Brussels, 21/04/2009 (Agence Europe) - European regional development ministers will be meeting in Mariánské Lazne (the Czech Republic) from Wednesday 22 to Friday 24 April 2009, chaired by Czech local development minister Cyril Svoboda, to discuss the future of cohesion policy.
In the morning of Thursday 23 April, the chair of the European Parliament's Regional Development Committee, Gerardo Galeote (EPP-ED, Spain) and the chair of the Committee of the Regions, Luc Van den Brande (EPP-ED, Belgium) will brief ministers on their respective assemblies' views of the future of cohesion policy. This will be followed by a presentation of the outcome of an OECD ministerial summit on investing for growth and building innovative regions, and the outcome of an international conference on the future of cohesion policy that was held in Prague in March 2009. There will be a presentation on Thursday afternoon of the Czech Presidency of the EU's programme by Cyril Svoboda, along with a speech by EU Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hübner, who will reflect on the future of cohesion policy in Europe. The day will end with the adoption of a ministerial communiqué on the same subject.
On Friday 24 April, Cyril Svoboda will open proceedings with a speech on local development. Danuta Hübner will then present the results of a public consultation exercise on the Green Paper on Territorial Cohesion, and will set out the Commission's point of view. Maud Olofsson will present the Swedish Presidency of the EU's regional policy programme. The Swedish Presidency will take over from the Czechs on 1 July 2009. (G.B./transl.fl)