In a press release published on Wednesday 18 January, the President of the Committee of the Regions (CoR), Markku Markkula, welcomed the election of the new President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani (EPP, Italy), who, he said will be “pragmatic in his approach, visionary in his thoughts and innovative in his actions”. He welcomed the election of the MEP, whose political leanings he shares, by stating that “President Tajani’s leadership will be pivotal to bring the EU and its policies closer to the wishes, expectations and needs of European citizens”. In addition to this praise, he added that, “The European Parliament can continue to count on the European Committee of the Regions' full support and partnership”.
Deepening European Parliament/CoR cooperation agreement. According to the information we have received, CoR is hoping to continue, indeed, deepen its cooperation with the parliamentary co-legislator as part of the cooperation agreement signed with Parliament in February 2014 by the former President Ramón Luis Valcárcel Siso, and outgoing President of Parliament, Martin Schulz.
It should be pointed out that one of the elements in this agreement establishes joint work between Parliament and CoR committees. Its objective is to increase the CoR’s influence on the legislative process. Several joint meetings have therefore been held, such as the one in September with Parliament's Transport and Tourism Committee (see EUROPE 11636). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)