on the budget and sa eguards the political presence o the EPPbetween the Congress meetings. The Political Bureau is composed o designated de-legates rom the EPP member parties, associated member parties, and the EPP reco-gnized associations. The number o delegates or each party is linked to the electionresult in the last European elections so that parties are weighted according to theirstrength. This allows taking decisions by majority. The Political Bureau meets threeto our times a year.

The Political Bureau de ines the mandate o the Working Groups which prepare thePartys policy documents and recommendations. All member parties and memberso the EPP-ED Group in the European Parliament have the possibility o participating

in the Working Groups.

EPP Presidency and Political Bureau

The EPP has three levels of decision-mak ing: Presidency, Political Bureau and Congress.EPP Heads of Government can give policy recommendations at the level of the EPP Summit ,whereas EPP Working groups perform preparatory political work.

The Presidency

The Congress

The Political Bureau

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16 & 17 September 2008 Brussels

The EPP paper on Tackling the DemographicChallenge Solutions or the Ageing o our Societies,a ter having been amended by EPP member parties,associations and groups, was unanimously adoptedand would be part o the EPP Elect ion Mani esto to beadopted during the EPP Congress o Warsaw in April2009.

The application or EPP observer membership o theGeorgian party UNM was unanimously approved.

President Martens was asked to make a statement onthe situation in Georgia ollowing Russias military in-tervention.

The meeting took due note o the Code o Conductgoverning the practice o campaigning or EuropeanPolitical Parties in European Parliament elections, a

set o sel -regulatory rules agreed by EPP, PES, ELDRand European Greens on 9 April 2008.

13 & 14 November 2008 Brussels

In view o the world economic crisis, the do-cument on EPP Recommendations on the E ects o the Financial Crisis in Europe was adopted by unani-mity. The proposals o the document would be inte-grated into the EPP Election Mani esto.

It was agreed that an EPP act- inding -mission to Mon-

tenegro would be organized in early 2009.The EPP unanimously adopted a resolution on Slove-nia regarding the achievements o the Slovenian Go-vernment under Prime MinisterJanez Jana and hiscoalition partners rom the EPP amily, and expressdissatis action over the recent election campaign.

The meeting took note o the candidatures or the2009 EPP Statutory Congress

Political Bureau Highlights

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6 & 7 February 2008 Ma drid

Held in Madrid upon the invitationMarianoRajoy and the Partido Popular, the EPP adopted itsposition on climate change. The unanimously adopteddocument Combatting Climate Change Our Respon-sibility or Future Generations backs the EUs worldleadership in climate change, promotes dialogue withinternational partners and emphasises the necessi-ty to improve energy e iciency in all sectors, as wellas increase R&D in clean technologies. CommissionerStavros Dimas, who participated in the discussion,welcomed the document.

The meeting accepted GERB (Bulga ria), led bythe Mayor o So ia,Boyko Borisov, as a member partyand Batkivschyna (Ukraine), led by Prime MinisterYuliaTymoshenko , as an observer member party.

The Political Bureau also unanimously ad-

opted a resolution condemning the imprisonment andsentencing o young political activists in Belarus anddemanding that all detainees are immediately relea-sed and do not ace any urther penalties.

15 & 16 May 2008 Brussels

The EPP approved a document on Tacklingthe Demographic Challen ge Solutions or the Ageingo our Societies as a dra t document. Also, the docu-ment on The Future Role o Sovereign Wealth Fundsin the European Economy was also adopted.

It was also decided that the 2009 ElectionsCongress o the EPP will take place in Warsaw, Polandand be hosted by the Civic Plat orm (PO) and PrimeMinisterDonald Tusk .

The participants expressed great satis actionon the unanimous decision o the IDU Executive Boar d(Sydney, 21 April 2008) to recognise the EPP as a Regi-onal Union o the IDU.

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world economy and the European banking sy-stem, and the main EPP Recommendations inorder to resolve the crisis as quickly as possi-ble:

1) The E ects o the Financial Market Crisison the European Banking System

2) The State o the Global Economy3) EPP Recommendations on the E ects

o the Financial Crisis in Europe

Furthermore, other important pa-pers that were adopted include The FutureRole o Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) in theEuropean Economy and The Future Role o

EU Development Aid in a globalised world.As ar as contacts with international institu-tions are concerned, the WG2 has organizeda success ul meeting with the OECD and theInternational Energy Agency (IEA) in Parisin September 2008, in cooperation with theFrench UMP party, and it has continued tobuild important links to the European Cen-tral Bank, ECOFIN and several internationalexperts o both academia and the EuropeanCommission.

Europea n Policy (WG 1)

In 2008, and under the leader ship o EPP PresidentWil riedMartens and EPP Vice PresidentPeter Hintze , the WG1 has under-taken the di icult task to provide the EPP member parties with a co-herent and comprehensive electoral Mani esto in view o the orth-coming European elections in 2009. This document will outline thekey priorities o the EPP amily in areas such as economic and socialpolicy, climate change and environment, demographic change, im-migration and ood security, and Europes role in the world. These 5

main policy concerns have in part already been discussed during theirst par t o this year inside the WG1, while the remaining par ts will beinalized within the end o this year. In addition, the member parties

will have time to review and complete the doc ument at the beginningo 2009. The inal electoral program will be o icially unveiled duringthe EPP Congress in Warsaw in April 2009.

