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Top leaders of EU institutions to launch OPEN DAYS 2012
On the agenda of the 97th CoR Plenary session on 8-10 October:
- Economic recovery, cohesion policy and next EU budget 2014-2020
- Reform of EU's fisheries policy & Energy Roadmap 2050
- Reform of public procurement
For the first time leaders of all the main EU institutions will open
together the Committee of the Region's (CoR) 97th Plenary session, also
launching the start of the 10th edition of the European Week of Regions and
Cities - OPEN DAYS 2012.
The President of the CoR, Ramón Luis Valcárcel Siso, and the
Committee's members will be addressed by the European Parliament President
Martin Schulz, European Council President, Herman van Rompuy, European
Commission President José Manuel Barroso, and Cyprus Home Affairs Minister Eleni
Mavrou who will open the session.
The floor will then be given to the European Commissioner for Regional
Policy, Johannes Hahn, and Danuta Hübner, Chair of the European Parliament's
Regional Development Committee, who will join President Valcárcel in discussing
the role of cohesion policy on EU economic recovery and in delivering the
Europe2020 Strategy.
The future of Europe's fisheries is the focus of CoR rapporteur Pierre
Maille's (FR/PES) opinion on the "European Maritime and Fisheries Fund".
The European Commission has outlined far-reaching policy proposals
which hope to achieve long-term sustainability of fishing stock within Europe.
Part of the proposals includes the introduction of a new fund to
support the EU's Maritime and Fisheries Policies for 2014-2020.
A roundtable discussion between the CoR rapporteur and four European
Parliament rapporteurs on the Common Fisheries Policy reform will also be held
at the European Parliament prior to the adoption of the opinion (9 October,
12.30-14.30).
e Energy Roadmap 2050 is the Commission's proposal to explore the
challenges of meeting targets on reducing carbon emissions whilst reviewing the
energy mix with the hope of protecting Europe's energy supply and
competitiveness.
CoR rapporteur, Ugo Cappellacci (IT/EPP), will present his opinion on
this proposal on 9 October.
Regions' and cities' proposals to improve the on-going reform of public
procurement's - rapporteur Catarina Segersten Larsson (SE/EPP) - will be also
among the session's key issues.
The debates will be streamed live at www.cor.europa.eu on Monday 8
October from 16.00, Tuesday 9 October from 15.00 and Wednesday 10 October from
9.00.
The Committee of the Regions
The Committee of the Regions is the EU's assembly of regional and local
representatives.
The mission of its 344 members from all 27 EU Member States is to
involve regional and local authorities and the communities they represent in the
EU's decision-making process and to inform them about EU policies.
The European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council are
obliged to consult the Committee in policy areas affecting regions and cities.
It can appeal to the EU Court of Justice if its rights are infringed or
it believes that an EU law violates the subsidiarity principle of fails to
respect regional or local powers.