Institutions of the European Union

Contents
	The European Parliament (EP)
	The European Commission
	Council of the European union
	The European Council
	The Court of Justice of the European Communities
	European Court of Auditors
	The Committee of the Regions
	European Economic and Social Committee (ESC)
	The European Ombudsman
	Legislative acts and measures

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.Committee of the regions.

History

Established in 1994, the CoR was set up to address two main issues:

1. 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;
2. 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.

There are three main principles at the heart of the Committee's work:

• 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.

• 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.

• Partnership

Sound European governance means European, national, regional and local government working together - all four are indispensable and should be involved throughout the decision making process.

Members and Mandate

The Committee of the Regions has 344 members and the same number of alternate members. They are all appointed for a four-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 details of proposals on which the CoR is consulted and draw up a draft opinion, which highlights where there is agreement with the European Commission's proposals, 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 on to the Commission, 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 Party of European Socialists (PES);
• The European People's Party (EPP);
• The Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE);
• Union for Europe of the Nations - the European Alliance (UEN-EA).

Luc Van den Brande was elected as President of the Committee of the Regions on 6 February 2008.

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.