Registratie open voor Europese Week van de regio's en steden op www.opendays.europa.eu

Online registration for the OPEN DAYS 2008 European Week of Regions and Cities gets underway today, 9 July. Participation is free, with 143 specialist seminars to choose from and a total of 15 000 seats available from 6-9 October. Registering for an event could not be simpler: the official website, www.opendays.europa.eu, includes details all the seminars and workshops, speakers, dates and venues, as well as a step-by-step guide on how to apply.

A record 216 regions and cities from 32 countries have signed up as partners for the sixth annual OPEN DAYS, organised by the Committee of the Regions (CoR) and the European Commission's Regional Policy Directorate-General, with the support of the French Presidency of the EU and the European Parliament.

The French Prime Minister, François Fillon, will address the opening session at the Charlemagne Building on 6 October, alongside CoR President Luc Van den Brande and Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hübner. European Commission President José Manuel Barroso is also expected to participate in the ceremony. The closing session, which takes place in the European Parliament on 9 October, will include contributions from President Hans-Gert Pöttering, French Secretary of State for European Affairs Jean-Pierre Jouyet, and CoR First Vice-President Michel Delebarre. Commission Vice-President Gunter Verheugen has also been invited.

The OPEN DAYS is aimed at EU and regional policy-makers, experts and representatives of banking, business and civil society groups. The seminars and workshops will focus on first experiences of implementing the 345 cohesion policy programmes running from 2007-2013, worth a total investment of about EUR 500 billion in EU and national funds.

The OPEN DAYS seminars and debates will focus on four themes:

Innovating regions: Promoting research, technological development and innovation Sustainable development: Regional responses to climate change Cooperation and networking: Exchange of best practice in regional development Looking forward: A European cohesion policy for tomorrow.

The European Investment Bank, BusinessEurope, the European employers' organisation, Siemens, General Electric, Philips, Veolia and the European Citizen Action Service will be among organisations represented at the OPEN DAYS "Investors Café", the event's exhibition and meeting area, hosted at the Committee of the Regions headquarters.

In addition to the events planned in Brussels, 32 countries will host 235 local OPEN DAYS events throughout the month of October, under the banner of "Europe in my region". In total, 26 Member States are represented among the OPEN DAYS partners, along with Turkey, Croatia, Norway, Switzerland and – for the first time – Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iceland. France has registered the highest number of partners, 22, followed by Italy and Spain (19), the United Kingdom (18), and Poland (17). In addition, representatives from other countries, including China, Russia, Brazil and Serbia are expected to contribute to the event, along with international organisations.

How to register for OPEN DAYS

Click on www.opendays.europa.eu

Each seminar and workshop has a code according to its date, the letter of one of the four thematic topics, and a chronological number. For example, the seminar code "08A02" signifies: Wednesday 8 October, thematic topic "A" of the programme (Innovating regions: Promoting research, technological development and innovation), and is the 2nd seminar (out of the total number of seminars on the theme).

The website provides an online search tool in order to find a seminar or workshop by specific topic. The search is activated by keywords, themes, speakers' names, programme codes or dates. If one or several seminars of interest are found, select them by clicking the appropriate box. The system then asks for the personal data (name, organisational affiliation, email, etc.) of the potential participant. Once submitted, the request to attend the selected workshops is automatically sent to the organisers of the chosen workshops. Please note that attendance at the opening and closing sessions and the official reception is by invitation only. Group registrations to seminars are not possible.

Once the request for attendance has been received, the online registration system will automatically send an email confirming that the request is being processed. This is not a confirmation of participation. Within two weeks following the request(s) for attendance, and depending on the number of seats available, participants will be notified by a confirmation – or rejection – email for each attendance request.

Contact for participants and general requests: Fiona Andria

secretariat@open-days.eu

Contacts for journalists: Ana Aguilar

press@open-days.eu

For more information, please contact:

Dennis Abbott

+32 0)2 282 20 99

+32 (0)2 282 20 85

Athénais Cazalis de Fondouce

+32 0)2 282 24 47

+32 (0)2 282 20 85

Renate KOHL-WACHTER

+32 (0)2 282 23 57