EPP Congress in Valencia – Highlights of Day 1

29. April 2025

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The first day of the Congress of the European People’s Party, co-hosted by Partido Popular (EE), EPP President Manfred WEBER and EPP Secretary General Thanasis BAKOLAS, took place yesterday in Valencia.
Manfred WEBER was re-elected as EPP President with 502 votes out of the 563  valid votes. EPP President Weber proposed Dolors MONTSERRAT as the next Secretary General. The vote for the new Secretary General, the 10 Vice Presidents and the Treasurer of the EPP will take place today, Wednesday 30 April.
The Congress opened with welcome remarks from the Vice President of the European Parliament and EPP Vice President Esteban GONZÁLEZ PONS, who emphasized the role of Partido Popular in our centre-right family.
On the first day of the Congress, high-level interventions were delivered by the President of the European Commission Ursula VON DER LEYEN, the President of the European Parliament Roberta METSOLA, the candidate Chancellor of Germany Friedrich MERZ, the Federal Chancellor of Austria Christian STOCKER and the President of Partido Popular Alberto NÚÑEZ FEIJÓO.
The first day of the Congress also featured speeches by EU opposition and party leaders, as well as non-EU leaders and like minded leaders, sharing their visions for the future of the continent and on the challenges their countries are facing in a volatile global environment.
The Secretary General of the EPP Thanasis BAKOLAS thanked all EPP delegates for their trust in him. He hailed the achievements of the last three years, emphasizing the successful campaign of EPP’s lead candidate for the European Parliament elections in June 2024 and the importance of EPP being a bulwark of centrism against extremist and populism.
Afterwards, the EPP Vice-Presidents presented the results of the party’s main priorities during the last three years under the “Project 2024” in areas like agriculture, defence, rule of law and demography.
Three panels on some of the most pressing issues at EU level took place during the next section. The first panel discussion dealt with the issue of European defence and the need for unity in order to counter threats to EU’s security and to guarantee the resilience of European societies. The second panel discussion was centered around the issue of bringing competitiveness back in EU policies with the aim to secure economic growth, create quality and well-paid jobs for citizens and strengthen social cohesion. The third panel discussion touched upon the very sensitive issue of European demographics as a pivotal piece of the puzzle of intergenerational fairness and a balanced way of life.



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For more information contact:

 

Alexandra Henman

Deputy Spokesperson

+32 471 90 76 84

alh@epp.eu

 

Angelos Athanasopoulos

National and Regional Press Director

+32 471 90 76 35

aa@epp.eu

 

Other latest news:

EPP Congress elects new Presidency members
Manfred Weber re-elected as EPP President
EPP Congress in Valencia on 29-30 April – List of Speakers
Back to all news