Brussels, 10/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - The 15 and 16 February plenary session in Brussels of the Committee of the Regions (CoR) will see the election of a new CoR President for 2006-2010 to take over from Peter Straub, whose term of office is drawing to a close. The two main candidates are Michel Delebarre (PES, France) and Luc Van den Brande (EPP, Belgium). The ALDE party may still forward a candidate up until the day before the election. To be elected, a candidate will have to poll at least 50% of the votes of the members of the CoR present on the day. A press release explains that if all 317 members of the CoR vote, the new President will have to get at least 159 votes. The CoR will also be electing a new first vice-president, with the 25 other vice-presidents selected by national delegations and the CoR Bureau.
The plenary will officially kick off on Wednesday afternoon under the temporary chairmanship of Claude de Granut (EPP, France). On Thursday, the Austrian foreign secretary Hans Winkler will brief the CoR on the priorities of the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the EU, and EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini will address the plenary on the problems of religious sensitivity and media freedom. Other topics on the not very packed agenda include the opinion of Roberto Pella (EPP, Italy) on the European Youth Policy, and the opinion by Bernd Vogerle (PES, Austria) and Bernard Soulage (PES, France) on road and rail transport.