EU Committee of the Regions (CoR) Bureau extraordinary meeting to take place in Riga

Within the framework of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the extraordinary meeting of the CoR Bureau will take place in Riga on 17-18 March. The meeting will bring together representatives from 28 Member States’ local and regional governments.

On 18 March, a debate will be held on “Investing in Connecting Europe: the Digital Agenda as a key territorial element . The topic chosen is one of the priorities of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The newly elected CoR President Markku Markkula will speak about the role of the Digital Agenda in boosting growth and creating new jobs. Mr Arnis Daugulis, the Deputy State Secretary at the Latvian Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development will present the presiding country’s view on the development of digital Europe. The final conclusions will be drawn by Mr Andris Jaunsleinis, the Chairman of the Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments (LALRG).

The Chairman of Riga City Council, Mr Nils Ušakovs, will deliver the welcome speech, while on the eve of the Bureau meeting, CoR representatives, including President Markkula, will visit Riga City Council to learn about innovative IT solutions in the organisation of the Council’s work.

The Bureau is the CoR's political driving force. It is composed of the President, the first Vice-President, 28 other Vice-Presidents (one for each Member State), the chairmen of the political groups and other members from national delegations to reflect political pluralism among the constituent countries.

The meeting will be supported by Latvian entrepreneurs - SIA "Very Berry", SIA "Matss", SIA "Pie Mimi", SIA "Saldus maiznieks", A/S "Jaunpils pienotava", A/S "Smiltenes piens", z/s "Mežābeles", and z/s "Adzelvieši" - who will offer participants the opportunity to taste Latvian delicacies during coffee breaks.