Economic & Social Policy (WG 2)

The WG2 mainly discusses issues related to the economicand social policy in Europe, bring ing together all the delegates o theEPP member parties that deal with these issues at party level. Underthe dual chairmanship o Ria Oomen-Ruijten (MEP) andPeter Jun-gen (SME Union and European Enterprise Institute), the major topicsdebated by this Working Group ocused mainly on the developments o the global inancial crisi s and the economic slowdown in Europe. Overall,the ollowing documents were adopted by the WG2 members in 2008outlining the main causes o the inancial crisis, its main e ects on the

EPP Working Groups, Conferences

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Christian KremEPP Deputy Secretary General

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EPP Membership (WG 3)

WG3 has a mandate to promote, acilitate and incorporatenew parties who request to become either ull members, associatemembers or obser vers o the EPP amily. Once admit ted to the EPP,elected representatives o the accepted party automatically jointhe EPP-ED Group in the European Parliament, and/or all other EPPGroups in the EU and other international organizations. Followinga thorough review which is o ten preceded by a act- inding missi-on, WG3 members have the right to give a recommendation to the

EPP political Bureau which, in turn, takes the inal decision on allmembership requests.

page

EPP Vice-PresidentCorien Wortmann-Kool has suc-cess ully led this Working Group throughout 2008, ocusingon Central and Eastern Europe and the membership requestswhich were previously advanced by GERB (Bulgaria), Mother-land party (Ukraine) and the UNM party (Georgia). All threeparties were accepted into the EPP, with ull member status

or GERB (decided in February 2008) and an obser ver status orboth Batkivschyna (Ukraine) and UNM (Georgia), (decided in

February and September o this year respectively). Althoughno new act- inding missions were organized in 2008, therewas a decision to plan a act- inding mission to Montenegro inearly 2009.

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EPP Electoral Campaigns

As the most in luential politicalorce in Europe, the EPP actively supports its

member parties in their national campaigns.In 2008, our EPP leaders were present at alarge number o the most signi icant elec-tions, in which our political amily was ableto achieve many important victories. ThePresident and the Secretary General o theEPP,Wil ried Martensand Antonio Lpez-Istriz have also personally travelled to takepart in several key campaigns and conventi-ons o EPP member parties.

Thus, the EPP was represented inMadrid to support the Partido Popular in theSpanish parliamentary elections. In Italy, itcelebrated the landslide victory o Forza Ita-lia and its leader,Silvio Berlusconi. In ad-dition, EPP irmly supported the success ulelectoral campaigns o the Nationalist Party(Malta), G17plus (Serbia), United National

Movement (Georgia), VMRO-DPMNE (FY-ROM), TS-LKD (Lithuania), Kokoomus (Fin-land) as well as PD-L and RMDSZ (Romania).

Although the EPP respects theresult o the Irish re erendum on the LisbonTreaty, it is nevertheless disappointed thatit was not able to ully commit its resourcesto the YES campaign, due to current regula-tions that orbid European political parties

rom participating directly in re erenda cam-paigns. On the other hand, the EPP suppor-ted the work o the EPP Vice-President andFine Gael leader,Enda Kenny, who cam-paigned in avour o the Treaty.

The EPP is looking orward toorganize the horizontal campaign or theupcoming 2009 elections or the EuropeanParliament.

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DIALOGUE TV

DialogueTV and EPP TV on YouTube

The EPP has understood the importance o politicalcommunication through new media and online E-Cam-paigning, and in 2008 rose to ace this challenge by inve-sting time and energy in its audiovisual communication.Despite limited manpower , the EPP went on to set up its

own branded channel EPP TV on YouTube (www.youtu-be.com/epppress), which seeks to provide a behind thescenes look at the EPP. Visitors to this site can ind videoreports and indiv idual interviews rom a variet y o EPP ac-tivities including the Summits.

But it did not stop there, and in a bid to urther increase it slong-term brand awareness, the EPP has also initiated itsown web TV channel, DialogueTV (DTV) (www.epp.eu/dia-loguetv). Until now, this website has only been publicized

internally amongst its member-parties on a dry run ba-sis. However, as one o the communication tools or theEuropean Elections in 2009, the plat orm will be o iciallylaunched early next year with the aim to present to theEuropean public not only audiovisual material, but also re-levant articles, documents, related links , quotes, and pollson the EPPs ive electoral themes: Climate Change, Demo-graphic Change, A Prosperous Europe, A Sa er Europe andEurope in the World. Through a series o in-depth and ex-clusive interviews, events, debates and Vox Pops, it hopesto provide in ormation on the EPP's work and a plat orm

or experts, EU o icials, politicians, and citizens to enterinto dialogue with one another. Every time a new video isadded to one o the categories, a DialogueTV video news-letter will b e sent to an email database o over 25,000 qua-litative addresses with the option to view the latest clipimmediately. Please email us at in o@dialoguetv.eu i youwould like to receive these updates.

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i n f o @ d i a l o g u e t v . e u w w w . d

i a l o g u e t v . e u w w w . e

p p . e

u

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EPP communication strategy

In 2008, the EPP continued to work in close cooperation with not only European media, but

also journalists rom other continents in an aim to uther reach the citizens and promote ouractivities and political ideas. In particular, the EPP President and Secretary General met regu-

larly with journalists to in orm them directly about the EPP's goals and objectives.

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As transparency and decimination o in ormation are priorities or the EPP, the press ser-vice used both traditional channels - such as pressreleases, newsletters, newspaper articles and pub-lications - as well as new web-based tools such asFacebook, YouTube and DialogueTV .

