​The CoR administration and representatives of regional offices involved in European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation met in Brussels on 15 January 2015 in order to reinforce the cooperation with the CoR, the networking and the transmission of information between Brussels and the local actors.

This meeting had been announced by Herwig Van Staa, political coordinator of the EGTC Platform, during the Open Days 2014. This proposal, suggested by the Director of the office of Lower Silesia, received a good feedback from the participants.

The objectives of the meeting were to update the regional offices about the work done by the EGTC Platform and the project of action plan under the new CoR mandate; to know each other allowing better networking and a fluent contact, and to get the impressions and suggestions of the regional offices.

"The regional offices can transmit and improve the information between the institutions and the actors on the ground. They can use their network of institutional representatives, including lobbies, contacts in the European Commission and MEPs", introduced Alfonso Alcolea on behalf of the CoR. "In this moment, we are facing a new mandate of the CoR in which there will be new CoR members, new political priorities and a new coordinator of the EGTC Platform", he added.

Esteban Mas Portell (ES/EPP alternate) presented the EGTC Pyrenees-Mediterranean and invited the participants to attend the meeting of the presidents of the four member regions with the EU institutions organised by the EGTC in the CoR building in Brussels on 26 February.

Ewa Woods, from Lower Silesia, referred proposed the establishment of an informal network of regional offices involved in EGTC. Interested regional offices can register in a list

More information:

EGTC Platform: www.cor.europa.eu/egtc  

Contact: egtc@cor.europa.eu