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CoR President Luc Van den Brande unveils proposals to step up cooperation with European Parliament
22.05.2008, 10:20
Committee of the Regions (CoR) President Luc Van den Brande set out proposals for increased cooperation with the European Parliament during a meeting in Strasbourg today with the 'Conference of Committee Chairs', gathering leaders of the assembly's committees.
Mr Van den Brande presented the CoR as a "valuable partner" which could provide "a great added value" to the work of the Parliament on priority issues such as environmental policy, the jobs and growth agenda and maritime questions. The institutional relationship between the two bodies is set to increase in importance because the Lisbon Treaty, due to enter into force early next year, will require the Parliament to consult the CoR in the same way as the European Commission and the Council, on around two thirds of the EU's legislative output.
The CoR President said one of his key aims was to improve the quality of the relationship, without the necessity for rigid formal agreements. Instead, he proposed a "toolbox of instruments", to be put in place on a case-by-case basis with the Parliament's committees. The existing close ties between the CoR's Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy (COTER) and the Parliament's Committee on Regional Development (REGI) are seen as a good model to follow.
Examples of increased cooperation might include more bilateral meetings between the chairs of the Parliamentary committees and their CoR counterparts, and between rapporteurs of the two assemblies, he said. As an example of the former, he cited a recent meeting between Gerd Harms, chair of the CoR's Education and Culture Commission, and Katerina Batzelli, chair of the Parliament's equivalent, in which they agreed to propose a joint hearing on the 2009 European Year of Creativity and Innovation.
He noted that Parliament rapporteurs "very often" attend CoR commission meetings and events but said there was room for improvement as regards the possibility of CoR rapporteurs presenting their work in Parliament committees.
Several CoR commissions and EP committees are currently envisaging joint hearings and events on other matters including:
- a joint meeting between the EP's Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO) and the CoR's Constitutional Affairs Commission (CONST) in the second half of 2008 to give local, regional and European representatives the opportunity to exchange views on the expected consequences of the institutional reforms under the Lisbon Treaty;
- a public hearing with the CoR Sustainable Development Commission (DEVE) and the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) on the impact of climate change on agriculture.
President Van den Brande also drew attention to three other CoR tools which could provide useful data: the Lisbon Monitoring Platform, the Subsidiarity Monitoring Network and the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) expert group.
The CoR President's invitation to address the Conference of Committee Chairs follows a meeting between Gerardo Galeote, President of the Conference of Committee Chairs and REGI, and the chairs of the CoR's six thematic commissions last month.
Source: www.cor.europa.eu