(see in ormation on page 14)

Over dozens press releases were sentto journalists covering European afairs in Brusselsand other capital cities. The EPP President andSecretary General also published articles in someo the most well know newspapers, such as theFinancial Times and El Mundo, and the EPP con-tinued to advertise events and publish articles onits members' websites as well as on private onlineportals.

During the course o the year, the EPPalso went on to develop its audiovisual service,including its own branded channel on YouTube(with interviews and clips on EPP Summits andseminars). In recent months both the number o videos uploaded has increased as well as the num-ber o viewers.

The EPP website has also recently beenimproved through regular updates, and enriched

urther to make it more user- riendly, interactiveand in ormative or the citizens.

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EPP Statute and Party Funding

A new step to increase the awarenessand signi icance o European PoliticalParties

In 2008, under the impulse o EPP, theEuropean Parliament and Council appro-ved the Commissions proposal to impro-

ve and adjust the existing regulation onEuropean Political Parties allowing themto increase their role in the Europeanpublic debate and boost their awarenessand signi icance.

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Public Funding

10 European parties were recognized in2008 and received funding from the Euro-pean Parliament

European People's Party (EPP)w Party o European Socialists (PES)w European Liberal Democrat and

Re orm party (ELDR)w European Democrate Party (EDP)w European Federation o Green

Parties (EFGP)w Party o the European Le t (GUE)w Alliance or Europe o the Nations (AEN)w European Free Alliance (EFA)

w Alliance or Independent Democratsin Europe (AIDE)

w EU Democrats Alliance orDemocracy (EUD)

The 2008 European Union budget set aside10.5 million or party unding.

15% o the budget is distributed among theparties in equal shares. 85% is distributedon the basis o the number o Members o Parliament accounted or by every Europeanparty. The EPP accounted or 238 MEPs (MEPselected on a list o an EPP Member Party andIndividual Members who have signed a de-claration o EPP a iliation).

The European unds were allocated asollows (in million EURO):

EPP 3.3w PES 3.0w ELDR 1.2w EFGP 0.6w EDP 0.5

w GUE 0.5w AEN 0.5w AIDE 0.4w EUD 0.2w EFA 0.2

The European Parliament unds consti tute /o the EPP income. The rest o the income isgenerated through the membership ees. Themembership ees o the ordinary MemberParties are calculated on the basis o the poli-tical strength o the part y and the number o MEPs. The membership ee o the associateand observer member parties is calculatedon the basis o the votes obtained by theseparties during the last national elections.

The new regulation focuses on 3 key issues

European Political Parties can now participate in the European election campaign:

Provided that they do not directly or indirectly inance national political parties ortheir candidates, European parties will now be allowed to use part o their Europeansubventions to campaign. In close cooperation with the campaign managers o ourmember parties, the EPP established a task orce that will coordinate the 2009 Euro-pean election campaign and EPPs service- providing unction.

Financial Reserves:

European political parties will be allowed to build-up savings rom their own resour-ces (membership ees) and are also able to carry over part o their non-spent European

subventions to the ollowing year. Thus, the EPP is now inally given the ability orlong-term inancial planning.

Creation o Political Foundations:

European Foundations at European level have an important role to play in underpin-ning and promoting the activities and objectives o the political parties at Europeanlevel. European Foundations will contribute to the debate on European public policyissues and European integration and will there ore receive public unding. Thus, theEPP established the Centre or European Studies.

Luc Vandeputte EPP Deputy Secretary General

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Internship Programme

EPP continued its success ul Internship Programmethat was launched in 2007. This Programme is o-

cused on immersing young university graduateswith the short-term and long-term political plan-ning and activities o the Party: organizing mee-tings and con erences, preparing reports and pressreleases, editing publications, updating the websiteand databases, communicating with member-par-ties, EPP Groups, associations and other a iliatedorganizations, liaising with o icials rom the Euro-pean institutions, etc.

The 2008 interns :

w Marianne Bardsgjerde , Norway(Sep 07 March 08)

w Nesrin Aydoganoglu , Turkey(Nov 07 May 08)

w Jessica Benito Pescador , Spain(March 08 August 08)

w Santa Sermole , Latvia (Sep 08 -)

w Marta Przysiecka , Poland (Oct 08 -)

EPP INTERNSHIP | EPP HEADQUARTERS

Marta Ivan Santa

EPP Headquarters:the Brussels Meeting Point of t he EPP Fam ily

The EPP Headquarters in the rue du Commerce, at the heart o Brussels' 'EuropeanQuarter', in walking distance rom all the European Institutions, are certainly the place to be!

The new EPP Headquarters have become the true meeting point or everyone thatis linked to the big European Peoples Party amily. Our meeting rooms and attractive loungehave hosted numerous Working Groups, Con erences, Seminars, Presidency meetings, inclu-ding lunches, dinners and cocktails.

Almost daily the EPP HQ welcomes visitors rom Member Parties and high leveldelegations rom all over the globe. All o them are charmed by the modern, e icient andinviting look and eel o our o i ce building.

Apart rom the EPP Secretariat, our o ices also host most o the EPP RecognizedAssociations, the CDI, the Forum or European Studies, the Constantine Karamanlis Institute

or Democracy and the newly created EPP think-tank Centre or European Studies.

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EPP ASSOCIATIONS

European Democrat Students(EDS)

EDS is the o icial students organization o the EPP. Since it was

ounded in 1961, EDS brings together students and young political lea-ders rom all over Europe to promote a political pro-European exchange.Led by its ChairmanThomas Uhlen who was elected in July 2008, thestructure has 37 member organizations, representing nearly 500.000 stu-dents across the continent. Currently, EDS is represented in 34 countries,including non EU member states like Belarus and Georgia.

