Brussels, 19/09/2000 (Agence Europe) - The Committee of the Regions will hold its thirty fifth plenary session this Wednesday 20 and Thursday 21 in Brussels. The Committee will adopt several opinion on road safety, maritime safety and renewable energy, subjects that will be at the centre of the debates, on Thursday, in the presence of Loyola de Palacio, European Commissioner responsible for these various issues.
Furthermore, the Committee, through the adoption of two opinion on the Charter of fundamental rights, and on a "European constitutional framework", will have the opportunity make a further call for a greater consideration for the role of local authorities, and will call for the notion of local autonomy and the principal of subsidiarity to be included in the Charters preamble.
The Committee will adopt several other opinions, notably on: 1) Information society and regional development - the interventions of the ERDF in 2000-2006, assessment criteria for the programme; 2) Commission Communication concerning policies and measures proposed by the European Union to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases; 3) the Council decision proposal relating to a multi-annual programme for enterprises and the spirit of enterprise, 2001-2005; 4) the Commission Communication "Act at a local level for employment - Give a local dimension to the European strategy for employment".
The debates will be opened on Wednesday afternoon by the President of the Committee of the Regions, Jos Chabert in the presence of the European parliament President Nicole Fontaine.