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Prime-Minister Speech
“Treaty, Brazil, Africa and Lisbon Strategy”. It was in this clear and concise manner that the Prime Minister José Sócrates defined the priorities of the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union for the next 6 months.
José Sócrates spoke in the joint press conference, held this morning together with the President of the European Parliament Hans-Gert Pöttering, at the end of the meeting of the Portuguese Government with the leaders of the political groups of the Strasbourg Assembly.
During the meeting, the President of the European Parliament thanked José Sócrates for the position taken in the last European Council, defending a higher number of European Parliament’s representatives – 3 instead of 2 – in the intergovernmental conference (IGC), in which the final agreement on the future Treaty of the European Union will be negotiated.
This position will allow the Parliament to designate a representative of the EP’s Liberal Group for the IGC to negotiate and adopt the Reform Treaty. The two representatives of the European Parliament are usually designated by the Socialist and Christian Democratic groups.
The Prime Minister José Sócrates also addressed the issue brought to light today concerning alleged statements from the Head of Government in Warsaw, according to which Poland might reopen the institutional package set in the mandate agreed upon in the last European Council.
Faced with this question, José Sócrates, according to the news agency Lusa, considered that “a misunderstanding” had occurred and stated his knowledge of what had been decided in the last summit in Brussels. “We left (the Brussels Summit) with a clear and precise mandate. Therefore, I believe that this misunderstanding will be quickly clarified”.
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