00:00It is the second day of the European People's Party Congress taking place here in Valencia in the east coast of Spain.
00:09It is the first gathering of this kind since the European People's Party won the elections last June, the European Parliament's elections.
00:17So a lot of familiar faces here at the Congress, from the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to the European Parliament President Roberto Mozzella.
00:25The party also boasts 12 heads of state and government who sit inside the EU Council, 14 commissioners and 188 MEPs.
00:36And the big headline here is the fact that Manfred Weber, the German politician, has been re-elected for three more years as president.
00:45Many here are also excited about the fact that Germany's new chancellor is also from their party.
00:50Friedrich Merz warmed the room yesterday and excited the room with his words that he will be focusing on cutting red tape and regulation when he gets inaugurated.
00:59Well, we have a lot of power in our hands.
01:01We have the responsibility.
01:03We have seen major challenges ahead.
01:05I just had a meeting with my American friends.
01:08That is the dominant issue.
01:09The role of Europe has to take over much more responsibility.
01:13I'm not pessimistic about the transatlantic relations.
01:16We as EPP always have been very much in favor of it.
01:19We do much more than we should have done in the past.
01:23But we have the potential.
01:24Europe is extremely rich in economics.
01:27Military is something we have to build up.
01:30Well, the expectations are extremely high and the speech yesterday have been very clear.
01:33I hope his coalition partner will support him in this endeavor.
01:37And we have other partners, not only France.
01:39It's Poland, it's the Nordic countries, the Baltics.
