30/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - The “European Citizens' Panel”, an initiative launched in May 2006, aims to encourage citizens from eight different European regions and from very different environments to agree on policies around a common theme: the future of rural areas in Europe. This process began with the establishment of panels at regional level, a press release notes, through which citizens were able to make recommendations to the local authorities, which will then be presented at a conference to be held on 2 April 2007 at the headquarters of the Committee of the Regions (CoR) in Brussels. This conference is to be organised by the non profit-making European Association for Information on Local Development (AEIDL) in partnership with the FGF (Foundation for future generations). Among those taking part will be Agriculture and Regional Development Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel, the President of the Committee of the Regions Michel Delebarre and the new Director General of DG Regio (European Commission) Dirk Ahner. Info: http://www.cor.europa.eu or http://www.citizenspanel.eu (gb)