Brussels, 10/10/2008 (Agence Europe) - At its 76th plenary sitting on 8-9 October 2008, chaired by Luc Van den Brande, the Committee of the Regions (CoR) adopted several important opinions.
The opinion presented by Dutch ALDE member Lenie Dwarshuis-Van de Beek on the
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) stressed three priorities: the need to preserve the current CAP budget; the need to adjust the CAP to meet new challenges; and the importance to cut red tape for CAP beneficiaries on the ground.
An opinion on the involvement of local authorities in the Barcelona Process - Union for the Mediterranean. The opinion's author is Italian EPP member Isidoro Gottardo, a municipal councillor from Sacile. Local authorities are calling for themselves to be directly involved in the governance and management of projects identified by heads of state in July 2008 through the development of a genuine territorial dimension in the process and also through the setting up of a EuroMed Local and Regional Assembly (ARLEM) by the CoR in 2009.
Lisbon Treaty. The CoR endorsed the principle of changing the way the CoR internal working structures in order to prepare the institution's operations to meet the responsibilities arising from the boosting of control of subsidiarity as set out in the Lisbon Treaty, which enables the CoR to take cases, for example, to the European Court of Justice.
Other issues raised at the plenary include freight transport (greater coordination between freight operators and the various levels of government); promoting the use of energy produced from renewable energy sources (taking a prudent approach vis-à-vis biofuel); the greenhouse gas emission quotas trading systems (the proposal does not provide enough incentives to take action on waste); and industrial emissions (the proposal is not ambitious enough in terms of air pollution).
Bulgarian Vladimir Kissiov (EPP), a municipal councillor in Sofia, presented a report on partnership for governance and the planning of projects in the field of regional policy. He said the EU should ensure that local and regional authorities are more involved in the planning and implementation of cohesion and development policies for the regions. Sonia Masini, President of the province of Reggio Emilia in Italy (PES), presented an opinion on the promotion of fundamental rights and rights arising from European citizenship.
British PES member Dave Quayle, a member of Trafford Council, hoped that local authorities would retain a central role in the EU's new action plan for the mobility of workers, which seeks to encourage the free circulation of workers and promote jobs in order to take on the challenges of globalisation and the ageing population in Europe. Kent Johansson (ALDE, Sweden), a councillor for the region of Vastra Gotaland, described projects to establish a European reference framework for quality assurance and EU credit system for education and professional training, noting that these were vital elements in the achievement of economic growth targets, competitiveness and social insertion under the Lisbon Strategy. Dimitrios Tsigounis (EPP, Greece), the Mayor of Leondio in Arcadia, stressed the impact of local and regional authorities in drawing up a new framework for publish purchasing in his opinion, and the promoting of innovation to ensure sustainable, high quality public services.
Jan Oravec (EPP, Slovakia), Mayor of Sturovo, wants to see an increase in action to cut the risk of the internet being used to organise the sexual harassment of children. Evangelia Schoinaraki-Iliaki (PES, Greece) from Heraklion stressed the positive aspects of the internet in her opinion on media education and online creative content in the Common Market. Local and regional authorities have a role to play in overcoming obstacles to the creation of new markets for European creative works and to ensure cultural diversity in the digital environment. (L.C. transl fl)