The irst EDS event o 2008 was the bureau meeting in Moldo-va, where the evaluation o the working year took place and where pl ans

or the months ahead were laid. The traditional Winter University took place in Budapest, Hungary in February, under a name Democracies gro-wing up success stories rom New Europe. In April EDS hosted a CouncilMeeting and a seminar in Gdansk, Poland. EDS Policy Days took place inPlovdiv and So ia, Bulgaria. In July the annual meeting in Malta electedthe new Chairman and a new Bureau who got their working mandate orthe upcoming working year. The new bureau held its irs t Bureau Meetingin September in Istanbul, Turkey. The irst Council Meeting took place inTrier, Germany in December. In addition to the meetings and seminars,the permanent Working Groups and the Council are producing new poli-cies or the interest o Students, and they launched a new reedom cam-paign on the Tibet issue.

For more in ormation on EDS, please visit:www.edsnet.org

European Senior Citizens Union(ESU)

The ESU, ounded in Madrid in 1995 and led by its President,Bernhard Worms , is the largest political senior citizens organisation inEurope. The ESU is represented in 24 Member States with 38 organisationsand about 540,000 members. The ESU is dedicated to the advancemento rights o European senior citizens and their engagement in society.

In order to give all member organisations in Europe the chanceto take an active part in the ESU work, ESU has organized its political pro- jec ts by way o regional con erences . 2008 saw the ol lowing con erencestaking place,

w Mediterranean region: 'Youths Today Seniors Tomorrow',Nicosia/ Cyprus, 23rd-26th May 2008,

w South-Eastern region: 'The Political and Economic Responseto Demographic Trends in Europe',Vienna/Austria, 29th-30th May, 2008,

w Northern region: 'Experience of Eastern European Senior Citizens in Gaining Freedom and Political Responsibility',

Vilnius/Lithuania, 15th-18th June 2008 ,w An Executive Committee Meeting took place in Berlin, 6th

November 2008, welcoming the German ChancellorAngelaMerkel who appreciated the political work o the ESU and therelentless e orts o its president Bernhard Worms.

For more in ormation on ESU, please visit:www.eu-seniorunion.in o

Small and MediumEntrepreneurs Unionof the EPP (SME UNION)

The SME UNION is the business organisation o theEPP, and the network or pro-business Christian-Democrat,Conservative and Centre-Right politicians and political orga-nisations. As an o icially recognised EPP Association, its mainobjective is to shape EU policy in a more SME- riendly way inclose cooperation with the SME Circle o the EPP-ED Group inthe European Parliament, DG Enterprise and the SME UNIONmembers within the EPP member parties. The SME UNION is ledby ormer President o Eurochambres and President o the Aus-trian Federal Economic Chamber,Christoph Leitl.

The importance o the work o the SME UNION derivesrom the act that SMEs are the key drivers or sustainable jobs,

growth and prosperity. 80% o the national business legislationis shaped in Brussels. There ore, the SME UNIONs top priority isto re orm the legal ramework or SMEs all over Europe, and topromote and support the interests o small and medium-sizedenterprises which - due to their willingness to take risks andresponsibility - are the engines o the European economy. TheTopic o the Year 2009 will concentrate on Creative SMEs as keydrivers or innovation and growth: New solutions or the energychallenge! In May 2007Christoph Leitl was re-elected Presi-dent o the SME UNION.

w Annual SME UNION Topic o the Year Con erence andPolitical Entrepreneurship Awards 2008

On Monday 13 October 2008 the SME UNION organized a Con e-rence on the topic: SBA & Micro Financing. The con erence star-ted with the welcome address o Wil ried Martens, President o the EPP. In his speech he mentioned 'The SME UNION is one o the most active and dynamic organizations o the party, and allits contributions constitute, a precious source o innovation andprogress or the EPP, the SMEs and Europe'.

w SME UNION & EIB tackle inancial crisis

In the speech o Christoph Leitl, he clari ied that politics do notcreate jobs, but rather the entrepreneurial spirit o the SMEs . Heexplained that the SME UNION contributed extensively rom thebeginning to the input o the SBA and it s most important inputwas nevertheless the results o their Low Level Group or BetterRegulation presented, last June to CommissionerVerheugen and the public its package o concrete measures and politicaldemands to substantially reduce red tape. He continued by sa-ying that dealing with the European Small Business Act has thepotential to completely change European SME polic y.

For more in ormation please visit:www.sme-union.org

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European Union of ChristianDemocratic Workers (EUCDW)

The EUCDW is the workers organisation o the EPP with 24 member orga-

nisations rom 18 countries. As the o icially recognised EPP association o workers,the EUCDW led by its PresidentElmar Brok , MEP, has the ollowing aims: to press

or the political uni ication o a democratic Europe; to promote the developmento the EPP on the basis o Christian-social teaching; to represent and de end workerinterests in European Policy; to work or the achievement o Christian-social prin-ciples and policies in the European workers movements; to step up cooperationwith the workers and their organisations.

In 2008 the EUCDW dealt especially with three major items in the ield o European Social Policy: Firstly with the decisions o the European Court o Justiceand their implications on worker mobility in Europe. The EUCDW concluded thata revision o the directive concerning the posting o workers is now more thannecessary. The EUCDW bases its position on the Charter o Fundamental Rightsas well as the regulation o the European Services Directive, that the provision o services does not a ec t labour law, the regulation o working conditions and socialsecurity legislation, which Member States apply in accordance with national lawwhich respects Community law. Secondly the EUCDW ollowed the revision o theDirective on European Works Councils, whose conclusion at the end o 2008 willstrengthen the in ormation and consultation o workers in cross border companies.Thirdly the EUCDW stressed in view o the working time directive its position thatany kind o opt-out has to come to an end in near uture i we want to achieve apolitical union which is based likewise on an economic as well social union. In allthese questions the EUCDW acted as partner and also mediator between politicalactors and trade unions.

