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Cyprus News Agency: News in English, 09-03-04
CONTENTS
[01] PRESIDENT COR - INTERVIEW
[01] PRESIDENT COR - INTERVIEW
President of the European Union Committee of the Regions (CoR) Luc Van
den Brande has said that the Committee is preparing an opinion to
address the Cyprus question at local level, but reserved the right to
say more at the next plenary session of the CoR in April. He pointed
out that the direct talks between the leaders of the two communities in
Cyprus offer a window of opportunity to end the division of the island,
noting at the same time that the European Union has a role to play in
the resolution of the problem. A confederation, he added, is not a
long-term or even a mid-term approach and stressed that the solution in
Cyprus has to be a compromise.
In an interview with CNA, on the occasion of his recent visit here, Van
den Brande said that the CoR was created in 1994 by the Treaty of
Maastricht with the aim to raise the voice of local and regional people
in the European Union. In April we will commemorate fifteen years since
the establishment of the CoR, he noted.
He added that CoR is a consultative body composed of representatives of
regional and local authorities of the 27 EU member states, noting that
it is consulted by the European Commission and the Council of Ministers
on a wide range of areas that have local or regional implications, such
as economic and social cohesion, the environment, health, culture,
education and transport. He pointed out that CoR role will evolve over
time so as to take part in the co-decision legislative procedure of the
EU, adding that he is making efforts to enhance the institutional
capacity of the CoR by widening the inter-institutional relation with
the European Parliament.
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