Hinting at his party's campaign slogan, the French minister told a Cercle des Européens debate in Brussels that the UMP would stand for a "Europe that protects".
"The French Presidency has allowed the perception of Europe to change from one that does not protect and is worrying, to one that is protective," Hortefeux claimed.
The minister argued that conveying this message would be easier than in previous election campaigns. "Given the financial crisis and the Georgian crisis, Europe has shown that it is capable of protecting collectively," he reasoned.
Having been put in charge of preparing the UMP campaign, Hortefeux said it was unlikely that he would appear as an eligible candidate on a UMP list for the EU elections. "I will be a candidate, but I will not be the head of the list," he said, inidcating that he would not step down from his ministerial role.
The UMP lists will be made available to the public on 24 January 2009. "We are currently having a hearing of outgoing MEPs," the French minister said, adding that if "all the UMP MEPs in place at the European Parliament want to return, there will probably be few to re-enlist".
Hortefeux's hints over the UMP's election campaign come after Jean-Luc Mélechon, a senator who left the French Socialist party earlier this month, launched a new radical party in a move that is set to further divide socialists in the country ahead of next year's European elections (EurActiv 1/12/08).
The centre-right European People's Party (EPP) is expected to unveil its election programme at the party's Warsaw Congress in April 2009.
