Brussels, 05/10/2007 (Agence Europe) - EU Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hübner and President of the EU Committee of the Regions (CoR) Michel Delebarre will be launching 'OPEN DAYS, the European Week of Regions and Cities' in Brussels on 8 October. The event is jointly organised by the CoR and the European Commission (DG Regio) and this year's event, the fifth OPEN DAYS, will run from 8-11 October and involves a record 212 regions and cities from 33 countries. More than 5000 participants are expected. The event, under the headline of 'Making it happen: regions and cities deliver growth and jobs', includes 150 seminars involving some 700 speakers. OPEN DAYS coincides with the launch all around Europe of new regional operational programmes which represent an investment of nearly €500 billion from the public (EU, national and regional) and the private sectors for 2007-2013.
For the first time, the international dimension of regional policy will be taken into account, with ministers and regional representatives from China, Russia and Brazil taking part, as well as experts from other non-EU countries and international bodies. In addition to the Brussels programme, local and regional authorities are holding about 100 local OPEN DAYS events in their own countries throughout October. The Committee of the Regions will once again host the Investors' Café, launched last year. This brings together public and private partners in seven thematic 'villages', covering transport, energy, environment, knowledge society, health, research and innovation, and financial engineering.
Alongside Danuta Hubner and Michel Delebarre, participants include Francisco Nunes Correia, Portugal's Minister for Environment and Regional Development, Philippe Maystadt, President of the European Investment Bank, Raphaël Alomar, Governor of the Council of Europe Development Bank, Ernest-Antoine Seillière, President of BUSINESSEUROPE, and Jozef Niemiec, Confederal Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation. Speakers at the closing session include the President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pottering, Danuta Hubner and Michel Delebarre. Info: http://www.opendays.europa.eu (gb)