Brussels, 18/04/2007 (Agence Europe) - German Economy Minister Michael Glos and Bavarian Interior Minister Günther Beckstein (who is set to succeed Edmund Stoiber as Minister-President of the state of Bavaria) will meet Committee of the Regions (CoR) President Michel Delebarre, 1st Vice-President Luc Van Den Brande and the leaders of the Committee's four political groups (PES, EPP, ALDE, UEN-EA) in Würzburg on Thursday 19 April. The talks, held in the context of the CoR's Conference of Presidents and under the German presidency of the EU, will take place on the eve of the Committee's 100th extraordinary Bureau meeting. Emilia Müller, Bavarian Minister for European Affairs and chair of the German delegation to the CoR, and Pia Beckmann, Mayor of Würzburg, will take part in discussions. In the afternoon, Mr Delebarre and Ms Beckmann will also take part in a debate with students on “Subsidiarity: simple slogan or instrument for re-establishing confidence in the European Union?”
The centre piece of the Bureau meeting will be a panel discussion on “Internal market versus European Social Model”. Mr Delebarre and Ms Müller will launch the debate. Contributors will include: - Thomas Mann, Vice-Chairman of the EP employment ands social affairs committee; - David Parsons (EPP, UK), leader of Leicestershire Country Council and CoR rapporteur on the future of the single market; - Roger Liddel, policy adviser to the president of the European Commission, former adviser to Tony Blair, co-author of “The Blair Revolution” and co-editor of “Global Europe, Social Europe”; - John Farnell, Director at DG Enterprise (European Commission); - Giovanni Pensabene, President of the Network of Regions and Cities of the Social Economy (REVES), and Councillor, Reggio Calabria, Italy. EIB Vice Chairman Mathias Kollantz-Ahnen, and Mr Delebarre will bring the debate to a close with their conclusions. The Bureau will also discuss the results of the second test phase of the CoR's Subsidiarity Monitoring Network (for information: http: //subsidiarity.cor.europa.eu). (gb)