For more in ormation on EUCDW, please visit:www.eucdw.org

Youth of the European Peoples Party (YEPP)

YEPP is the EPPs o icial youth organisation, sel -governed by its ownstatutes, political program and elected representatives. YEPPs members are nati-onal party-political youth organisations. Led by its PresidentYannis Smyrlis, thepurpose o YEPP and all 56 member organisations is to provide young people achannel in order to in luence the shaping o their societies wi th democratic meansand centre-right, Christian democratic and conservative ideas. Through its memberorganisations YEPP brings together more than 1,4 million youngsters in 37 Europeanstates. This makes YEPP the largest party-political youth organisation in Europe.

In 2008, YEPP tackled crucial topics such as cultural diversity, inanci-al programs or youth structures, Institutional changes in the EU re orm treaty,Common Agricultural Policy, the Lisbon Treaty and the Irish re erendum, Europe-an Young Consumers and European Neighbourhood Policy. During its ChairmensCon erence in Porto, almost all young leaders approved a Charter that agreed on acommon vision towards the uture o Europe and the upcoming European Elections.

More in ormation can be ound at:www.yepp-eu.org or by sending an e-mail to:yepp@epp-eu.org

EPP Women

EPP Women is the o icial womens orga-

nisation o the European People's Party. The EPPWbrings together the womens organisations o nearlyall EPP member parties. Currently, the EPPW repre-sents womens organisations rom nearly 40 countries,including non-EU Member States. The EPPW, led by itsPresident Doris Pack , MEP, has the ollowing aims: tode end and promote the interests o women and theirparticipation within the parties, society and the EU; topromote and organize activities at the European level;and to ensure a permanent cooperation between theEPPW member organisations.

In 2008 the EPPW organized two main eventsexpressing these aims. From 16 to 20 July 2008 a Sum-mer Academy or leading political women rom theEPP parties was organized. Nearly 50 women rom high-ranking national political positions took part in it. Theinitiative was taken because o the upcoming EuropeanElections o 2009. The aim o the Summer Academy wasto make our leading women aware o the importanceo taking part in politics, stressing the role o womenby strengthening our knowledge and exchanging vie-wpoints. The Summer Academy took part on Mallorca,on the invitation o Francisca Bennassar Tous , ormerEPPW Vice-President and Mayor o Mallorca.

In October 2008 the EPPW organized the 3rd

so called EWA Congress in Berlin. The EWA is the um-brella organization o the EPPW and the European Uni-on o Women that is a Europe wide non-governmentalwomens organisation with UN accreditation. The EWAthus is the linking pin between the largest political andnon-governmental womens organisations on the cen-ter-right spectre o Europe. The theme o the 3rd EWACongress was The role o women in the integration o migrants into our societies. The Congress was hostedby Pro . DrMaria Bhmer, President o the CDU-Wo-men and Germany's Minister o State on Integration.The Congress adopted a resolution in which the EWArecommends the protection o immigrant women'sbasic rights; the participation o immigrant womenin social and political li e; the gradual introductiono a common European integration policy which tiesin with the Tampere and The Hague programmes andaddresses the gender dimension.

For more information the EPP Women, congress do cumentsand resolutions, please visit:www.epp-women.org or send an e-mail toeppwomen@epp-eu.

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centre for european studies

The creation o a European Peoples Party think-tank has been a long-termgoal o the EPP that inally took shape in Autumn o 2007. With the establishment o the Centre or European Studies, the EPP created a plat orm o centre-right politicalthought that produces research papers, academic journals, concise and extensive stu-dies, and organises seminars, training sessions and con erences or the bene it o Euro-pean citizens, opinion-shapers and decision-makers.

The Centre is committed to promoting intellectual reedom, raising aware-ness and acilitating the growth o EU politics. Its perspectives and arguments grow

rom the ideologies and the central values o the EPP and its centre-right partner s.

In this mission, the Centre maximizes its dissemination o ideas and debate,by hosting a network o like-minded oundations. Member oundations include politi-cal think tanks rom Malta, Hungary, Spain, Germany, Norway, Greece, Slovakia, Swe-den, Finland, Austria, the Netherlands, Croatia, Cyprus and Slovenia. These member

oundations are o ten a iliated to EPP member parties in national contexts. With thisstructure the Centre or European Studies acts as a catalyst, bringing together intellec-tuals and groundbreaking research to create an environment rom which new ideas andrelationships emerge.

The core products o the Centre or European Studies are its research projectsand joint activities with its member oundations. The research topics and con erencetopics generally coincide and are executed in conjunction with the member organisa-tions. By researching topics relevant to centre-right policy and engaging active partici-pation on these topics through seminars, con erences, and training sessions, CES stri vesto make a signi icant contribution to public awareness amongst European citizens anddecision-makers alike.

Under the leadership o PresidentWil ried Martens CES closes its irst year to re-sounding successes in publication, activities,and growth. Pilot years are always challen-ging and this one has presented the Centrewith many opportunities to test and re ine its

strength.

