In the face of the rise of populists and extremists, the wider EPP family needs closer cooperation: this was the conclusion from today's EPP Group in the European Committee of the Regions' meeting, which took place in the presence of Manfred Weber, Chairman of the EPP Group in the European Parliament, and Mikulas Dziurinda, President of the Wilfried Martens Center for European Studies. "As representatives of the leading political groups both in the European Parliament and in the European Committee of the Regions, EPP Group Members have a common responsibility to address the key challenges that Europe's citizens are facing." EPP/CoR President Michael Schneider said by way of introduction.
After outlining a number of pressing contemporary issues for the EPP Group in the European Parliament; from the Greek economy to the recent tragedies in the Mediterranean and the situation in Ukraine, Manfred Weber underlined that it will only be possible to achieve results if all levels of government are involved. "We, European politicians who believe in the EU and who believe in people, have a task to stabilise Europe together. We have to go back home and explain to our citizens and work together to reap the benefits" he said before concluding: "We have to stick together." Responding to the Chairman, Markku Markkula, President of the CoR, underlined his support for closer relations between the CoR commissions and EP committees and pledged to continue work with Jerzy Buzek, MEP and chair of the European Parliament's conference of committee chairs, to ensure that rapporteurs can build up a long-lasting dialogue.
Concluding the meeting, Mikuláš Dzurinda expressed his desire for closer cooperation with the EPP representatives in the Committee of the Regions: "We are really interested in engaging the local communities so that we can multiply the effect that these events have on local and national policies" – he underlined. He cited their work on “Ukraine reforms”, TTIP and the digital single market as key policy areas where the voice of the EPP Group in the CoR could be of mutual benefit.