Brussels, 25/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - Before he steps down from the Committee of the Regions, its president, Ramon Luis Valcarcel, has set out a new future for this advisory body as the “European Senate of the Regions”. At the plenary session on Wednesday 25 June, he put forward his vision of the future for the Committee of the Regions, which was also celebrating its 20th anniversary at this event.
For the president of the Committee of the Regions, the final opening ceremony of the plenary session provided an occasion to deliver his testament to the regional delegates. He will now step down - to be replaced probably by Michel Lebrun (EPP, Belgium) - and join the European Parliament. He therefore gave CoR members his recommendations for the institution's future, which he likens increasingly to a modern second chamber. This underpins the idea of the CoR becoming an official EU institution in the form of a European Senate of the Regions, which is fully involved in the legislative process (see the “Europe Debates” section in EUROPE 11106). To this end, he recommends that CoR observers attend trialogue negotiations and speak at these meetings. The Senate should also give its formal approval for decisions affecting cohesion policy. Such a Senate should also have the power to hold the executive accountable, by addressing questions to it and having its say on the appointment of the commissioner for regional development. Valcarcel would also like the Committee of the Regions to give its views on compliance with subsidiarity through specific opinions and have its vote in this regard taken into account, as is already the case with national parliaments. Ultimately, the European Senate of the Regions would act as a chamber for long-term discussion of societal questions. This new dynamic proposed by Valcarcel is expected to be included in the Convention drawn up by the Committee of the Regions, if it is amended in the future. This flagship proposal by Valcarcel is part of a longer-term reflection on the future of the CoR containing 50 recommendations. It follows on directly from the resolution on the 20th anniversary of CoR, which will be put to the vote on Thursday 26 June. (MD)