Brussels, 25/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - Fresh from taking up his duties as President elect of the Committee of the Regions (CoR), Ramón Luis Valcárcel Siso met President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso on 23 July to present him with his priorities for his two and a half years in office: contribution of the local authorities to the EU 2020 strategy, particularly the European budget. On the same day, Valcárcel Siso attended his first meeting of the Council of general affairs ministers, which was dealing with precisely the issue of the budget (see EUROPE 10664). The president elect, who is deeply committed to the EU 2020 agenda, told Barroso that “the best way of committing the European regions to achieve these objectives is to adopt local pacts and the increased involvement of the regions in the national reform programmes set in place by the member states”. Valcárcel Siso also expressed his staunch support for the Commission, “contrary to the voices calling for a reduced European budget”. It is naturally the budget for cohesion, so vital to the European regions, which concerns him the most. He told the president of the European Commission that it was “crucial to maintain a credible budget for the cohesion policy, a budget which should not be considered just as a cost, but as an investment to ensure the continuity of the added value of Community action in favour of all the regions.” (MD/transl.fl)