El Committee of the Regions (CoR) is an advisory body representing the regional and local authorities of the European Union. It was created by the Treaty of Maastricht, and is regulated by Article 13(4) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU); Articles 300 and 305-307 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), and various Council decisions. The first meeting of its plenary session was in 1994.
The CoR's mission is to involve regional and local authorities in the European decision-making process, thereby facilitating citizens' participation. The CoR issues opinions in cases of compulsory consultation covered by the Treaties, in cases of optional consultation and on its own initiative if it considers it appropriate. Thus, the Commission, the Council and Parliament must consult the Committee of the Regions before European decisions are taken in areas of local and regional impact (such as employment policy, the environment, education, economic and social cohesion or public health); otherwise, the CoR can take the matter to the Court of Justice. In this way, when the CoR receives a legislative proposal, it drafts and adopts an opinion and sends it to the relevant EU institutions.
The CoR's activity has two legal limitations: it does not give an opinion on all proposals for Community acts and its opinions are not binding.
The Committee of the Regions currently has 329 members, and the same number of alternates, from all 27 EU countries. Members are responsible for regional and local entities and must hold an electoral mandate in a regional or local body or have political responsibility before an elected assembly. The Council appoints the members and alternates for a period of five years, on the proposal of the EU countries. The number of members of a country depends on its population and each country chooses its members according to its own rules, but all delegations reflect the political, geographical and regional/local balance of the country concerned.
The CoR holds six plenary sessions a year, setting out its general policy and approving its opinions. It has six committees responsible for studying the different policies and drafting the opinions debated in the plenary:
· Territorial Cohesion and EU Budget (COTER)
· Economic Policy (ECON)
· Social Policy, Education, Employment, Research and Culture (SEDEC)
· Environment, Climate Change and Energy (ENVE)
· Citizenship, Governance and Institutional and Foreign Affairs (CIVEX)
· Natural Resources (NAT)
The Committees draw up draft opinions which are then discussed in one of the annual plenary sessions and, if adopted by a majority, the CoR submits the opinion to the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament. The Committee also adopts resolutions on topical political issues.
A Chairperson and a first Vice-Chairperson are elected from among the members of the Committee.
Furthermore, the Bureau is the body responsible for promoting its activities, in the sense that it is the Bureau that draws up the CoR's political programme at the beginning of each mandate, controls the implementation of that programme and generally coordinates the work of plenary sessions and committees. In general, the Bureau meets eight times a year: before each of the six plenary sessions in Brussels, plus two extraordinary meetings, in the two countries holding the rotating Presidency of the Council. The Bureau is obliged to reflect the pluralism, above all political, of the assembly that constitutes the CoR. In this spirit, the composition of the Bureau is established as follows: the President; the first Vice-President; 27 Vice-Presidents (one per Member State); 26 additional members; and the chairmen of the political groups. Like the President, the Bureau has a term of two and a half years.
There are currently six political groups reflecting the various political affiliations: the European People's Party (EPP), the Party of European Socialists (PSE), Renew Europe, the Group of the European Alliance (EA), the Group of European Conservatives and Reformists (CRE) and the Greens, although members may also choose not to be part of any political party (not registered).
Spain has 21 members on the Committee of the Regions. Of this total, 17 represent the Autonomous Communities and 4 represent the local Entities, with the Autonomous Communities proposing the members that will form the autonomous delegation, and the FEMP representatives of the local Entities. This system was adopted by a Motion approved by the Senate on October 20, 1993.
In most cases, the incumbent representatives of the CCAAs are their Presidents, although normally the activity is carried out by alternates, who may be Councillors or senior officials, and even the Community Delegate in Brussels.
