Comité van de regio's komt met aanbevelingen voor Europese Commissie (en)
On 10-11 September, in the context of the Swedish presidency of the European Union, the CoR held its Bureau meeting in Uppsala (Sweden), with Luc Van den Brande in the chair. At this meeting, the institution's political executive body officially adopted a raft of recommendations from Europe's regions and cities to the new European Commission. These will be presented to MEPs in the coming weeks, in anticipation of the approaching hearings of the Commissioners designate.
Climate change, the environment and natural resources, cohesion policy, multi-level governance: On the strength of the CoR's close ties with the European Parliament, the President of the Committee of the Regions will present this thematic document to Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament, at their working meeting on 22 September. He will also discuss how the CoR can participate in the hearings of the Commissioners designate, either by being directly represented at the hearings or via MEPs to whom the document will be presented.
"We will make sure that MEPs are aware of these recommendations and communicate them during the hearings of the designated candidates. And, before their hearings, on behalf of all CoR members, I will convey to these candidates our vision for the EU and the role that regional and local authorities will have to play in it" stated Luc Van den Brande, before adding "We have to ensure from the outset that the members of the next Commission take regional and local interests into consideration and understand that political action in Europe has no future unless the regional and local authorities have an active role. Europeans want a Europe that is closer to them, that is open and that delivers concrete results without generating red tape. To do this, EU institutions need, more than ever, the help of the regions, cities and councils."
As EU policy priorities for the next five years begin to take shape, the Committee of the Regions intends to use this transitional period, which began with last June's European elections, to draw the other institutions' attention to its recommendations.
This extraordinary Bureau meeting of the CoR also broached the subject of local and regional support for innovation at a time of crisis in a discussion with the representatives of Swedish local and regional authorities and a statement from Mats Odell, Swedish minister for local government and financial markets.
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