Committee of the Regions on Italian Presidency of the EU

​From the 1 July to 31 December 2014 Italy takes hold of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The Committee of the Regions (CoR) will work with the Italian Presidency to help fulfil its priorities.

Head of the Italian Delegation to the Committee of the Regions, and President of Italy’s Marche Region, Gian Mario Spacca (IT/ALDE) commented on Italy’s presidency of the EU. He stated: “Growth, above all growth, employment and migration. These are the priorities of the Italian Presidency of the European Union, which began on 1 July and will be oriented to develop a ‘place of hope’. Europe, in the logo created by some students, is interpreted as a large family that unites all populations and symbolises a journey, hope and freedom. The semester will have among its strengths the birth of the Adriatic Ionian macro-region for which the Committee of the Regions worked intensely on to help realise. The macro-region is an innovative way of territorial cooperation between regions and nations with the common goal of having a balanced and sustainable development of the communities that live there: these are the principles which I am sure will inspire the Italian Presidency of the EU. The ‘Ambassador’ of this six-month journey will be Luca Parmitano, the European Space Agency astronaut. Let’s dare to fly high!"

In line with the Italian semester the CoR will be hosting a selection of its Commission meetings and Working Group sessions in Italy, including: 23rd COTER meeting on 10-11 July, in Fabriano, NAT seminar on innovation and bioeconomy on 19 September, in Florence-r, and 25th CIVEX meeting on 22 September, in Brindisi.

An important meeting in the CoR agenda for the Italian semester will be the CoR Bureau meeting in Turin; currently scheduled for 12 September. It will be hosted by CoR member, Mayor of Turin and President of ANCI (Association of Italian municipalities) Piero Fassino (IT/PES).