Dear Friend,

I am seek­ing your support to become Vice Presi­dent of the Euro­pean People’s Party.

As a party leader with mini­ste­rial expe­ri­ence from the Ministries of Finance, Inte­rior and Agricul­ture, as well as expe­ri­ence of leading seve­ral natio­nal elec­tion campaigns, I am certain I can provide valu­able insight to the work of the Presi­dency.

EU needs to be better prepa­red to face the chal­lenges of the future

The EU should be the birt­h­place of new leading tech­no­lo­gies and inno­va­tive solu­tions. We need invest­ments in rese­arch and educa­tion. If we do it right, efforts to reduce carbon emis­sions will lead to more jobs and improve EU’s compe­ti­ti­ve­ness. Euro­pean agricul­ture and the deve­lop­ment of rural areas is part of the solu­tion to climate change, not the problem.

Well-educa­ted and skill­ful people are the key to welfare and prospe­rity in the EU, as well as the success of cities and regi­ons. We must work with the 24 million Euro­pean small and medium-sized enter­pri­ses to ensure that unne­ces­sary regu­la­tory burden does not stop them from succee­ding. When deter­mi­ning the content and the level of the next MFF, we need to find the right balance between the old and new prio­ri­ties.

Euro­pe­ans need to feel safe at home

For the EU to be a safe home, we need to strengthen our secu­rity and defense coope­ra­tion, tackle hybrid thre­ats, terro­rism and orga­ni­zed crime toget­her. We cannot allow crimi­nals to abuse our cherished free­dom of move­ment and digi­tal single market. I was Minis­ter of the Inte­rior during the migra­tion crisis in 2015.

The EU’s inabi­lity to deal with the influx of migrants caused poli­ti­cal uphea­val which chal­lenged our unity. We cannot be caught off guard like that ever again. Despite strengthe­ning Fron­tex, we still do not have a func­tio­ning common Euro­pean Asylum System.

We need to address this before we are faced with a new crisis. Hard exter­nal borders are a precon­di­tion for the free­dom of move­ment in the EU.

EU is the best tool to ensure peace and prospe­rity in Europe

25 years ago, I campaig­ned for Finland’s members­hip in the EU. 25 years ago, I stood in the stre­ets of Turku, campaig­ning for a “YES” in our EU refe­ren­dum. Hosting the EPP Congress last year in Helsinki was there­fore a great honour for me and it demon­stra­ted our party’s dedi­ca­tion to the EPP. EPP has always stood up for funda­men­tal Euro­pean values, such as free­dom and democracy.

We have consi­stently worked for a strong and united Euro­pean Union. As the world becomes incre­a­singly uncer­tain, the promo­tion of our common values and a strong Union become more impor­tant than ever.

In the EPP, we know how to work as a team towards the same goals. We must get better at high­ligh­ting what unites us instead of what sepa­ra­tes us. This moti­va­tes me to run for Vice Presi­dent of the EPP.

I hope I can get your support and I look forward to seeing you in Zagreb!

Petteri Orpo

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Pette­ri’s CV in short:

Member of the Parli­a­ment of Finland

Presi­dent of Kansal­li­nen Kokoomus

Former Deputy Prime Minis­ter

Former Minis­ter of Finance, Inte­rior and Agricul­ture

Former Co-Chair of EPP Ecofin Mini­ste­rial Meetings

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