Brussels, 16/06/2008 (Agence Europe) -The Committee of the Regions (CoR) is to meet for its plenary session in Brussels on Wednesday 18 and Thursday 19 June, under the chairmanship of Luc Van den Brande. The local and regional MPs will examine some 20 opinions, including those on: the future of the regional policy of the EU, the proposal "Communicating Europe in Partnership", the internal market and the new European social agenda, and the package of Telecom reforms, multilingualism, the European year of creativity and innovation (2009), the impact of the Lisbon Treaty on the organisation of the CoR, social protection to reinforce social justice and economic cohesion, the European Year of the Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion (2010), European Grouping for Territorial Cooperation (EGTC), a global approach to immigration, a European vision of the mountainous regions, the European instrument of democracy and human rights. From 4.15pm on Wednesday 18 June, Commissioners Danuta Hübner (Regional Policy) and Vladimir Spidla (Social Affairs, Employment and Equal Opportunities), together with President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) Dimitris Dimitriadis, will address the plenary. At 9.00am on Thursday 19 June, the French secretary of state in charge of spatial planning, Hubert Falco, will present the programme of the French Presidency of the Union in this field.
Still on Wednesday 18 June, the eighth structured thematic dialogue with the regional and local associations will be held between 2.30pm and 4.00pm: Danuta Hübner will present the fifth interim report on economic and social cohesion, adopted the same morning by the Commission (see other article). Ms Hübner will be taking questions from participants, more specifically on the future of the cohesion policy and its active involvement in regional policy. Then, at 4.15pm, Ms Hübner will present her fifth interim report to the plenary of the Committee.
On the sidelines of the plenary session, the CoR will be holding the third institutional forum on the subject "Communicating Europe in Partnership", on Tuesday 17 and Wednesday 18 June. The president of the Committee, Luc Van den Brande, will take stock of the position of the CoR in the institutional framework of the EU and on the communication policy instruments, actions and methods of the Committee.
Lastly, the setting in place of a European Grouping for Territorial Cohesion (EGTC) will be the subject of the conference to be held jointly by the European Parliament and the CoR in Brussels on Thursday 19 June. Among those taking part are: Danuta Hübner, Luc Van den Brande, Mercedes Bresso (rapporteur of the opinion on the EGTC), plus Martine Aubry, the mayor of Lille, to represent the Eurometropolis Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai, the first EGTC, which was established earlier this year (see EUROPE 9601). (G.B./transl.fl)