Comité van de Regio's en het Europees Parlement belangrijk voor burgers betrekken bij de EU (en)
The EU's Assembly of Regional and Local Representatives
COR/09/84
Brussels, 23 September 2009
Working together to bring Europe closer to its citizens: Van den Brande meets EP President Buzek
Luc Van den Brande, President of the Committee of the Regions (CoR), met yesterday with Jerzy Buzek i, President of the European Parliament, to discuss the cooperation between their institutions at the beginning of the EP's new legislature. Van den Brande used the opportunity to highlight the two EU bodies' key role in connecting Europe with its citizens, and emphasised the CoR's readiness to strengthen the links between Europe's regional and local representatives and the Members of the European Parliament.
"As the two EU institutions with a direct link to the citizens, the Committee of the Regions and the European Parliament have built up an excellent working relationship over the past years" , stressed Van den Brande, proposing to develop this cooperation further: "For instance, our two committees in charge of EU regional policy already hold regular joint meetings. As the political remit of Europe's regional and local authorities extends far beyond regional policy, we should broaden this cooperation to other policy areas where CoR members have a lot to contribute, such as the environment or climate change. For these policy areas, we could also incorporate the expectations of Europe's regions and cities into the upcoming parliamentary hearings for the new Commissioners-designate, modelled on our fruitful cooperation with the EP's REGI committee."
The CoR President also outlined the ambitious political programme that the Committee of the Regions had committed itself to earlier this year with the adoption of its white paper on multi-level governance: "The Committee of the Regions has presented concrete proposals outlining how to build Europe in partnership between all levels of governance, from our municipal councils to the EU institutions. We invite all key stakeholders, including the new European Parliament, to contribute to this important debate on how we can bring Europe closer to its citizens."
Jerzy Buzek and Luc Van den Brande will meet again soon, as the EP President will present the political priorities of his presidency at the Committee of the Regions plenary session on 7 October.
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The Committee of the Regions
Around two-thirds of EU legislation is implemented by local and regional authorities in the Member States. The Committee of the Regions was created in 1994 to give representatives of local government a say over the content of these laws. The CoR organises five plenary sessions a year, where its 344 members vote on opinions issued in response to proposed legislation. The European Commission, which initiates EU laws, and the Council of Ministers, which determines the final content of the legislation (usually in tandem with the European Parliament), are obliged to consult the CoR on a wide range of policy areas including the environment, employment and transport. The Lisbon Treaty will strengthen the position of the Committee of the Regions further. In future, the Committee must be consulted by the European Parliament on all issues that are important for regions and municipalities. The Committee can also appeal to the EU Court of Justice if its rights are infringed or it believes that an EU law violates the subsidiarity principle or fails to respect regional or local powers.
For mo re information, please contact:
Committee of the Regions
Michael Alfons
Tél. + 32 (0)2 546 85 59
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