Brussels, 12/04/2005 (Agence Europe) - The Committee of the Regions (CoR) is to meet in Brussels on 13 and 14 April under the chairmanship of Peter Straub. The Commissioner in charge of Regional Policy, Danuta Hübner, will address the meeting on 13 April to take stock on negotiations on the financial perspectives 2007-2013 and will read out the conclusions of the joint EP/CoR conference on “The future of European cohesion and its financing” (see EUROPE 8923).
At the start of the work, Peter Straub will urge members of the CoR to redouble their efforts to raise awareness among the public about the European Constitution, stressing their duty to explain why the Constitution Treaty is in the interests of each and every citizen of the EU. The Constitution will respect the rights and democratic values of all and guarantee more openness in the European decision-making process. We must also, he is likely to say, prove that it will boost the role and powers of local and regional government, as well as of the CoR itself. He will continue by explaining that the Constitution is good for Europe, but that all of the members of the CoR must go out and “sell” it, especially in those countries in which referendums are to be held, to be sure that the public makes an informed decision.
The local and regional representatives will then be called upon to take position on a dozen opinions on such subjects as: 1) the general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund (rapporteurs: Konstantinos Tatsis, EPP, Greece and Jens Nilsson, PES, Sweden); 2) the European Regional Development Fund (Rosario Condorelli, ALDE, Italy); 3) the Cohesion Fund (Antonio Paiva, EPP, Portugal); 4) the study on links between legal and illegal immigration (Keith Brown, UEN-AE, UK); 5) the European neighbourhood policy (Lord Hanningfield, EPP, UK); 6) changes to the 2003 on various aspects of the management of working time (Baroness Hanham, EPP, UK); 7) the area of liberty, security and justice: the role of the local and regional authorities in the implementation of The Hague programme (Risto Koivisto, PES, Finland).