This has been a very successful new year for the EPP. You have control of the Parliament, you are doing well in the Commission, and of course Lisbon has been finally approved. Where are you going to go from here?

I think it is our responsibility to ensure that the European Union develops in the right way, that we can live in peace, that we are competitive as Europeans with  the competition in the world, with China, with our friends in the United States, and others. And, of course, we have to solve the great challenge and problem of climate change, and the European Union has taken the lead. This is very important, so we are there in the European Peoples Party, and our group in the European Parliament, are in the center of European development.
 

The one loss that the EPP has had is with the UK Conservatives leaving the group. Has that been a great loss for the EPP?

No, of course we regret very much that the British Conservatives left our group in the European Parliament, which I chaired for seven-and-a-half years, and I did so much to keep them in our group, and it’s a great disappointment that the leader of the Conservative Party in London took another decision. I think this is a strategic mistake, but even when they have left us, we remain the biggest group in the European Parliament. We remain committed to the European Project and this European project in the 21st-Century is a project now for the young generation. The 21st-Century is the century for young people and we are working for them that they have a good future on our European continent. 
 
Well, on the subject of the Conservatives, there is talk that Edward McMillan-Scott will be coming to join the EPP. Would you welcome him or any other conservatives?

I personally would welcome him very much. He believes in the European unification, and he always defended in a good way the interests of his country, the United Kingdom. But at the same time he always has been a good European and I always have had, on a personal basis even, a very good relation with Edward McMillan-Scott.
 
But the withdrawal of the Conservatives seems to be a symptom of growing euroskepticism within Europe and there is more and more distance between the citizens and the institutions. Are we in a situation now where Lisbon has been approved that we can be a bit more outward looking. How are you hoping to engage with euroskeptics and the more questioning citizens?

This is of course something we have to look at. It is very important that the political parties, the European parties, the members of Parliament on the national level, on the local level, on the European level, have a close relation with our citizens and I am not pessimistic. I think that if we improve our relations, and if the media, especially television, are more open for  information about the European Union, I think it will be possible to bring the people nearer to the European Union again, and my experience is that there is a deep sense  of the people, that they want a united and strong Europe that defends our values and in the heart of our European project is the dignity of the human being, are human rights, democracy, legal order, peace and solidarity between the people in Europe. This is our ambition, these are our values, and let us fight for them peacefully.

I have got to ask you about the new Council President and the High Representative. Now these people seem to be evolving their own job descriptions and their own approaches to the task. How would you like them see develop in these new roles?

I think both personalities, Herman Van Rompuy as President of the European Council, and Lady Ashton as the Foreign Minister, so to say, High Representative and Vice President of the Commission, they are very able and committed personalities and if I would have to give advice to them, then I would encourage them to take strong leadership for the European Union, so that the European Union is visible in the European Union and in the world.

Hans-Gert Pöettering discusses the EPP’s vision for Europe and the loss of the UK Conservatives