Ad-hoc EU-delegatie naar Kosovo ter gelegenheid van lokale verkiezingen (en)

COR/09/100

Brussels, 13 November 2009

Ad-hoc delegation from the Committee of the Regions to visit Kosovo on the occasion of the municipal and mayoral elections

Two CoR members - Doreen Huddart, Member of Newcastle-upon-Tyne City Council (UK/ALDE) and Patrick McGowan , Member of Donegal County Council (IE/UEN-EA) - will participate from 13 to 16 November in an ad-hoc delegation to Kosovo on the occasion of the first elections to take place after the proclamation of independence in February 2008. These elections will take place on Sunday 15 November, and are designed to elect municipal councils and mayors.

The delegation is not an election monitoring mission in the formal sense, but the CoR members will nevertheless visit several polling stations during their time in Kosovo. Before the election day, the ad-hoc delegation will meet members of the Central Election Commission, government officials and local candidates, as well as representatives of the international community in Kosovo, local authorities and representatives of civil society.

This visit reflects the Committee of the Regions' commitment to strengthening local and regional democracy in Europe and supporting the efforts of neighbouring partners, offering its expertise on multilevel governance and decentralisation.

Visit the CoR's website : www.cor.europa.eu

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 more information, please contact:

Athénais Cazalis De Fondouce

Tel. +32 (0)2 282 24 47

Athenais.CazalisdeFondouce@cor.europa.eu

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