Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I should like to submit seven considerations on this important issue. First: in 1991, the European heads of state and government expressly recognised the importance of European political parties in Article 138a of the Treaty of Amsterdam, guided by the idea that full-blown democracy in the European Union cannot be achieved without solidly-funded European political parties set on a reliable legal basis. Secondly: next year will mark the tenth year without any material progress with the legal status of European political parties or life breathed into the Treaty. The group of the European People’s Party and deeply regrets this. Thirdly: we would remind the House of the important preliminary work carried out in the Tsatsos report adopted in 1996 and the Kuhne report of 13 April 2000. Other reports by the Committee on Budgets and the Committee on Budgetary Control, the most recent being the Ferber report, have also indicated the urgent need for a European party statute and for this matter to be regulated. Fourthly: we therefore welcome the fact that the Commission is prepared to advocate an addendum to Article 191 of the EC Treaty on European political parties and thank President Prodi, Commissioner Barnier and the College as a whole for treating this concern with the importance which it deserves. It is this which will enable a solution to be found. We hope that the wording selected will allow the Commission to finalise a European party statute quickly, not set the majority requirements in the Council too high and respect full co-decision for the European Parliament. Fifthly: we also welcome the fact that the European Commission obviously also confirms the possibility, if my information is correct, of proceeding on the basis of Article 308. The possibilities offered by Article 308 must be used if and insofar as the Treaty is not supplemented. Nonetheless, we take the firm view that supplementing the Treaty is the best way forward. Sixthly: the chairmen of the four largest groups in the European Parliament, i.e. the group of the European People’s Party and , the Group of the , the Group of the European Liberal, Democratic and Reform Party and the Group of the submitted a proposal for the core elements of a European party statute several months ago, in agreement with the chairmen of the party federations and the Commission, thereby demonstrating that this problem should and could be solved within a broad political consensus. We are confident that other groups which do not yet have their own European party can be included in this consensus. Seventh and lastly: we are also aware that, until such time as a European party statute enters into force, we need transitional rules regulating and limiting support for European political parties by groups in the European Parliament and we are prepared to take a broad initiative here which crosses the group divide. We want to promote the emancipation of European political parties from the groups still further and open up future prospects for them and our main concern is to see European political parties become a major vehicle for European political work. We want to give them this opportunity and we want, above all, to ensure that, in all aspects of support for European political parties, we have a transparent situation and clear legal conditions which can be presented as such to the public. This will serve the credibility not only of the parties but also of the European Union and the European Parliament.

Political group: PPE-DE