The Committee of the Regions (CoR) is organising a European Summit of Regions and Cities in Prague on 5 and 6 March 2009, in partnership with the City of Prague, and with the support of the Czech Presidency of the European Union. On the eve of the European Spring Council, regional and local authorities will send a clear message to Europe's Heads of State and Government on how to master the economic and political challenges facing the European Union. Luc Van den Brande, President of the Committee of the Regions, José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission and Pavel Bèm, Mayor of Prague, will welcome the participants. The Mayor of Marrakesh, Omar El Jazouli, and the European Commissioner for Regional Policy Danuta Hübner will be among the keynote speakers.

The summit will focus on three major challenges: the financial crisis, the future of territorial cohesion and the June 2009 European elections.  As CoR President Luc Van den Brande has stressed, regions are already being affected by the financial crisis, and  the CoR has proposed some measures to minimize the consequences. Volker Hoff (DE/EPP, Minister of the Land of Hesse) has drafted an opinion on 'Single Market, social vision and services of general interest', while Constance Hannify (IE/EPP, Member of Offaly County Council), calls for more efforts to fight red tape in her draft opinion on  'Think Small First: A Small Business Act for Europe'. The CoR is also promoting SME week being organised by the European Commission in Prague on 13-14 May 2009.

Another crucial issue for 2009 is the future of territorial cohesion, after the launch of the Green Paper in 2008. In February, the CoR will adopt an opinion on Territorial Cohesion drafted by Jean-Yves Le Drian (FR/PES). CoR President Luc Van den Brande and First Vice-President Michel Delebarre will present an opinion proposing a 'White Paper on Multilevel Governance'. Another opinion to be developed throughout 2009 will focus on the implementation of the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) regulation, a new legal instrument for territorial cooperation. More information is available on the CoR's EGTC Platform.

Finally, the European regions are working hard to boost voter turnout for the June 2009 elections and the EP has organised a series of events with this in mind. A list of upcoming events is available here. President Luc Van den Brande encouraged Hans-Gert Pöttering, President of the European Parliament, to write an open letter to local and regional representatives highlighting the importance of voting in the elections and the responsibility they have to encourage their local electorate to take part.

Source: www.cor.europa.eu