Brussels, 08/10/2007 (Agence Europe) - The Committee of the Regions (CoR) will be meeting in plenary session on Wednesday 10 and Thursday 11 October in Brussels under the chairmanship of Michel Delebarre. Commissioners Dalia Grybauskaité (financial programming and budget), Joe Borg (fisheries, maritime affairs) and Leonard Orban (multilingualism) will be among the main speakers.
Local and regional representatives will vote on 11 opinions covering topics including migration policy and the management of the European Union's southern borders, climate change, the energy package, extension of trans-European transport routes, the future of European airports, new perspectives for the European Research Area, cooperation between the EU and Ukraine, and better law-making. The three commissioners, all addressing the assembly for the first time, will attend the plenary on 10 October. Dalia Grybauskaité, taking the floor from 15: 30 to 16: 30, will focus on EU budget reform. From 16: 30 to 17: 00, Joe Borg will unveil the Commission's “Blue Paper” action plan for maritime policy, and, from 17: 00 to 18: 00, Leonard Orban will discuss his plans to promote multilingualism in the EU. We would point out that Joe Borg will be back at the CoR next month in order to take part in the Blue Planet Forum, organised from 27-29 November with the assistance of the Commission's DG on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs in order to give actors involved an opportunity to react to the proposals put forward in the Blue Paper.
During this plenary session, Michel Delebarre will announce the shortlist for the inaugural European Regional Champions Awards. The awards, organised by the Brussels-based Regional Review magazine, aim to celebrate examples of best practice in the EU's regions and cities, highlighting champions of programmes and projects that can serve as an example to other regions and cities, a CoR press release explains. For information: http://www.cor.europa.eu (gb)