PRESENTATION / Role
The Committee of the Regions - An introduction
Europe begins in its regions and cities
|
Fact Sheet on the Committee of the Regions
|
The Committee of the Regions (CoR) is the political assembly that provides
local and regional authorities with a voice at the heart of the European
Union.
Established in 1994, the CoR was set up to address two main issues. Firstly,
since around three quarters of EU legislation is implemented at local or
regional level, it makes sense for local and regional representatives to have a
say in the development of new EU laws. Secondly, there were concerns that the
public was being left behind as the EU steamed ahead. Involving the elected
level of government closest to the citizens was one way of closing the gap.
With the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the role of the CoR will be
strengthened along the entire legislative process. The new treaty obliges the
European Commission to consult with local and regional authorities and their
associations across the EU as early as the pre-legislative phase, and the CoR,
in its role as the voice of local and regional authorities at the EU level, is
heavily involved right from this early stage.
Once the legislative proposal has been made by the Commission, consultation
of the CoR is again obligatory if the proposal concerns one of the many policy
areas that directly affect local and regional authorities. The Maastricht Treaty
set out five such areas - economic and social cohesion, trans-European
infrastructure networks, health, education and culture, while the Amsterdam
Treaty added another five - employment policy, social policy, the environment,
vocational training and transport. The Lisbon Treaty has extended the scope of
the CoR's involvement even further, adding civil protection, climate change,
energy and services of general interest to the list of policy areas where the
CoR must be consulted.
But the CoR's involvement does not stop once it has issued its opinion on the
Commission proposal. The Lisbon Treaty for the first time makes it obligatory
for the CoR to be consulted by the European Parliament, giving the Committee a
chance to comment on any changes made to the proposed legislation by MEPs. The
CoR also has the right to question the Commission, Parliament and Council if
they fail to take on board its viewpoint, and can even call for a second
consultation if the initial proposal is substantially modified during its
passive through the other institutions. In extreme cases, the CoR also has the
right to go to the European Court of Justice if it believes it has not been
correctly consulted by the Commission, Parliament or Council.
The work of the
CoR in assessing EU legislative proposals is based on three key principles:
-
Subsidiarity
This principle, written into the Treaties at the same time as the creation
of the CoR, means that decisions within the European Union should be taken at
the closest practical level to the citizen. The European Union, therefore,
should not take on tasks which are better suited to national, regional or
local administrations. The Lisbon Treaty formalises the CoR's role as the
defender of the principle of subsidiarity, giving the Committee the right to
bring a case before the European Court of Justice if it believes the principle
has not been maintained.
-
Proximity
All levels of government should aim to be 'close to the citizens', in
particular by organising their work in a transparent fashion, so people know
who is in charge of what and how to make their views heard.
Members and Mandate
The Committee of the Regions currently has 344 members and the same number of
alternate members from all 27 member states. Further enlargement of the EU can
take the number of members (and alternates) to a maximum of 350. Members and
alternates are appointed for a five-year term by the Council, acting on
proposals from the member states. Each country chooses its members in its own
way, but the delegations all reflect the political, geographical and
regional/local balance in their member state. The members are elected members of
or key players in local or regional authorities in their home region.
The Committee organises its work through six specialist Commissions, made up
of CoR members, who examine the detail of proposals on which the CoR is
consulted and draw up a draft opinion, which highlights where there is agreement
with the proposals put forward by the European Commission, and where changes are
needed. The draft opinion is then discussed at one of the five CoR plenary
sessions which take place each year. If a majority approves it, the draft is
adopted as the opinion of the Committee of the Regions and is sent back to the
Commission for transfer to the Parliament and Council.
The CoR also adopts resolutions on topical political issues.
There are four political groups represented in the CoR, reflecting the main
European political families: the European People's Party (EPP), the Party of
European Socialists (PES), the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats
for Europe (ALDE) and Union for Europe of the Nations - European Alliance
(UEN-EA).
Bringing the EU closer to the public
While the major part of the Committee's work is its participation in the
legislative process, that is not the end of its role.
CoR members live and work day to day in their home regions and continue with
their local or regional government responsibilities, whether as regional
president, mayor of a major city or county councillor. This keeps them in touch
with the views and concerns of the people they represent, and they are then able
to bring these to the heart of the EU process when they come to Brussels for
meetings of the CoR.
It also means they are well placed to let people back
home know what is going on in the EU and how "Brussels" operates. The way the
CoR organises its work is also aimed at 'bringing the EU closer to the people' -
literally so, by organising conferences and meetings of its commissions and
Bureau away from Brussels, in the regions of the 27 member states.