Working together to bring Europe closer to its citizens: Van den Brande meets EP President Buzek

Luc Van den Brande, President of the Committee of the Regions (CoR), met yesterday with Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament, to discuss the cooperation between their institutions at the beginning of the EP's new legislature. Van den Brande used the opportunity to highlight the two EU bodies' key role in connecting Europe with its citizens, and emphasised the CoR's readiness to strengthen the links between Europe's regional and local representatives and the Members of the European Parliament.

“As the two EU institutions with a direct link to the citizens, the Committee of the Regions and the European Parliament have built up an excellent working relationship over the past years”, stressed Van den Brande, proposing to develop this cooperation further: “For instance, our two committees in charge of EU regional policy already hold regular joint meetings. As the political remit of Europe's regional and local authorities extends far beyond regional policy, we should broaden this cooperation to other policy areas where CoR members have a lot to contribute, such as the environment or climate change. For these policy areas, we could also incorporate the expectations of Europe's regions and cities into the upcoming parliamentary hearings for the new Commissioners-designate, modelled on our fruitful cooperation with the EP's REGI committee.”

The CoR President also outlined the ambitious political programme that the Committee of the Regions had committed itself to earlier this year with the adoption of its white paper on multi-level governance: “The Committee of the Regions has presented concrete proposals outlining how to build Europe in partnership between all levels of governance, from our municipal councils to the EU institutions. We invite all key stakeholders, including the new European Parliament, to contribute to this important debate on how we can bring Europe closer to its citizens.”

Jerzy Buzek and Luc Van den Brande will meet again soon, as the EP President will present the political priorities of his presidency at the Committee of the Regions plenary session on 7 October.