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Set up
in 1994 under the Treaty on European Union, the Committee of the Regions (CoR) is an
advisory body composed of representatives of Europe’s
regional and local authorities. The CoR has to be
consulted before EU decisions are taken on matters such as regional policy,
the environment, education and transport – all of which concern local and
regional government.
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The Committee has 317 members. The number from each member state
approximately reflects its population size, as follows:
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Germany, France,
Italy and the United Kingdom
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24
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Poland and
Spain
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21
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Belgium, Czech
Republic, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Sweden
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12
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Denmark, Ireland,
Lithuania, Slovakia and Finland
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9
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Estonia, Latvia
and Slovenia
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7
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Cyprus and
Luxembourg
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6
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Malta
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5
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TOTAL
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317
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Once Bulgaria and Romania join,
the CoR will have 344 members.
The members of the Committee are elected municipal
or regional politicians, often leaders of regional governments or mayors of
cities.
They are nominated by the EU governments but they
work in complete political independence. The Council of the European Union
appoints them for four years, and they may be reappointed. They must also
have a mandate from the authorities they represent, or must be politically
accountable to them.
The Committee of the Regions chooses a President
from among its members, for a term of two years. Peter Straub,
from Germany, was elected President
in February 2004.
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What does the Committee do?
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The role of the Committee of the
Regions is to put forward the local and regional points of view on EU
legislation. It does so by issuing opinions on Commission proposals.
The Commission and the Council must consult the Committee of the Regions on
topics of direct relevance to local and regional authorities, but they can
also consult the Committee whenever they wish. For its part, the Committee
can adopt opinions on its own initiative and present them to the Commission,
Council and Parliament.
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How is the Committee's work
organised?
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Each year the Committee of the
Regions holds five plenary sessions, during which its general policy is
defined and opinions are adopted.
The members of the Committee are assigned to specialist ‘commissions’ whose
job is to prepare the plenary sessions. There are six commissions:
- Commission for Territorial Cohesion
Policy (COTER)
- Commission for Economic and Social
Policy (ECOS)
- Commission for Sustainable Development
(DEVE)
- Commission for Culture and Education
(EDUC)
- Commission for Constitutional Affairs and
European Governance (CONST)
- Commission
for External Relations (RELEX).
WEB Page: http://www.cor.eu.int/
//Source: http://europa.eu.int/institutions/cor/index_en.htm
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