XVIth EPP CONGRESS The EPP: Your Majority in Europe 4 - 5 February 2004 European Parliament BRUSSELS

Resolution adopted by the XVIth EPP Congress
Appointment of the future President of the European Commission


The European People´s Party,

having regard to article 26 of the draft Constitutional Treaty adopted by the Convention on the future of Europe;

having regard to the procedure for the appointment of the President of the European Commission in the above mentioned article, which foresees the proposal of a candidate by the European Council taking into account the elections to the European Parliament;

considering the enlargement of the European Union to 25 Member States and the need to increase the democratic nature of the EU;

considering that the European Commission should reflect, in its composition, the political will of the European citizens;

calls on the Irish Council Presidency to wait for the outcome of the European elections of June 2004 before making public proposals on whom to nominate for the future President of the Commission;

underlines the need for the future European Commission to reflect the political landscape of Europe as given by the results of the European elections;

calls upon the Heads of State and governments to respect the spirit of article 26 of the draft Constitutional Treaty for the nomination of the new President of the Commission for the enlarged Union at the European Council next June and to designate the candidate accordingly;

calls upon the Heads of State and governments of the EPP to take initiatives within our political famility to reach a consensus in advance on a candidate for the post of President of the new European Commission, a process in which the Presidencies of both the EPP and the EPP-ED Group should also be involved;

recalls that the EPP-ED Group in the European Parliament will not to give its support for a candidate for the post of President of the European Commission, if this candidate does not come from the political family, which gained the most support in the European elections.