Through the dedicated e orts o sta , partners, and members CES has publis-hed 7 publications in the course o 2008. Themain publications in 2008 were the springand autumn editions o the European View,CES academic journal; the European Fact-book 2008: the EPP and the Centre-RightPolitics, a oneo -a-kind encyclopedia o theEuropean centre-right; Series on ChristianDemocratic and Conservative Thought, re-

lections o pro essorSteven Van Hecke onbasic ideas and principles; Man Where areYou?, exploration o the Christian democra-tic portrayal o mankind; What MunicipalitiesShould Know about the European Union,manual or local authorities with best practi-ces;Jzse AntallPrime Minister o Hungary,collection o historic speeches o the latePrime Minister; Turkeys Accession to the EU;

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The European View

The European View, is the Centre or EuropeanStudies Academic Journal published by Sprin-

ger, is an intellectual plat orm or politicians,opinion makers, and academics that tackles con-temporary themes o European politics.

The 2008 Spring edition o the European Viewanalyses the process o transition to democra-cy in Europe and worldwide. This issue eaturesarticles byWil ried Martens, Fredo Arias-King,Constantine Arvanitopoulos and Nikolaos Tzi-

akis, Dimitar Bechev and Kalypso Nicolaidis,Coetzee Bester , Boyko Borisov, Joseph Y. S.Cheng , Mart Laar, Jan van Laarhoven , AnatolyLiabedzka , Oswaldo Jos Pay Sardias , IvoSanader , Jzse Szjer, Yulia Tymoshenko , An-drej Umek , Thanos Veremis , Bernhard Vogel ,Jan Zielonka , Erik Zsiga, Nino Burjanadze andMikul Dzurinda.

The 2008 Autumn edition o the European Viewanalyses the process and consequences o demo-graphic changes in Europe and worldwide. Thisissue eatures articles byWerner Fasslabend ,Jan-Peter Balkenende , Jos Manuel Barroso ,Janez Jana , Thomas Mann , Mariano Rajoy,Gabriele Stauner , Arnstein Aassve , HidekiIt o, Janina Jwiak and Irena E. Kotowska,Wol gang Lutz, Alexandra Tragaki , James W.

Vaupel and Kristn G. V. Kistowski, Arij LansBovenberg and Raymond Gradus , Filippo Cal-ciano and Mario Tirelli, Ral Mai, Lord StewartSutherland , Steven Van Hecke , Gustavo An-riquez and Libor Stloukal, Jack A. Goldstone,Nico Keilmanand Ursula Lehr.

The European Factbook 2008

The European Peoples Party and Centre-RightPolitics is a unique publication, providing asnapshot o the active centre-right political par-ticipants in 2008. It is irst and oremost a tool, aresource, rom which one can become acquain-ted with the research, communication and politi-cal policy ormulation o the centre-right as wellas national political parties and oundations.

In order to make this unique tool available to awider range o political actors, students, resear-chers and journalists, the Centre launched theonline version o the Factbook. Web edition anddownloadable version o the Factbook are to be

ound onwww.euro actbook.eu .

The Citizen and Europe, a Christian democratic vision or the EU communi-ty o values; and Crossing Bridges, Democratisation in the Middle East and aChristian democratic approach. These publications covered a wide range o political issues within CES ive research themes, namely

Political Organisations, Institutions, and the Process o Policy ; Economic and Social Policy Re orms; the Role o EU Foreign Policy inDemocratisation and Transatlantic Relations ; Environment andEnergy ; and Ethics, Values and Religion .

To acilitate its research activities, in 2008 the Centre createdinstruments to ensure best research practice. It established the Acade-mic Council, permanent relationships with recognized researchers, anda peer review expert review system to be ollowed or each o its re-search projects.

In its irs t year, the Centre or European Studies organised morethan thirty events on highly diversi ied topics, covering EU and non-EUcountries and or all demographic groups. Issues ranged rom demogra-phic developments to youth policies, rom religious dialogue to climatechange, and rom enlargement to regional initiatives. The con erences,seminars, workshops and other events were held throughout the year invarious locations around Europe, breaking the stereotype o Brussels-based activities and bringing European politics closer to its citizens. TheCentre was particularly pleased with its success in engaging the widestpossible range o target audiences, both demographically and geogra-phically.

To the already impressive number o ourteen member ounda-tions CES welcomed two new additions. From Cyprus CES was joined bythe Institute or Eurodemocracy Gl a kos Clerides and rom Slovenia theInstitute Dr. Joe Punik. By expanding the research network CES hopes

to reach wider audiences and bring more issues under debate.

In its pilot year CES has learned to navigate and lead in timeso ease as well as times o turbulence. These less ons will be put to use inthe coming year when CES plans to ollow an equall y ambitious programcontinuing its commitment to excellence.

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EPP foundations and institutes

Europea n Ideas Network

The European Ideas Network is a pan-European organisa-tion designed to promote new thinking on the key policy challenges

acing the European Union and its member states. Launched in 2002by the EPP-ED Group with active Party support, the network has ra-pidly emerged as an important meeting point and intellectual c ross-roads or the centre-right in European Politics. With an active mem-bership o around 600 policy makers and opinion-shapers across theEU, the EIN brings together politicians, businessmen, academics, po-licy advisors, think tankers, journalists as well as non-party expertsand commentators interested in the issues being addressed.

