Voorzitter Comité van de Regio's: Regionale samenwerking essentieel voor toetreding IJsland (en)

Mercedes Bresso i, President of the Committee of the Regions (CoR), attended the 4th EU-Icelandic Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) meeting today stating that local and regional collaboration must be an integral part of Iceland's accession to the European Union (EU). President Bresso was joined by Mr Halldór Halldórsson from the Association of Local Authorities in Iceland in leading discussions about EU-Icelandic local and regional cooperation. She welcomed the progress made in the accession negotiations and reiterated the CoR's willingness in fully supporting Iceland's accession process, "The Committee of the Regions stands ready to further support local authorities in Iceland in getting acquainted with the challenges and opportunities that EU membership has to offer them".

Pat the Cope Gallagher, MEP (ALDE group, Ireland) and Co-Chairperson of the JPC, stressed how the meetings were vital in cementing relationships at every political level, "Since the beginning of accession talks, the EU-Iceland Joint Parliamentary Committee has enabled Members of the European Parliament and Members of the Althingi to forge closer and stronger ties. The participation of Members from the Committee of the Regions during today's meeting will help to develop long lasting relationships at a local and regional level between Iceland and the EU". Mr. Halldórsson echoed this opinion emphasising the need to ensure that local authorities continued to be actively involved in the discussions, "Consultation and participation of all levels of government and multilevel governance is imperative in the accession process and it is vital that the voice of local authorities is heard in all fora. The JPC is an important part of the political process and we look forward to further information sharing and co-operation in the future".

President Bresso said that the CoR was also supporting the accession process by offering opinions on the European Commission's annual enlargement reports and co-organising a seminar for Icelandic local authorities together with the European Commission in June later this year. She noted that the CoR had also set-up Joint Consultative Committees with other candidate countries as a means to support their accession to the EU with the aim, "at fostering inter-institutional cooperation, building political contacts and providing a platform for the exchange of experiences between representatives of local and regional authorities from the EU and their counterparts from candidate countries". President Bresso stressed, "We look forward to working closer with Iceland Local Regional Authorities (LRAs). Our regions and EU regional policy will strongly benefit from sharing Icelandic experiences in mastering specific territorial challenges and developing best practices in fields like environment and energy".

The JPC meeting held in Reykjavik in Iceland was Co-Chaired by Mr. Pat the Cope Gallagher (MEP, ALDE group, Ireland) and Mr. Mr Árni Þór Sigurðsson (Left-Green Movement, Iceland) and was attended by representatives from all CoR political groups. The JPC speakers included Mr. Steingrímur J. Sigfússon, Iceland's Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture, Mr. Össur Skarphédinsson, Iceland's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Søren Haslund, EU Danish Ambassador to Iceland and Mr. Timo Summa, Head of EU Delegation to Iceland.

The meeting focused on an exchange of opinions on the following topics:

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  European Union-Iceland relations;
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  Cooperation between EU and Icelandic local and regional authorities;
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  Fisheries policies;
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  Financial and economic crisis: policy responses in Iceland and the EU;
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  The Green Economy: Iceland and EU policies.

Notes to editor:

The EU-Iceland Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) has been created with the intention of considering all aspects of relations between EU and Iceland, in particular related to the accession process. It allows Members of Parliaments to exchange views first-hand, also with EU and Icelandic government representatives.

Joint Consultative Committees (JCCs) are created between the CoR and local and regional representatives of the accession countries following a request from the government of the partner country concerned, on the basis of the provisions set down in the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA), or in an official declaration of the Stabilisation and Association Council between the Council of the European Union and the candidate country. They are composed of an equal number of CoR members (and alternate members) and local and regional representatives from the partner country. JCCs are co-chaired by a CoR member and a member from the partner country, and decisions are taken jointly.

For more information, please contact:

David French

Tel: +32 (0)2 282 2535

Mob: +32 (0)473 854 759