Homepage
Sitemap
Larger
Smaller
Login
Registration
Help
Terms of use
The forthcoming Council presidency and the Committee of the Regions synchronise joint activities
22.05.2008, 10:21
On Monday 19 May, Jean-Pierre Jouyet, French State Secretary for European affairs and Fadela Amara, French State Secretary for urban policy, met Luc Van den Brande, president of the Committee of the Regions (CoR), to discuss projects envisaged by the French presidency of the European Union in the second half of 2008 and to finalise consultation on measures between the Council presidency and the CoR.
" It was the first time we have held a preparatory meeting of this type," -emphasised CoR president Luc Van den Brande. "This is another proof of the Council's renewal of its relations with an institution representing thousands of EU local and regional authorities in Brussels, and reflects the strengthening of Committee of the Regions competences provided for in the Lisbon Treaty".
The bilateral meeting served as an opportunity for the two members of the French government to present Luc Van den Brande with the priorities of the forthcoming French presidency, and to discuss their views on the importance of cities in intercultural dialogue, and on the need for an additional territorial dimension of the Barcelona process as part of the "Union for the Mediterranean" initiative.
Future implementation of the Lisbon Treaty was also discussed, particularly in relation to applying the subsidiarity principle and the new powers of national parliaments and the Committee of the Regions. This issue will also be discussed at the Conference on Subsidiarity to be held by the CoR in the French Senate on 24 October.
The meeting also looked at possible synchronisation between the Committee of the Regions' schedule and French initiatives in the autumn. Luc Van den Brande was invited to a ministerial meeting on spatial planning, regional policy, urban development and housing to be held in Marseille on 25 and 26 November, and to the meeting of foreign affairs ministers from the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, which will also be held in Marseille in November, in order to present the Committee of the Regions' point of view. At the same time, the Committee of the Regions was asked to provide support for a forum on "Cities as places for living and mutual respect" to take place in Montpellier at the end of November.
The French presidency will have an opportunity to present its priorities to members of the Committee of the Regions at the plenary session of 18 and 19 June, and it will be represented at the Open Days - European week of regions and cities in Brussels on 6-9 October and the extraordinary meeting of the Committee of the Regions Bureau to be held in Dunkirk on 15 and 16 September.