EPP DUBLIN 6-7 MARCH 2014

Fine Gael (Ireland’s current governing party) will host the Congress to launch the election campaign of the European People’s Party (EPP) on 6 and 7 March 2014 in Dublin. 2,000 delegates are expected to attend the two day Congress which will launch the EPP’s campaign for the 2014 European Parliament elections, by approving its manifesto and selecting the EPP’s candidate for President of the European Commission. Starting from Dublin, the EPP presidential candidate will campaign in all Member States of the European Union until the scheduled European elections in May 2014.   The Congress will bring together heads of government, party leaders, ministers, national and European parliamentarians, and delegates from all EPP member parties throughout Europe. The 2014 Congress will be the largest ever event organised by the EPP and will attract much international media attention, with hundreds of journalists from around the world expected to attend.

Many of the leading politicians on the EPP side are currently in office and at this time may not want openly campaign. As of June 2013, the prime ministers of Poland (Donald Tusk), Finland (Jyrki Katainen), Sweden (Fredrik Reinfelt) have opted to stay in national politics. Plausible contenders are Dalia Grybauskaite, Lithuania's president since 2009 and a former European commissioner for the budget, Enda Kenny of Ireland and Valdis Dombrovskis of Latvia. Other potential candidates are Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, and two serving European commissioners – Luxembourg's Viviane Reding and France's Michel Barnier. Jean-Claude Junker of Luxembourg could also be considered.