Closer to the centre” “

Economic and social cohesion, education and culture, health services, the development of trans-European networks, employment policy, vocational training, the safeguard of the environment… There is no field of action of the European Union that does not involve the Committee of the Regions, an advisory body established ten years ago following a recommendation made by the Treaty of Maastricht. After EU enlargement to Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean, the role of the local communities and institutions is slowly but progressively growing at the EU level: the Open Days held in Brussels from 27 to 30 September, as SIR correspondent GIANNI BORSA reports, helped to clarify this aspect of the “great machine” of the Union. A LINK BETWEEN UNION AND CITIZENS. “Cohesion policy is at the centre of the life of the Union enlarged to 25 states. The Committee of the Region (CR) works in close contact with the Commission and the European Parliament to make the voice of local communities heard within this enlarged Europe”, explains the German Peter Straub, president of the regional Parliament of the Baden-Wurttemberg, and chairman of the CR since February 2004. Together with EU Commissioner for regional policies, the Frenchman Jacques Barrot, he has promoted the Open Days that brought not only numerous politicians and academics, but also school parties and simple visitors to the CR’s headquarters on the Rue Belliard. The Open Days provided an opportunity to debate future regional policy measures, structural funds, and ways of bringing the “peripheral powers” of the member countries closer to the “heart” of the Union. Straub has clear ideas on the matter and ever since his election has maintained that “the more Europe grows, the more the Union needs the support of the local and regional authorities that represent the link with citizens. Only in this way can citizens identify with the European project”. BUDGET OF 336 BILLION TO BOOST THE REGIONS. The main problems of the relations between local government and Community institutions, regulated by the principle of subsidiarity, were discussed at the many seminars and debates held during the Open Days in Brussels. Also at the centre of the discussions were EU funds for cohesion policy in the framework of the financial prospects for 2007/2013. The funds in question should total 336 billion Euros, 78% of which to be allocated to convergence (measures aimed at ironing out the differences in development between the various EU areas), 18% to competitiveness and employment, and 4% to territorial cooperation. During the Open Days, 60 Regions represented in the CR (including the Austrian and German Laender, the French, Greek and Swedish Regions, the metropolitan government of London, the Italian Comuni, the Luxembourg communes, the Irish Counties, the Portuguese Districts, the National Assembly of Wales, the Scottish Government, and the Spanish autonomous Communities) forged closer contacts with citizens, and explained to them development policies, tourist opportunities, and twinning arrangements with other areas or cities of the Union. The forthcoming initiatives of the CR were also announced: the seminar on “Competitive Regions” to be held in the Finnish town of Rovaniemi from 13 to 15 October, the “Summit of Cities” in Noordwijk, in the Netherlands, on 18-19 October, and the 57th plenary session of the Committee in the Belgian capital on 17-18 November. The latter will form the culmination of the celebrations marking the 10th anniversary of the CR, with a session dedicated to youth and one in which the former president of the Commission, Jacques Delors, and current president José Manuel Durao Barroso (who officially assumes office from 1st November) will be the main speakers. TEN YEARS AT THE SERVICE OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND OF THE EU. The decision to establish the CR was taken at the summit of Maastricht in 1991, and then defined in the Treaty of the following year. The aim of this advisory body is twofold: first, to express opinions on every legislative proposal that affects the local and territorial realities; second, to play a role of “mediator” between citizens and EU institutions. The inaugural session of the CR was held in 1994. There were then 222 members, but this number has grown, with successive enlargements, to the current 344, all of them office-holders at the local or regional level (mayors, presidents of a Province or Region, presidents of Assemblies directly elected by citizens). More specifically the CR is called to express opinions on every intervention of the EU that concerns regional and local authorities. On its own initiative it can also act through resolutions, reports and studies on specific issues such as education, social affairs, transport or employment. Regarding the CR’s future prospects, Peter Straub explains: “The Committee attaches great importance to the future of cohesion policies, given that it is the key element to promote harmony and rapprochement between the various Regions of the Union”.