'Let's build Europe in partnership': Luc Van den Brande elected President of Committee of the Regions

COR/08/19

Brussels, 6 February 2008

'Let's build Europe in partnership': Luc Van den Brande elected President of Committee of the Regions

Belgian politician Luc Van den Brande was elected as President of the EU's Committee of the Regions at its plenary session in Brussels today, 6 February. He is the eighth President of the political assembly, which gives local and regional government representatives a voice in European decision-making.

Mr Van den Brande, who has been a member of the CoR since its creation in 1994, will serve for two years in the post. He succeeds Michel Delebarre, Mayor of Dunkirk, France, who switches roles to become First Vice-President. The plenary session also saw the election of 27 Vice-Presidents proposed by the national delegations and the other members of the Bureau.

A lawyer by background, Luc Van den Brande started his political career in 1977 after being elected to the Belgian House of Representatives. He became a member of the forerunner of the Flanders Parliament in 1980 and was designated as a Community Senator in 1999. In 1988-92, he served as Federal Minister for Labour and Employment, before becoming Minister-President of Flanders, a post he held until 1999.

Addressing the plenary after his election, Mr Van den Brande set out his vision and priorities for the next two years. Partnership was the main theme of his address, in which he stressed the need for EU institutions to work more closely with Member States and local and regional authorities. He said a multi-level approach was essential in order to respond to the issues which matter most to the public, including affordable housing, jobs, education, lifelong learning, affordable and accessible healthcare, and solidarity between the generations.

"We must jettison the hierarchical idea of Europe as a pyramid with the EU above the Member States, the Member States above the regions, and the regions above the towns and local authorities. We must strive for a new partnership between the different levels of government that allows the various tiers to work together on an equal footing in order to achieve jointly defined objectives. What we need is not a 'Europe of the regions' but a 'Europe with the regions, towns and local authorities'.

"Let's Build Europe in Partnership," he declared.

In the era of globalisation, local and regional identity is becoming more, not less, important. "People look for security and solutions at levels of government they recognise, can access and are readily able to contact. The Europe that was launched as an economic project must grow into a Citizens' Europe," he said.

Mr Van den Brande listed seven priority areas where he sees the CoR bringing added value: (1) the reform of the European budget; (2) energy policy and climate change; (3) the Lisbon objectives; (4) cohesion policy and the European Grouping for Territorial Cooperation; (5) cultural diversity; (6) neighbourhood policy; and (7) multilevel governance and subsidiarity.

On the European budget, he noted that the CoR will announce an initial position at its next plenary session in April, in line with a proposal from the working group set up to look at the matter.

Referring to the European Commission's recently launched climate plan, aiming to cut CO2 emissions by 20% by 2020, Mr Van den Brande proposed that the CoR join together with the local authorities, towns and regions to draw up a declaration of intent and an action plan. The CoR will also organise a forum, involving energy suppliers, in parallel with its next plenary session.

The CoR's new report on the partnership for growth and jobs, to be submitted to EU leaders at the European Council in Brussels on 13-14 March, highlights the role that local and regional authorities can play in achieving the Lisbon objectives. But the President noted that "too many regions, towns and local authorities are dissatisfied with their level of involvement in national reform programmes".

He underlined that the CoR must make full use of the opportunities offered by the Lisbon Treaty to monitor subsidiarity and continue to use its subsidiarity network to assess the impact of proposed legislation on local and regional authorities, to determine the financial and staffing costs involved and extra administrative burdens. "We need to draw up an annual subsidiarity report and organise a subsidiarity forum as part of the process. I also believe that, on this front, we must strengthen our ties with the national parliaments," he added.

He said the CoR would seek to build on the success of its structural dialogue with the European Commission and associations representing local and regional authorities, "so that it becomes an indispensable tool for examining plans and policy approaches in the pre-legislative phase". It will also continue to develop its cooperation with the European Parliament – "our most natural partner".

He reiterated that the CoR will work to highlight the benefits of cohesion policy and the new European Grouping for Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) in particular. An interinstitutional conference on the EGTC –aimed at boosting the management of cross-border, transnational and regional projects – will be held on 19 June and the CoR will adopt an own-initiative opinion on the subject the same month.

The President recalled that the CoR would celebrate its 15th birthday next year and it would be an ideal opportunity to re-consider the CoR's mission statement and core tasks. "I intend to conduct an in-depth and wide-ranging debate, based on an analysis of our strengths and weaknesses, our opportunities and limitations, and how, essentially, we are perceived by the outside world."

Finally, he said the CoR should strive to give symbolic expression to European integration. "I want to take the Committee to the places where Europe was made (Strasbourg), wounded (Dresden/Ieper) and transformed (Gdansk), to the places where Europe is being called into question (Prague) and is in demand (Croatia), to the places where Europe is in the process of renewal."

Click here to read the speech in full

Click here to read Luc Van den Brande's CV

Visit the CoR's new-look website – www.cor.europa.eu

The Committee of the Regions

Around two-thirds of EU legislation is implemented by local and regional authorities in Member States. The Committee of the Regions was created in 1994 to give representatives of local government a say over the content of these laws. The CoR organises five plenary sessions a year, where its 344 members vote on reports, known as opinions, issued in response to proposed legislation. The European Commission, which initiates EU laws, and the Council of Ministers, which determines the final content of the legislation (usually in tandem with the European Parliament), are obliged to consult the CoR on a wide range of policy areas including the environment, employment and transport. For more information, please contact::