Brussels, 07/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - Ramón Luis Valcárcel Siso, the new president of the Council of the Regions (CoR) who took up his office this summer, is stepping up the number of meetings held with the institutions to defend a strong multiannual financial framework. On Friday 7 September, he met Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias, whose country currently holds the rotating EU Council presidency until the end of the year.
As the fate of the Union budget is to be decided over coming months, the CoR has constantly called for a consequential European budget that is able to support the efforts being made by towns and regions. After meeting the president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz (see EUROPE 10683), he met Christofias in Nicosia on Friday in order to express his full support for the Cypriot Presidency in carrying the dossier through to a successful conclusion. Both men agree it is necessary to have a significant budget allocated to cohesion policy in the forthcoming multiannual financial framework 2014-2020. The CoR president is also to meet with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy next week. (MD/transl.jl)