The EIN currently has 12 working groups, addressing keydomestic and international questions. Operating on an annual cy-cle, they undertake research and develop new thinking in their annualsummer university. They attract prominent policy experts as chairmenand rapporteurs to participate in these summer university gatherings.The European Ideas Network Summer University o the 18th 20tho September 2008 took place in Fiuggi, Italy and ocused on the i-nancial crisis. The session wasentitled 'The World in 2025: ThePlace or Values in an UncertainWorld'. At the summer univer-sity a wide range o Europeandecision makers and opinionleaders gathered to debate thechallenges and the uture o Eu-rope with a ocus on the global

inancial crisis.

Further details o EIN activities can be ound on the EIN website:www.ein.eu

Centre for Political Parliamentary Education and Training

The EPP-ED Centre or Political Parliamentary Educationand Training (CET) was established in 2002. The goal o CET is tocontribute to the success ul work o the EPP-ED Group by organisingeducational activities: workshops, s eminars, con erences and specialmeetings. The main activities CET participated in and organised du-ring the course o 2008 included Strengthening Parliamentary Work on Local and Regional Level, Local sel -government: A step towardse ectiveness, Policy-making in the EPP and in the EPP-ED Group,Strengthening Parliamentary Work on Local and Regional Level,and MEP Assistant Training.

For more on the Centre or Political Parliamentary Education and Training,please contact:cet@t-online.hu

The Robert Schuman Foundation

The Robert Schuman Foundation or Cooperation amongChristian Democrats in Europe, ounded in 1989, is an entity o theEPP-ED Group, registered in the Grand Duchy o Luxembourg. Sinceits establishment, the Foundation has provided one month intern-ships in the European Parliament or more than 500 young people,primarily rom Central and Eastern Europe, but also rom Latin Ame-rica, Russia and the southern Caucasus. The majority o those whocomplete the programs remain aith ul to the policies and valuesthey originally adopted. Every two years the Foundation organisesmeetings o ormer interns in the orm o political seminars .

In 2008, the Robert Schuman Foundation organised anumber o con erences, debates and training days. Such events inclu-ded the Training seminar on the Governance o local communities ina democratic, rule o law state", "Training seminar or Russian youthin France", "Training o Ukrainian youth, "Con erence on Europe or

its citizens", "Con erence on European Identity", and Con erence onthe uture o the European Union".

For more in ormation on the Robert Schuman Foundation,please contact: Corinna Zehler,corinna.zehler@europarl.europa.eu

The Robert Schuman Institute

The Robert Schuman Institute Union or Developing Demo-cracy in Central and Eastern Europe (RSI) has been operating under theauspices o the EPP with an extended scope o activities since 1995.

Based in Budapest, the RSI organises international coursesor potential young leaders, party members, and o icials o the EPP,

and co-operating parties o the developing democracies in the re-gion. At these they receive both theoretical and practical training.Since the 2004 EU enlargement, the Institute has ocused mostly onEastern and Southeastern European countries.

In 2008 the Robert Schuman Institutes main activities inclu-ded Future Tendencies and challenges o political education in newCentral Eastern European Member States, and a number o coursessuch as Young Leaders XV 2008-2009 and Media and Politics VII.

For more on Robert Schuman Institute, please visit:www.rschuman.hu

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who is who - epp presidency

page 26

Viktor ORBAN,Hungary, FIDESZ

Hans-Gert POETTERING,Germany, CDU

Alojz PETERLE,Slovenia, NSI

Peter HINTZE,Germany, CDU

Jyrki KATAINEN,Finland, KOK

Enda KENNY,Ireland, FG

Michel BARNIER,France, UMP

Joseph DAUL,France, UMP

Mario DAVID,Portugal, PSD

Antonio TAJANI,Italy, FI

Jacek SARYUSZ-WOLSKI,Poland, PO

Corien WORTMANN-KOOL,Netherlands, CDA

Ingo FRIEDRICH,Germany, CSU

Wil ried MARTENS,Belgium

VICE PRESIDENTS

Treasurer

PRESIDENT

Sauli NIINIST,Finland, KOK

Leo TINDEMANS,Belgium, CD&V

Honorary PRESIDENTS

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who is who - epp secretariat

page

Ingrid GOOSSENS,Head o President'sCabinet A airsigoossens@epp.eu

Christian KREMER,(Germany)ckremer@epp.eu

Luc VANDEPUTTE,(Belgium)lvandeputte@epp.eu

Kostas SASMATZOGLOU,(Greece)relex@epp.eu

DEputies secretary general

SECRETARY GENERAL

Antonio LPEZ-ISTRIZ WHITE,Spain

secretary ofexternal relations

cabinet ofthe president

Yelba TORRES,Working Groups, CDIytorres@epp.eu

Specialised personnel

Sophie PAEME,General Administrationand Logisticsspaeme@epp.eu

Guy VOLCKAERT,Manager o In ormaticsand Internetgvolckaert@epp.eu

Nicola BRIEC,Senior Political Advisor(France)nbriec@epp.eu

Emanuela FARRIS,Political Advisor(Italy)e arris@epp.eu

OFFICIALS

OFFICIALS

Galina FOMENCHENKO,Political Advisor(Ukraine)g omenchenko@epp.eu

Juan MAGAZ,Political Advisor(Spain) jma gaz @ep p.eu

Javier JIMENEZ,(Spain) jji menez@ epp. eu

press officer

Mlanie DURSIN,Political Advisor(Belgium)mdursin@epp.eu

Gemma Slaymaker(United Kingdom)gslaymaker@epp.eu

Adina POPESCU,A. to Secretary Generalapopescu@epp.eu

ASSISTANTS

Ines PRAINSACK,A. to Christian Kremeriprainsack@epp.eu

Daphn LAMAL,A. to Luc Vandeputtedlamal@epp.eu

Pavlina HEYMANS-PAKOVA. to Kostas Sasmatzoglou jmagaz @ep p.eu

audiovisual

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EPP member parties and observers

