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New European Democrats Vice-President of the EPP-ED Group
Friday 1, 2005
Struan Stevenson MEP has been elected as the European Democrats (ED) Vice-President of the EPP-ED Group in the European Parliament. He becomes one of eight EPP-ED Vice-Presidents in the Group.
Mr Stevenson commented: "I regard my post as a great opportunity to promote the Conservative vision for Europe. I, and my colleagues in the European Democrats, believe in a Europe of independent nation states working together to create jobs and prosperity for all. We cherish subsidiarity, we believe in national, regional and local democracies and we mistrust centralisation. We believe in giving Europe back to the people."
European Democrats are allied Members of the EPP-ED Group under Rule 5 of the Group's Rules of Procedure. The ED has members from the UK (Conservative Party and Ulster Unionist Party), the Czech Republic (Civic Democrats), Portugal (Partido Popular) and Italy (Pensionati).
Members of the ED promote and develop their distinct views on constitutional and institutional issues in relation to the future of Europe. This is particularly important in relation to the European Constitution which, of course, British Conservatives oppose.
ED parties closely co-ordinate their whipping arrangements in the European Parliament. An ED Annual General Meeting is held in Strasbourg during the June session of the European Parliament. The ED also has a Political Bureau made up of the ED Vice President of the group and the Leaders of the national delegations, which meets periodically. More details about the ED can be found on the ED website (see 'Links' section). These arrangements were established by Timothy Kirkhope MEP, Mr Stevenson's predecessor as ED Vice-President of the EPP-ED Group.
The ED is expressly committed to democracy, individual liberty, the rule of law, national sovereignty, free enterprise, minimal regulation, low taxation, private ownership, respect and security for every individual and a strong transatlantic alliance. This is set out in the ED's Statement of Principles which all member parties have signed up to.
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