ECR Group SecretariatCommittee of the Regions

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ecr@cor.europa.eu

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ECR NewsContents

OVERVIEW OF THE PREVIOUS OPINIONS

First ECr Group’s opinions suCCEssFully adoptEd 2

FUTURE ECR GROUP OPINIONS

EnhanCinG thE sustainability oF EuropEan CitiEs 2

MEMBERS’ ACTIVITIES

ConFErEnCE on ExpEriEnCEs and pErspECtivEs on monitorinG subsidiarity aFtEr thE lisbon trEaty 3

ECr Group holds a sEminar on thE FuturE oF thE CommittEE oF thE rEGions 4

ukrainE FaCt FindinG mission 4

in the past year, we saw a historic moment with the successful creation of an ECr Group in the Committee of the regions. our Group had its first two opin-ions successfully adopted and has had its points taken on-board in the policy-making process by the institutional clients.

now, in 2014, we enter an important year of change for the Eu institutions. We will see a new parliament elected from 22-25 may. We will see a new set of Com-missioners and presidents of institutions assume office. in this climate of change, it is important that the ECr Group gets more involved in scrutinising what goes on in the Eu and to ensure that the valuable work of local and regional authori-ties is recognised and supported.

in this new year, the principle of subsidiarity will remain a central focus for the ECr Group. the principle notes that the Eu in areas that do not fall within the Eus exclusive area of competence, the Eu should only act if the objective cannot be sufficiently achieved at national, regional or local level. this is a key principle to ensuring a more efficient, less burdensome and less bureaucratic Eu.

Committee of the Regions | JanuaRy 2014

Newsletter | December 20132

ovErviEW oF thE prEvious opinions First ECR Group’s opinions successfully adopted

the 29-30 november plenary of the Committee of the regions saw two first ECr Group’s opinions being successfully adopted. it marked an end to a very productive year and showed the true potential of the newly established ECr Group.

Mrs Panasiuk’s opinion on EU Official controls

the first ECr Group opinion on official controls and other official activities to ensure the application of food and feed law, and rules on animal health and wel-fare was adopted with a majority at the Committee of the regions november plenary. mrs panasiuk’s opinion called for greater attention to be paid to data protection and the principle of subsidi-arity. ms panasiuk argued that the leg-

islation should better take into account the principle of subsidiarity and noted that the final decision on mandatory fees for routine controls should be left to the member states.

the European parliament will be issu-ing a report on this issue. the report on official controls is to be adopted at the European parliament’s Environment, public health and Food safety (Envi) committee on the 30th of January 2014 and the final adoption is foreseen for the Ep plenary session on the 11th of march 2014.

Dr. Branda’s opinion on EU Solidarity Fund

the second ECr Group opinion to be adopted by a Committee of the regions ECr Group focused on establishing a

more user friendly, efficient and effec-tive Eu solidarity Fund. the opinion, which was unanimously adopted by the Committee of the regions, called for a review of the current deadlines so as to better reflect the needs of affected re-gions. it also called for an extension of the deadline for the use of the Fund to 2 years and the application deadline to be calculated 10 weeks after the state of emergency is over rather than 10 weeks after the first damage is caused. the opinion also suggested to take into ac-count cross-border disasters.

this opinion had a significant institu-tional impact. rosa Estaràs Ferragut mEp who was the European parlia-ment’s rapporteur on this opinion spoke at the november plenary where she welcomed mr branda’s opinion and noted that most of his sugges-tions will be taken up in her report. dr. branda also presented the opinion at the European parliament’s regional development (rEGi) committee on the 18th of december 2013. the European parliament amendments were tabled by mr oldrich vlasak mEp in rEGi com-mittee on the 7th January. on the 22nd of January there will be a public hear-ing. Following that the rEGi committee will vote on the amendments and on a mandate to open the negotiations with the Council on the 23rd of January.

it is my belief that the Committee of the regions must be more active in defend-ing the principle of subsidiarity. We must use subsidiarity as a lens through which we filter and evaluate the Eu policy-making process. We must use this lens also for the current review of Eu policies in the regulatory Fitness programme.

as local and regional authorities we are responsible for the implementation of approximately 70% of Eu legislation. We have hands on experience of what works and what does not. let us use this knowledge to improve the Eu.

i would also like to wish success to the ECr Group candidates in the upcoming European parliament elections.

Cllr. Gordon Keymer CBE president of the ECr Group in the Cor

leader of tandridge district Council

3

FuturE ECr Group opinions

Enhancing the

sustainability of

European cities

ECr Group has started working on the

key issue of sustainable Cities, which will

outline the Committee of the regions’

opinion on how the European union could enhance the sustainability of the European cities. the rapporteur on this opinion is mrs daiva matonienė, mem-ber of Šiauliai City Council, vice-minister of the Environment and vice-president of the ECr Group.

the European Commission specifically consulted the Committee of the regions on the priority objective 8 of the Eu 7th

Environment action programme, the Eu main instrument for environment and cli-mate policy for the next seven years. mrs matonienė’s opinion will focus sustain-able urban planning and design, the use of and access to funds. it will also focus on how the European Commission and the Committee of the regions can further encourage cities with over 100 000 inhab-itants to participate and compete for the European Green Capital award.

mEmbErs’ aCtivitiEs

Conference on Experiences and perspectives on monitoring subsidiarity after the Lisbon Treaty

on 18 december 2013, the Committee of the regions held its 6th subsidiarity Conference in berlin, Germany at the Ger-man bundesrat. Cllr. Gordon keymer CbE, mr adam banaszak and Cllr. arnold hatch attended the event on behalf of the ECr Group. this biennial conference seeks to strengthen the inter-institutional dynam-ic of subsidiarity scrutiny and focuses on establishing a dialogue between all par-ties involved in the subsidiarity monitor-ing process.

