Brussels, 18/09/2009 (Agence Europe) - Meeting in Göteborg, Sweden on 17-18 September, the political bureau of the Assembly of European Regions (AER) adopted a declaration, “What regions expect from the new European Commission”.
Through this declaration, the bureau calls for: (1) “true dialogue between the different Directorates General” to “better link policies”: climate and energy policies, for example, should be integrated with regional policies, transport and research, the AER says; (2) greater involvement of the regions in “the development of long-term strategies such as the Agenda for Growth and Jobs and future Cohesion Policy”. It also calls (a) on the Commission to involve regions more when deciding upon guidelines on environmental matters, including European funding programmes for energy policies; (b) for the Commission's project for a social market economy to promote “holistic policies that take into account the most vulnerable persons in our societies and strives to bring them within the sphere of the European economic and social project”. Finally, it calls on the next Commission to “act in a truly European spirit instead of representing national interests”. For further information, go to: http://www.aer-eu/en (G.B./transl.rt)