Extraordinary Bureau Meeting of the Committee of the Regions
The Bureau of the Committee of the Regions meets twice a year in the country that holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union at the time.
Under the current Presidency, the Committee’s extraordinary Bureau meeting will take place in Antwerp on 9 and 10 September 2010. Participants will also pay a working visit to the port of Antwerp.
The Committee of the Regions (CoR) is the EU's assembly of regional and local representatives. The mission of its 344 members from all 27 EU Member States is to involve regional and local authorities and the communities they represent in the EU's decision-making process and to inform them about EU policies. The European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council are obliged to consult the Committee in policy areas affecting regions and cities. It can appeal to the EU Court of Justice if its rights are infringed or it believes that an EU law violates the subsidiarity principle or fails to respect regional or local powers.
Apart from the five sessions in Brussels, the CoR Bureau also meets twice a year outside Brussels, in the country that holds the Presidency of the Council, the so-called ‘extraordinary Bureau’.
Within the Belgian EU presidency, Flanders is responsible for organising the extraordinary Bureau of the Committee of the Regions, in close cooperation with the CoR administration. Flanders acted as the host region also during the previous Belgian EU Presidency (2001).