15/12/2003 (Agence Europe) - The British and Irish members of the Committee of the Regions signed, on 9 December in Belfast, an agreement with a view to strengthening their cooperation on future European issues. According to a press release, they identified eleven key areas including the financing of regional policy, employment and social policy, sustainable development, research, rural development, transport policy, education and culture, as well as asylum and immigration, given the very concrete role played by the local authorities in this respect. A press release notes that the Committee of the Regions has consistently favoured fair and equitable systems of managed migration flows, backed up by adequate financing for local authorities for the services they provide.