Brussels, 03/12/2004 (Agence Europe) - The management committee of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) will be meeting in Maastricht (the Netherlands( on 13/14 December, attended by Valery Giscard d'Estaing who will be chairing the meeting for the last time as CEMR President. The mayor of Vienna, Michael Haupl, is the only candidate to take over from Giscard d'Estaing. The hundred or so other participants include Jan Mans, Mayor of Enschede, President of the Dutch section of the CEMR; Wim Deetman, Mayor of The Hague; Walter Ventroni, Mayor of Rome; Barbel Dieckmann, Mayor of Bonn; Wolfgang Schuster, Mayor of Stuttgart; George Giannopoulos, Mayor of Rhodes; Ilmar Reepalu, Mayor of Malmo; and Oldrich Vlasak, MEP, President of the Czech Union of Cities and Municipalities.
The meeting will begin on 13 December with a debate on the importance of the European Constitution for citizens and the regions of Europe. CEMR will then consider accession requests from associations in the municipalities of Estonia and Montenegro. On 14 December, the management committee will elect the new CEMR President, Vice-President and executive bureau, and the heads of the three CEMR forums (on cohesion policy, sustainable local development and the economy and social affairs). The management committee will then adopt the CEMR's work programme for 2005 and decide on the CEMR's view on public services, sustainable local development, the future of Cohesion Policy, the 20th anniversary of the European Charter of Local Autonomy, and twin towns in the future.