Brussels, 04/03/2009 (Agence Europe) - At the invitation of the Committee of the Regions and the City of Prague, the European Summit of Regions and Cities, which is held every two years, will take place in the Czech capital on Thursday 5 and Friday 6 March. Some 500 elected representatives from over 250 regions and cities will be present at the event along with a number of leading political figures, such as European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hübner and President of the Committee of the Regions Luc Van den Brande.
The summit comes after the heads of state and government meeting in Brussels on Sunday 1 March and before the spring European Summit in Brussels on Thursday 19 and Friday 20 March and the G20 meeting in London on Thursday 2 April. In Prague the regions and cities will share views on the political and economic challenges that face the European Union in the coming months. They will call for efforts to be made to encourage a high turn-out for the European elections in June of this year.
Issues such as territorial cohesion, solidarity and competitiveness will be debated. Local and regional elected representatives will also send a message to the European Commission and to member states highlighting the responsible attitude shown by the regions and the cites in this time of economic and financial crisis and their desire to act in partnership with the other European institutions to confront the crisis. The conclusions adopted in Prague will be presented to the spring European Summit and sent to delegates at the G20 meeting. (E.M./transl.rt)