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Decision of the EPP Political Assembly regarding the EPP Membership of FIDESZ

Decision of the EPP Political Assembly - 20 March 2019
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The European People´s Party is a party of values, based on the Christian image of humankind, on Social Market Economy, on subsidiarity and on clear commitment to the European Union. Every party that is or aspires to become a member has to subscribe to the EPP´s Platform, adopted in 2012 in Bucharest, which outlines these values. In the EPP emergency resolution “Protecting EU Values and Safeguarding Democracy”, adopted at the EPP Congress in Helsinki, on 7-8 November 2018, the European People´s Party re-affirmed its commitment to a European Union founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom of religion, freedom of expression and association, democracy, equality, rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are essential elements of a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail. Full respect for these principles is the basic condition for building citizens’ trust in the European Union. They are central to the Treaties on the European Union signed by all Member States at their accession. We expect all EPP member parties and associations to respect, protect and promote these principles and values. Some EPP member parties are questioning the commitment of the member party FIDESZ to those values and principles and they are asking for the membership of FIDESZ within the EPP to be re-considered. We are a family and therefore such a decision must not be taken lightly. The EPP Presidency is taking the concerns of several member parties very seriously and therefore proposes the following: 1.      Fulfilment by FIDESZ of the basic conditions as outlined by our Lead candidate, Manfred Weber, in his letter dating 5th March 2019, as follow: -       The posters and other advertising materials used to run a fake news campaign against President Jean-Claude Juncker must be withdrawn immediately; -       FIDESZ must understand that this campaign has caused considerable political damage. The EPP expects FIDESZ to fully recognise this and to refrain from these attacks in the future; -       Freedom of expression, of science and education are fundamental to us. Therefore, the pending legal issues regarding the Central European University must be clarified;       2.      The EPP Presidency and FIDESZ jointly agree that FIDESZ suspends its membership in the EPP until the report of the evaluation committee is ready. FIDESZ will no longer have any rights as a party-member. FIDESZ will no longer have the right to vote in any party meetings and will no longer have the right to propose candidates for posts. FIDESZ will no longer be present at any EPP meetings. Membership will be suspended. The decision will take effect immediately. This procedure is based on our previous experiences. 3.      We are establishing an Evaluation Committee chaired by Herman Van Rompuy and consisting of Hans-Gert Pöttering and Wolfgang Schüssel, tasked with monitoring the implementation of the basic conditions as listed above. In addition to the three conditions mentioned above, the Evaluation Committee will also thoroughly assess the respect for the rule of law, EPP values as well as the implementation of the EPP emergency resolution on “Protecting EU Values and Safeguarding Democracy”. 4.      The Evaluation Committee will present its report to the EPP Presidency in due course. The Evaluation Committee is fully independent. The requests regarding FIDESZ remain valid pending the presentation of the Evaluation Committee's final report. As a political family we must not only have principles and speak about values, but we also must lead by example. We expect ourselves and our member parties and associations to abide by these values and principles.


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