Committee of the Regions

From Free net encyclopedia

The Committee of the Regions (CoR) is an institution of the European Union created by the Treaty of Maastricht. It aims at increasing the participation of European regions in community life. The CoR, whose seat is in Brussels, is composed of 317 representatives of regional and local governments.

Image:CoR-EESC.JPG 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 under the Treaty on European Union (Maastricht) , the CoR was set up to address two main issues. Firstly, about three quarters of EU legislation is implemented at local or regional level, so 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.

The Treaties oblige the Commission and Council to consult the Committee of the Regions whenever new proposals are made in areas that have repercussions at regional or local level. The Maastricht Treaty set out 5 such areas - economic and social cohesion, trans-European infrastructure networks, health, education and culture. The Amsterdam Treaty added another five areas to the list - employment policy, social policy, the environment, vocational training and transport - which now covers much of the scope of the EU's activity.

Outside these areas, the Commission, Council and European Parliament have the option to consult the CoR on issues if they see important regional or local implications to a proposal. The CoR can also draw up an opinion on its own initiative, which enables it to put issues on the EU agenda. EESC has 317 members – the number from each EU country roughly reflecting the size of its population. The numbers per country are as follows:

Country	Number of members
Germany	24
France	24
Italy	24
United Kingdom	24
Poland	21
Spain	21
Belgium	12
Czech Republic	12
Greece	12
Hungary	12
The Netherlands	12
Austria	12
Portugal	12
Sweden	12
Denmark	9
Ireland	9
Lithuania	9
Slovakia	9
Finland	9
Estonia	7
Latvia	7
Slovenia	7
Cyprus	6
Luxembourg	6
Malta	5
TOTAL	317

The Committee is a consultative body, and is asked for its opinion by the Council or the Commission on new policies and legislation in the following areas: