Commissievoorzitter Barroso: groei van politieke partijen en stichtingen moet gestimuleerd worden

This morning, in the context of on-going consultations with stakeholders at different levels, President Barroso and Vice President Šefcovic held a meeting with the leaders of several European political parties: Mr Wilfried Martens, President of the European Peoples Party (EPP), Mr Sergei Stanishev, President of the Party of European Socialists (PES), Sir Graham Watson, President of the European Liberal Democrats (ELDR), Ms Monica Frassoni and Mr Philippe Lamberts, Co-Presidents of the European Green Party (EGP), and Mr Jan Zahradil, President of the Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists (AECR).

Following the meeting, President Barroso stated:

"In our meeting with the leaders of European political parties today, Vice President Šefcovic and I have reiterated our intention to present an initiative on European political parties and foundations in the coming weeks.

Developments over the last years have confirmed that we need European solutions to face current and future challenges, and that using the Community method and existing institutions and procedures is the best and most effective way to get results. For this, we need truly efficient, democratic and accountable policy and decision-making at European Union level.

European political parties and foundations must play a vital role in European integration and in fostering decision-making which enjoy the confidence of Member States' governments and parliaments as well as citizens and stakeholders.

Our upcoming proposal will be an important contribution to creating the framework conditions for European political parties and foundations to develop, grow and adapt to the realities of today and tomorrow.

The new legal and financial framework should be in place well before the 2014 elections to the European Parliament."

The President added:

"I highly appreciated the quality of our discussions today. I am confident that thanks to the close cooperation between Commission and the European Parliament we will get these proposals adopted smoothly and inject a healthy additional dose of Europe into party politics ahead of the next European elections."