Cllr. hatch, member of the Committee of the regions subsidiarity steering Group, gave the introductory keynote speech to the panel addressing the subsidiarity prin-

ciple from a judicial perspective and in the context of the Early Warning system. the panel addressed the role of national and regional parliaments and local authori-ties in the “Early Warning system”, which allows national parliaments to object to European Commission proposals within 8 weeks of its publication. Cllr. hatch noted that “the panel raised interesting ques-tions about the role, responsibility and coordination in monitoring subsidiarity at the different levels of governance.”

Cllr. keymer CbE underlined the Cors im-portance as the institution with the right to challenge breaches of subsidiarity in the Eu Court of Justice and noted that “subsidiarity must not only be seen as ju-dicial nuclear option for the Cor to use. it must be seen as a lens, through which lo-

mrs matoniene held a fruitful and successful consultation with rel-evant stakeholders on 14 January 2014. on 12 February, the Environ-ment, Climate Change and Energy (EnvE) Commission members will

exchange views on the work-ing document. the draft opinion is then due to be adopted at the EnvE commission on 24 april and due to be approved by the Cor at its June 25-26 plenary session.

under protocol no. 2, treaty in European union, the Com-mttee of the regions can now challenge new Eu laws in the European Court of Justice when it believes that those laws violate the subsidiarity principle.

tEu article 5.3 - under the princi-ple of subsidiarity, in areas which do not fall within its exclusive competence, the union shall act only if and in so far as the objectives of the proposed action cannot be sufficiently achieved by the member states, either at central level or at regional and local level, but can rather, by reason of the scale or effects of the proposed action, be bet-ter achieved at union level.

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cal and regional authorities can guide the

Eu policy-making process. We can and

must use the knowledge we have as local

and regional authorities from implement-

ing approximately 70% of Eu legislation

to help set the boundaries for Eu policy

proposals and reviews. the Cor can, for

instance, play an instrumental role in en-

suring the success of the Eus regulatory

fitness exercises.”

ECR Group holds a seminar on the future of the Committee of the Regions

on 13 december 2013, the ECr Group

bureau members held a consultation

seminar with the Committee of the re-

gions’ institutional clients on the future

of the Eu and the role of the Cor. the bu-

reau decided to hold this consultation in

light of the internal reflection launched

on this subject by the Cor president val-

carcel in view of the Cor’s approaching

20 year anniversary. the bureau indicat-

ed that their aim was to consult the Cors

institutional clients, exchange ideas and

collect potential input for an ECr Group

contribution to the Cor report due to be

produced at the end of reflection process

launched by president valcarcel.

Ukraine fact finding mission

on the 22-23 January 2014, mrs. daiva

matonienė (ECr Group vice-president,

member of Šiauliai City Council and lithu-

anian vice-minister for Environment) par-

ticipated in a Committee of the regions

fact finding mission in kiev, ukraine. the

delegation, led by Cor president ramón

luis valcárcel, met stakeholders and ob-

served the situation on the ground.

mrs. matonienė noted that “the situation

on the ground highlighted the urgent

need for a renewed and constructive dia-

logue with ukraine. i would strongly urge

the government and the protestors to re-

frain from using force and to address issues

in a peaceful and democratic manner.”

the mission was organised in light of the

developments in Eu- ukraine relations.

Following the 21 november 2013 deci-

sion of the ukrainian not to sign a trade

pact and political association agreement

with the Eu, the ECr Group president Cllr.

Gordon keymer CbE had suggested a se-

rious assessment of the Cor Conference

of the regional and local authorities for

the Eastern partnership activities. Cllr.

keymer noted that “as the Eu we need to

reconsider the way our relationship with

our Eastern partners is structured. We

need to engage in a renewed dialogue at

all levels of governance.”

the mission coincided with an erup-

tion of violent protests against ukraine’s

16 January anti-protest legislation. mrs.

matonienė, expressed serious concerns

over the new law. she noted that “the

protests seem to have evolved from sup-

port for Eu into concerns over fundamen-

tal rights. it is more urgent than ever that

ukraine does not lose its Eu anchor.”

the delegation met with the representa-

tives of ukrainian associations of regions

and towns, representatives of the “Euro-

maidan” and other actors of civil society

engaged in recent anti-government pro-

tests, the daughter of still imprisoned

yulia tymoshenko, and the Eu delegation.