Esther de Lange nominated as candidate to be EPP Group nominee for EP President - Main contents
Europe is at a crossroads. A strong Parliament can play a key role in deciding where we will go. That is why I have officially submitted my candidature to be the EPP Group’s nominee for President of the European Parliament. This evening I informed my colleagues in the EPP Group with the letter below.
“Dear colleagues,
Europe is at a crossroads. A strong Parliament can play a key role in deciding where we will go. That is why I have officially submitted my candidature to be the EPP Group’s nominee for President of the European Parliament.
As your President, I want to make sure that this House is run in an effective manner with a Presidency that is reachable and available - also for daily and practical issues - and with an efficient administration that is at the service of Members, allowing them to exercise their mandate freely, with optimal means at their disposal. In this regard, we need to learn the lessons of the COVID crisis, improve our digital working environment and strike the right balance between meeting in presence and more flexible, digital solutions. Furthermore, I am fully committed to ensuring geographical balance in the administrative governance of this House.
We need a President who is not only proud of the Parliament, but one the Parliament can be proud of. Someone who puts the Parliament back at the centre as a strong institutional partner. Who brings our Parliament to the head of the negotiating table and who can help build bridges.
Having led our Group’s work on relations with national Parliaments in the last term, I am convinced that we should aim for strong alliances with colleagues in national Parliaments to increase the resilience of our Union. Likewise, we need a President who represents our unique directly-elected multinational Parliament in diplomatic relations and who can interact in accessible language and a down-to-earth manner with our citizens, especially the younger generations.
The next 2,5 years will be crucial - for the EP, as well as the EPP. As EPP, we need to remain visible and true to our values and priorities in the run-up to the 2024 elections. And as European Parliament we need to deliver, even though the House is more fragmented than ever. As your EPP Group Vice-President and Chair of Working Group E&E, I have worked on most of the issues currently on the table with all your delegations and with colleagues from all sides of the House and have helped bring - often difficult - negotiations to a successful end. This experience will help me in the years ahead. And it will allow us to build a broad and constructive majority around our EPP candidate for President.
Together we can make the second half of this mandate count!
Yours sincerely,
Esther de Lange”