Committee of the Regions

The Committee of the Regions (CoR) is an body of the European Union (EU) established in 1994. It represents the sub-national regions of the EU in the EU legislative process, but only in a consultative manner similar to the Economic and Social Committee.

Aim

The CoR is the political assembly that provides local and regional authorities with a voice at the heart of the European Union. It aims at increasing the participation of European regions in community life. The CoR, whose seat is in Brussels, is composed of 344 representatives of regional and local governments.

Cohesion with the regions of the EU was enshrined in the Single European Act in 1986 and in 1992 the Delors Commission proposed the establishment of the CoR. It was included in the Maastricht Treaty and established when it came into force in 1994.

The body 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.

Scope

The Treaties oblige the European 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. On certain issues it works in partnership with the Economic and Social Committee.

Composition

CoR has 344 members – the number from each EU country roughly reflecting the size of its population. The numbers per country are as follows:

State	Members	State	Members	State	Members
Germany	24	Czech Republic	12	Finland	9
United Kingdom	24	Belgium	12	Ireland	9
France	24	Hungary	12	Lithuania	9
Italy	24	Portugal	12	Latvia	7
Spain	21	Sweden	12	Slovenia	7
Poland	21	Bulgaria	12	Estonia	7
Romania	15	Austria	12	Cyprus	6
Netherlands	12	Slovakia	9	Luxembourg	6
Greece	12	Denmark	9	Malta	5
TOTAL					344

See also

• Institutions of the European Union

External links

• Committee of the Regions
• List of Members
• The committee of the Regions : European Navigator
• Subsidiarity Monitoring Network of the Committee of the Regions

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