The President of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), Belgian Karl-Heinz Lambertz, put forward the idea of organising a joint conference of the Presidents of the European Parliament and the Committee on Wednesday 4 December, before the Committee members gathered for the plenary session and the President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli. Objective: to get on the same page for the Conference on the Future of the Union.
The president does not want to miss this great event. Problem: the regional and local level seems to be absent from discussions on the future of the EU. “The European institutions have an opportunity to demonstrate their willingness to work with elected representatives in the field. This opportunity is the Conference on the Future of Europe. I have also asked you, Mr President, that the Committee be a full member of it”, stressed the President of the Committee of the Regions in his third and final speech on the state of the Union.
He recalled that his institution was an observer member when the European Convention was being drafted. “18 years later, I cannot imagine that we do not have a dedicated place in the work this time. [...] Excluding cities and regions from these debates on the functioning of our Union, limiting them to communication exercises would be a vision of a Europe past”, he said.
In his view, it is therefore necessary to organise a joint Conference of Presidents with the European Parliament to consolidate their positions, to bring their full weight to bear at the Conference, but also to face up to the budget cuts proposed by the Finnish Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the next multiannual financial framework (see EUROPE 12384/10).
This proposal to organise a joint Presidents’ Conference is reported to have been discussed between Mr Lambertz and Mr Sassoli.
It should be noted that Parliament’s Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO) will adopt a resolution on the Conference on the Future of the EU on Monday 9 December at the end of the day. Amendments to integrate local and regional elected representatives have been tabled. It remains to be seen whether they will be adopted. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)