AUSTRIA sterreichische Volkspartei VP www.oevp.at (Austrian Peoples Part y)

BELGIUM Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams CD&V www.cdenv.be (Christian-Democratic and Flemish) | Centre Dmocrate Humaniste CDH www.lecdh.be(Humanistic Democratic Centre)

BULGARIA /GERB www.gerb-bg.com (Citizens or European Development o Bulgaria) | C/DSBwww.dsb.bg (Democrats or a strong Bulgaria) | CC SDS/UDF www.sds.bg (Union o Democratic Forces) /DP www.dpblg.hit.bg (Democratic Party) | HC/ZNS www.zns.bg (Agrarian Peoples Union)

CYPRUSs s DISY w ww.disy.org.cy (Democratic Rally)

CZECH REPUBLICKesansk a Demokratick Unia esk Strana Lidov KDU- CSL www.kdu.cz (The Christian Democratic Union Czech Peoples Party)

DENMARKDet Konservative Folkeparti DKF www.konservative.dk (Conservative Peoples Party) | Kristendemokraterne KD www.kd.dk (Christian Democrats)

ESTONIAIsamaa ja Res Publica Liit IRL w ww.irl.ee (Pro Patria and Res Publica Union)

FINLANDKansallinen Kokoomus KOK www.kokoomus. i (The National Coalition Party) | Suomen Kritillisdemokraatit SKD* www.kd. i (Finish Christian Democrats)

FRANCE Union pour un Mouvement Populaire UMP www.u-m-p.org (Union or a Popular Movement)

GERMANY Christlich Demokratische Union CDU www.cdu.de (Christian Democratic Union) | Christlich-Soziale Union in Bayern CSU www.csu.de (Christian - Social Union o Bavar

GREECE ND www.nd.gr (New Democracy)

HUNGARYFidesz Magyar Polgri Szvetsg FIDESZ www. idesz.hu (Fidesz Hungarian Civic Union) | Magyar Demokrata Frum MDF ww w.md .hu (Hungarian Democratic ForuKeresztnydemokrata Npprt KDNP www.kdnp.hu (Christian Democratic Peoples Party)

IRELANDFine Gael FG www. inegael.ie (Family o the Irish)

ITALY Forza Italia FI ww w. orzaitalia.it (Forward Italy) | Unione dei Democratici Cristiani e dei Democratici di Centro UDC www.udc-italia.it (Union o Christian Democrats

and Centre Democrats) | Popolari UDEUR www.popolariudeur.it (Popular Party UDEUR) | Sdtiroler Volkspartei SVP * www.svpartei.org (South Tyrolean Peoples Party)

LATVIATautas Partija TP www.tautaspartija.lv (Peoples Party) | Jaunais Laiks JL ww w.jaunaislaiks.lv (New Era Party)

LITHUANIA Tvyns Sjungos-Lietuvos Krikionys Demokratai TS-LKD www.tsajunga.lt (Homeland Union Lithuanian Christian Democrats)

LUXEMBOURG Chrschtlech Sozial Vollekspartei CSV www.csv.lu (Christian Social Peoples Party)

MALTA Partit Nazzjonalista PN www.pn.org.mt (Nationalist Party)

THE NETHERLANDS Christen Democratisch Appl CDA www.cda.nl (Christian Democratic Appeal)

POLAND Plat orma Obywatelska PO www.plat orma.org (Civic Plat orm) | Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe PSL www.psl.pl (Polish Peoples Party)

PORTUGALPartido Social Democrata PSD www.psd.pt (Social Democratic Party)

ROMANIAPartidul Democrat Liberal PDL ww w.pd.ro (Democratic-Liberal Party) | Uniunea Democrat Maghiar din Romnia/Romniai Magyar Demokrata SzvetsgUDMR/RMDSZ www.rmdsz.ro (Democratic Alliance o hungarians in Romania) | Partidul National Taranesc Crestin Democrat PNTCD www.ppcd.ro(Christian-Democratic National Peasants Party)

SLOVAKIASlovensk Demokratick a Kresansk nia - Demokratick Strana SDK-DS www.sdkuonline.sk (Slovak Democratic and Christian Union Democratic Party)Strana Maarskej Koalcie/Magyar Koalci Prtja MKP www.mkp.sk (Part y o Hungarian Coalition) | Kresanskodemokratick hnutie KDH www.kdh.sk (Christian Democratic Movement)

SLOVENIA Slovenska Demokratska Stranka SDS ww w.sds.si (Slovenian Democratic Party) | Slovenska Ljudska Stranka SLS www.sls.si (Slovenian Peoples Party)Nova Slovenija Kranska Ljudska Stranka NSI www.nsi.si (New Slovenia Christian Peoples Party)

SPAINPartido Popular PP www.pp.es (Peoples Party) | Uni Democrtica de Catalunya UDC ww w.unio.org (Democratic Union o Catalonia)

SWEDEN Moderaterna m www.moderat.se (Moderate Party) | Kristdemokraterna KD w ww.kristdemokraterna.se (Christian Democrats)

E U m E M

B E R s t a t e s

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EPP Headquarters | Rue du Commerce 10 | B-1000 BrusselsJanuary 2009 | Funded by the European Parliament

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European Peoples Party10, rue du Commerce B-1000 Brussels

Tel.: +32 (0)2 285 4140 Fax: +32 (0)2 285 4141info@epp.eu www.epp.eu