Today marked the first day of the XXIII Congress of the European People’s Party (EPP), which is being held today and tomorrow in Madrid. The EPP delegates re-elected President Joseph Daul to a three-year mandate at the helm of the party. Out of the 578 valid votes which were cast, 555 were in favour of President Daul, while 23 were against. Following the vote, President Daul commented: “It is a tremendous honour to receive the support of the EPP political family for my next term as President. In tackling all of the issues we face, whether the migration crisis, the security challenges in our Eastern and Southern Neighbourhoods, or boosting economic growth and employment, I will do my utmost to ensure that the EPP continues to lead Europe with policies reflecting our fundamental values of freedom, solidarity, responsibility and subsidiarity. Unity, continuity and responsibility will remain the keywords of my presidency. Our work will not always be easy, but I am more convinced than ever that our political family is the best choice for the people and the future of Europe.” Following his election as EPP President, Joseph Daul nominated Antonio López-Istúriz for another mandate as Secretary General of the EPP. The delegates will vote tomorrow for the Secretary General, the ten Vice-Presidents and the Treasurer. Today the EPP Congress also adopted an in-depth document titled “Protecting the Union and Promoting Our Values,” which focuses on foreign policy, security and defence. In addition, the delegates adopted a series of ordinary and emergency resolutions on specific topics, all of which be seen here. Upon the adoption of these documents, President Daul stated: “Europe is facing new challenges in an environment in which boundaries between internal and external policies are almost non-existent. This new situation requires new answers. We are taking the lead in providing answers to these challenges, be it in the area of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, or fiscal and economic policy." “This Congress has proved once more that the EPP family can provide vision and guidance in difficult times. The EPP will work towards ensuring stability and cooperation in the Balkans so that these countries can move forward on the European path, and we will help the Eastern Partnership countries to counter Russian aggression, to reform and to become stable democracies. We will also work to put in place a stable partnership with Turkey, as well as with our partners in the MENA region. For this reason we have updated the EPP statutes to provide new opportunities for partnership between EPP-likeminded, pro-democracy political parties in countries belonging to the Union for the Mediterranean.” “Today, the EPP stands united and confirms its intention to make decisive progress towards a political union with a common fiscal and economic policy, as well as a common foreign policy, security and defence. Our political family has contributed significantly to the success of the European Union, and today we are again leading by example,” said President Daul. The plenary session also focused extensively on the migration crisis, featuring a high-level panel debate titled “Migration: solutions to manage, ideas to integrate.” Moreover, the Congress adopted the emergency resolution “Protecting refugees – securing the EU’s external borders – stepping up action against irregular migration,” which is available here. In addition, the EPP Merit Award was presented today to former European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and former European Commission President José Manuel Barroso in recognition of their extraordinary service to Europe and their contributions to the EPP political family. The plenary session today featured addresses from the EPP’s non-EU heads of state and government, opposition and party leaders from EU and non-EU countries, and the chairs of the EPP groups and EPP associations. Approximately 3,000 delegates, guests and journalists took part in the plenary session and sideline programmes. The full Congress programme is available here. The EPP Congress will continue tomorrow, with the second plenary session starting at 15:00. The plenary can be followed live online at madrid2015.epp.eu. Frequent updates and photos from the Congress can be seen via the EPP’s social media channels: • Twitter: live feeds at http://twitter.epp.eu • Flickr: live photostream at http://flickr.epp.eu Note to editors: The EPP is the largest and most influential European-level political party of the centre-right, which currently includes 75 member parties from 40 countries, the Presidents of the European Commission and the European Council, 10 EU and 7 non-EU heads of state and government, 14 members of the European Commission and the largest Group in the European Parliament. For more information: Siegfried Muresan, Spokesman, Tel. +32 22854147 Karine Milheiro, Press and Communication Officer, kmilheiro@epp.eu, +32 491 61 23 69 Ecaterina Casinge, Press Relations Officer, ecasinge@epp.eu, +32 488 58 59 08 For the Spanish press: Pilar Santamaria, EPP Press service, psantamaria@epp.eu, + 32 492 46 38 40