Brussels, 20/04/2004 (Agence Europe) - The Committee of the Regions (COR) will be meeting on 21 and Thursday 22 April in Brussels under the presidency of Peter Straub. The Vice-President of the European Commission Neil Kinnock will present the Commission's annual political strategy for 2005. COR will be making a series of recommendations, including those of: - French democrat Jacques Blanc (member of the regional council of Languedoc- Roussillon) and that of Italian socialist Gianfranco Lamberti (mayor of Livorno)on the theme of: "The euro-Mediterranean partnership and regional bodies: the need for co-ordination and a specific instrument for decentralised co-operation". Discussions could prove to be heated on this issue given the number of amendments; - from Ms McNamara (member of the Cork Advisory Council, European Alliance IE/EA on community action in support of European capitals of culture initiatives 2005 - 2019); from Spanish Liberal Martin Menis (President of the Caribbean Region) on "Orientations for a sustainable European tourism".
In parallel to the plenary session on Thursday, Peter Straub and Antonio Guterres, the former Portuguese prime minister, will award prizes for the European regional innovation regional competition. A Forum on "Innovative Actions in Europe's Cities and Regions" is also being organised, attended by Peter Straub too. It will be chaired by Elisabeth Helander, director at DG Regions at the European Commission, and Antonio Guterres, with the participation of Irish MEP Mary Banotti, vice-president of Nokia Mobile Phones, Yrjö Neuvo from Finland and Professor Luc Soete (University of Maastricht).