27/01/1999

"On the Way to the 21st. Century"

Programme

Thursday, 4 February 1999

09.00 -11.00 hrs

Elected Presidency

11.00 -13.00 hrs

EPP Council

15.00 hrs

Opening of the Congress
Opening Speeches :
Marc VAN PEEL, CVP President
Philippe MAYSTADT, PSC President

Report of President : Wilfried MARTENS
Report of Secretary General : Klaus WELLE

(possibly) Adoption of the Statutes on the election of Vice-Presidents

Public Meeting : Constructing the New Europe

Jean-Luc DEHAENE, Prime Minister, Belgium
Emil CONSTANTINESCU, President, Romania
Mikulas DZURINDA, Prime Minister, Slovak Republic
Jean-Claude JUNCKER, Prime Minister, Luxembourg
Ivan KOSTOV, Prime Minister, Bulgaria
Jacques SANTER, President of the European Commission
Wolfgang SCHÄUBLE, President, CDU, Germany
José Maria AZNAR, Prime Minister, Spain

Presided By : Wilfried MARTENS, EPP and EPP Group President


Friday, 5 February 1999

09.30 - 10.30 hrs

Plenary Session "Our Ambitions for Future Changes"

Carl BILDT, President, Moderaterna, Sweden
John BRUTON, President, Fine Gael, Ireland
Jaap De HOOP SCHEFFER, Chairperson, CDA, The Netherlands
Kostas KARAMANLIS, President, Nea Demokratia, Greece
Sauli NIINISTÖ, President, Kokoomus, Finland
Marcelo REBELO DE SOUSA, President, PSD, Portugal

10.30 - 13.00 hrs

Working Group I : Agenda 2000 (Introduction, Chapter 1)

Presided By :
Georgios ANASTASSOPOULOS, Vice-President, EP
Hans-Gert PÖTTERING, Vice-President, EPP Group, EP
Rapporteur : Josep DURAN I LLEIDA, President, UDC, Catalonia

Working Group II : Economic and Social Policy (Chapters II, III, IV)

Presided By :
Ingo FRIEDRICH, EPP Treasurer
Leonor BELEZA, First Vice-President, PSD, Portugal
Rapporteur : Leszek BALCEROWICZ, Finance Minister, Poland

10.30 - 11.45 hrs

Forum A : "The Regions in the 21st Century"

Chairperson : Juan José LUCAS JIMENEZ, President of the EPP Group, Committee of the Regions

• Thomas GOPPEL, Former Minister of State, Secretary-General, CSU, Germany
  
• Luc VAN DEN BRANDE, President of the Flemish Government
  
• Juan José IBARRETXE, President of the Basque Government
  

11.45 - 13.00 hrs

Forum B : "The European Union in the 21st Century"

Chairperson : Elmar BROK, President of Working Group A / EPP Group, EP

• Jacques SANTER, President of the European Commission
  
• John BRUTON, President, Fine Gael, Ireland
  
• Jaap De HOOP SCHEFFER, Chairperson, CDA, The Netherlands
  

11.00 - 13.30 hrs

Election of the President

13.30 - 15.00 hrs

Resolutions Committee

15.00 - 16.00 hrs

Continuation

Working Group I
Working Group II

16.00 -17.15 hrs

Working Group III : Social Policy, Education and Research (Chapters V, VI)

Presided By :
Mats ODELL, former Minister of Telecommunications, Sweden
Lojze PETERLE, President, SKD, Slovenia
Rapporteur : Erna HENNICOT-SCHOEPGES, Minister for Education, Luxembourg

Working Group IV : Internal Policy (Chapters VII, VIII)

Presided By :
Ana Isabel DE PALACIO, Vice-President of the Legal Affairs Commission, European Parliament
Othmar KARAS, Secretary-General, ÖVP, Austria
Rapporteur : Hartmut NASSAUER, Member of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Citizens' Rights of the European Parliament

17.15 -18.30 hrs

Working Group V : External Policy (Chapiter IX)

Presided By :
Margareta AF UGGLAS, EPP Vice-President
Gerardo GALEOTE, Leader of Spanish Delegation, EPP Group
Rapporteur : Enrico LETTA, Minister for European Affairs, Italy
Working Group VI : Environmental Policy (Chapiter X)

Presided By :
Ria OOMEN-RUIJTEN, Vice-President of the EPP Group, European Parliament
Maija PERHO, Secretary-General, KOK, Finland
Rapporteur : Pia CHRISTMAS-MOLLER, Chairperson, DKF, Denmark

15.00 - 16.45 hrs

Forum C : "Our International Responsibility in the 21st Century"

President : Ottfried HENNIG, EPP Vice-President

• Javier RUPEREZ, CDI President
  
• Sergio MATTARELLA, Deputy Prime Minister, Italy
  
• Alexandru HERLEA, Minister for European Integration, Romania
  

16.45 - 18.30 hrs

Forum D : "50 Years of the NEI/EUCD"

President : Ludwig STEINER, Vice-President, EUCD

• Wim van VELZEN, EUCD President
  
• Jacques MALLET, Vice-President, EUCD
  
• NN, Lithuania
  

16.00 - 19.00 hrs

Elections of EPP Vice-Presidents, Treasurer and Secretary General

19.00 hrs

Resolutions'Committee

20.00 hrs
"A Europe for Women"

Saturday, 6 February 1999

09.30 -13.00 hrs

Plenary Session
Announcement of the results of EPP Presidency Elections
Report of EUCD President, Wim van VELZEN
Statutory amendments
Resolutions
Vote on amendments
Adoption of the 1999 - 2004 Action Programme
Speech by President of the European Parliament, José Maria GIL-ROBLES
Closing Speech by EPP President


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EPP Congress blazes trail into next millennium