Brussels, 07/02/2008 (Agence Europe) - To a thunder of applause, Mercedes Bresso, the re-elected president of the PES group at the Committee of the Regions (CoR) described the presidency of the Committee of the Regions (CoR) as containing a “dynamic characterised by a significant level of visibility”. In this atmosphere, the mayor of Dunkirk, Michel Delebarre (PES, France), handed over the reins of the CoR presidency to Luc Van den Brande (EPP, Belgium) during the committee plenary session on Wednesday 6 February in Brussels (EUROPE 9595). Michel Delebarre, who had been elected first vice president of the CoR (with 198 votes in favour, 1 abstention and 1 against, according to the terms of the agreement reached in February 2006 between the two political groups: PES and the EPP) exclaimed that a French socialist from Flanders was being succeeded by a Fleming from different political hue. The new president and former minister-president of the Flemish region of Belgium was elected by 211 votes (7 abstentions) for a mandate that expires on 10 February 2010, when the committee begins a new legislature. The committee also proceeded to the election of 27 other vice presidents (one per member state at the head of each national delegation) and other members of the CoR bureau.
Luc Van den Brande: support for new multilevel partnership of power
In his presentation of the main guidelines of his programme, Luc Van den Brande, highlighted five political messages developed at the Committee over the years and which the local and regional authorities regard as important, that Europe: 1) is a community of values, 2) is a political project, 3) is a quality of life for people, 4) is synonymous with multilevel governance, 5 takes into account local and regional realities”. Van den Brande declared that he would call on, “the European institutions and member states to strive for a new partnership between the different levels of government that allows the various tiers to work together on an equal footing in order to achieve jointly defined objectives”. He insisted on the fact that the more global problems become, “the more people look for security and solutions at levels of government they recognise, can access” and said that “the Europe that was launched as an economic project must grow into a Citizens' Europe”. Mr Van den Brande also believes that the European Parliament is the “natural partner” of the CoR and wants to improve this collaboration. He said that the CoR wanted a, “more proactive force” in the Europe decision-making process. He concluded that during his presidency he wanted to, “give symbolic expression to European integration. I want to take the Committee to the places where Europe was made (Strasbourg), wounded (Dresden/Ypres) and transformed (Gdansk), to the places where Europe is being called into question (Prague) and is in demand (Croatia), to the places where Europe is in the process of renewal”.
Michel Delebarre: concerned about social Europe - Commission must
keep right of initiative
Drawing up a balance sheet of his presidency, Michel Delebarre highlighted three CoR achievements: 1) CoR's place in the institutional make-up, “the best illustration being the extraordinary session in Rome 22-23 March 2007 and the constructive partnership established with the Commission and its president José Manuel Barroso”; 2) the fact that the CoR has revealed itself for some time now as the, “champion of multilevel governance”; 3) consultative competency of the CoR on sustainable development issues, economic and social and territorial cohesion, “where the committee is well ahead”. In the context of actions, “that are still fragile and which will still require some progress to be made over a number of years”, Delebarre referred to the Lisbon Strategy, immigration and integration policies, external relations and the EU budget.
Despite these positive facts, the mayor of Dunkirk said that he was concerned about the social Europe, “once the shock of the French and Dutch referendums was over, I felt that social issues had been left off the centre stage over the last two years. Job insecurity and the number of poor workers have not ceased to increase. Costs of ensuring social cohesion and inclusion of the poor has increased for local and regional authorities. No ambitious vision for our common social future has been developed…Of course the CoR cannot act alone in this field and it has to overcome party politics to this end and act as an elected assembly. It must be able to interpret the concerns and aspirations of those on the ground”. Delebarre concluded by launching an appeal to president Barroso to maintain the Commission's right of initiative.
José Manuel Barroso, “We need to work together within the variety
of common values for Europe
In his speech to the CoR, the president of the European Commission welcomed the fact that, “no less than 96% of cities and regions participating in the Lisbon strategy platform follow-up are pro-active and prepared to take ownership of the Lisbon objectives”.
Mr Barroso also said that he wanted a closer collaboration with their national authorities and that in the follow-up, “the Commission will continue to emphasise to member states that they should work more with the CoR”. He added that, “your proximity with citizens means that you are ideally placed to create a genuine mobilisation in support of the Lisbon strategy. Europe's success depends on political will, as well as coherent action from all the actors, including those on the ground”. He concluded that they need to work together within a variety of common European values.
In reply to Mercedes Bresso (PES, Italy), who asked what the Commission intended to do to make sure the amending treaty was swiftly ratified and the risks of 2005 were avoided (the French no vote on 29 May was followed by the Dutch no vote on 31 May), Barroso explained, “the treaty of Lisbon is the means, an instrument. As such it is not an end in itself. We need to be modest: we are at the service of our citizens. The treaty is a good tool, it is efficient, responsible and represents the transparency of the European Union. it is the best way of working on the essentials. This is what our citizens want, which means highlighting concrete results, economic growth, job creation, cleaner environment, more security, removing threats. But honestly, the treaty won't bring any magic solutions. We need to work together, with the regions”. Everyone agreed with Ms Bresso on the Union symbols (European flag, anthem) but Mr Barroso thought that everything should not be included in the treaty and they needed to, “win the hearts and minds of citizens, this is what counts. Europe's strength is its unity in diversity. This is how we'll move forward”.
Paul O'Donoghue (UEN-AE, Ireland) asked about tax harmonisation in Europe. Barroso said that the Commission did not foresee any harmonisation or company profits. He cited Switzerland and the US as examples of countries where tax harmonisation did not exist and where they were doing alright.