Brussels, 31/08/2007 (Agence Europe) - The Committee of the Regions (CoR) Bureau is to hold an extraordinary meeting in Vilamoura (Algarve) on 6 and 7 September to discuss the prospects of regionalisation in Portugal and negotiations on the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) on the new amending treaty.
Local and regional representatives feel the IGC should, according to provisions, maintain progress made by the local and regional authorities in the constitutional treaty, currently jammed The CoR stresses the need to recognise local and regional autonomy and to more clearly define the principle of subsidiary, the right granted to the CoR to refer violation of this principle to the Court of Justice, the recognition of territorial cohesion as well as cultural and linguistic diversity among the Union objectives and that of a specific status for outlying regions. Jeremy Smith, who is secretary general of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), had expressed the same sentiment end July saying “We hope the Intergovernmentql Conference can accept all of these points without problem. The European Union cannot be a top-down creation - it needs the active involvement of all levels of government if we are to tackle successfully the issues that concern our citizens”.
The Vilamoura meeting is being held at the invitation of Carlos Tuta, President of the Portuguese national delegation of the CoR and chairman of Monchique Municipal Council. Francisco Nunes Correia, Portugal's Minister for Environment and Regional Development, and former EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Antonio Vitorino, also adviser to the Portuguese EU Presidency, will be among the main speakers, as well as CoR President Michel Delebarre. (gb)