We are used to it when we hear about European Union, to deal with the three best-known bodies among those that make up the community institutions: the Parliament, the Commission and the Council. And there is no doubt that these are the most important but it must be said that they are not the only ones who make up the European decision-making process.
Today we take you to the heart of Europe, to Brussels, to discover an organization perhaps less well-known, but of great importance for our cities and regions: the European Committee of the Regions (CoR). While the European Parliament and the European Commission are often in the spotlight, the CoR works behind the scenes with a specific objective: to ensure that the voices of Europe’s local communitiesyes also our dear province of Varesethey are listen.
Why we are here? The occasion is linked to the work of one of the members of the Committee who for years has been responsible for representing the voice of our province here in Brussels. it’s about Matteo Bianchiformer MP and now councilor and local councilor in Varese and Morazzone.
Bianchi himself will be the protagonist of a session of the plenary assembly of the Committee here in Brussels where he will discuss an opinion that will be voted on Thursday 20 June (we will have the opportunity to talk about it but in the meantime here is a preview of the work that will have to be presented in the chamber for the vote).
What is the European Committee of the Regions?
The hall of the European Parliament which hosts the plenary session of the Committee of the Regions
The CoR is an assembly composed of elected representatives at local and regional level from all 27 EU Member States. Imagine city councilors, mayors, presidents of regions and regional councilors who come together to discuss European policies that affect our daily lives. These representatives bring, or at least this is the goal, our concerns and ideas directly to Brussels, trying to shape European laws so that respond better to local needs.
Have you ever wondered how decisions made in Brussels affect our province? Here, let’s say that ideally the Committee of the Regions is here to act as a bridge between the European Union and local realities such as that of Varese. Its plenary meetings, held about five times a year, are crucial times when members discuss and vote on issues ranging from transportation to the environment, education to public health.
One of these plenary meetings is taking place in the European Parliament in recent days. During these meetings, the CoR examines EU legislative proposals and provides opinions reflect the concerns of local communities. For example, if there is new transport legislation, our representatives in the CoR can propose changes to ensure that it takes into account the peculiarities of our region, such as the needs of mountain areas or traffic management in urban areas.
Because it is important
To better understand the importance of the European Committee of the Regions, keep this thing in mind: each member of the CoR is a representative elected at local or regional level and who continues to play this role in contact with the territory. This means that when the CoR speaks, it is speaking with the direct voices of the people who live in our cities and towns. It is a concrete example of how democracy can work on multiple levels, from local to national, from municipalities to Europe.
In this sense we must not forget that participation in the CoR also offers an opportunity for our province of Varese to influence European decisions (and we will see this better through Bianchi’s opinion which will be voted on tomorrow).
In short, the European Committee of the Regions may not have the same notoriety as the European Parliament, but its role is fundamental to ensuring that European policies reflect local realities. It is an essential part of the great mosaic that is the European Union, a mosaic in which every tile, including our province of Varese, can thus have a value.
Fighting drug trafficking, the Committee of the Regions is preparing to vote on Matteo Bianchi’s opinion
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