DEVE (Brussels, 30 June 2009)
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he DEVE commission adopted by majority the draft opinions on the pharmaceutical package and a simplified CAP, by Susanna HABY (EPP/Sweden) and Olivier BERTRAND (EPP/France) respectively (Read more under Plenary, page 7).
They also adopted unanimously the draft opinion of Helmut JAHN (EPP) on a Community approach on the prevention of natural and man-made disasters. The District councillor of Hohenlohe (Germany) supports the political objective to develop a common strategy on the prevention of natural and man-made disasters, but he regrets the lack of European Commission proposals on measures to strengthen trans-border cooperation. In this context, he reminds the added value of the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) in the implementation of disasterprevention measures. The rapporteur calls for the full participation of local and regional authorities in the elaboration of such measures while underlining the subsidiarity dimension of any European initiative to address natural and manmade disasters. The opinion will be adopted in plenary by simplified procedure.
The draft opinion on New Skills for New Jobs by Marianne FÜGL (PES), Deputy Mayorof Traisen (Austria), was discussed as a working document in July and adopted in September (by majority / unanimously). The rapporteur argues that in the context of the current economic and financial crisis, it is all the more urgent to anticipate future labour market needs and assist individuals in getting the qualifications and skills necessary to meet these needs. Local and regional authorities as providers of education, lifelong learning and vocational training, but also as employers and/ or service providers have a key role to play, not least in providing the relevant information to the national and European level. She stresses that key strategic orientations and challenges (such as a drive to promote low carbon emission growth or demographic change) need to be factored into the equation from early on, and that there is clear European added value in generating and sharing information (according to comparable standards) across Member States and regions. The opinion generated a lively debate and received p XX p proposals for amendments.
The DEVE commission also held an exchange of views on a working document by Ramón Luis VALCÁRCEL SISO (EPP), President of the Autonomous Community of Murcia (Spain), responding to an European Commission a communication on aquaculture and the European Commission Green Paper on the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy. The Green Paper analyses the shortcomings of the current Policy and launches a broad public consultation (until 31 December 2009) on how these shortcomings should be tackled.
ECOS (Brussels – 2 July & Wroclaw, Poland – 14/15 September 2009)
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n 2 July, ECOS members adopted by majority the draft own-initiative opinion of Juan Vicente HERRERA CAMPO (EPP/Spain) on the Priorities for regional and local authorities to prevent violence against women and improve support for victims y page p g 8) (Read more under Plenary,
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the EU as a leader for a low-carbon, high-quality and innovative economy where decent jobs are created and sustained. A number of amendments were adopted during the meeting of the ECOS commission.
EDUC (Brussels, 17 September 2009)
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At their September meeting in Poland, ECOS members adopted the draft own-initiative opinion of Christine CHAPMAN (PES), Member of the National Assembly for Wales (UK), on the future of the Lisbon Strategy post 2010. It deals with one of the key priorities of the Committee of the Regions (and the PES Group in particular) for the current political debate: the renewal and revision of the Lisbon Strategy after nearly 10 years. The rapporteur has had a very wide range of consultations with other EU institutions, social partners, researchers and associations, and the ECOS meeting in April had already dedicated a round-table discussion to this issue. The key political message of this opinion is that the future Lisbon Strategy should be more focused and put a strong emphasis on the comprehensive concept of 'quality of life', which should be the aim of EU activity. The rapporteur therefore suggests that the strategy should be renamed 'Sustainable Europe Strategy', to reflect this approach. This would highlight the need to envisage a fundamental re-thinking of the European economy, social relations in the EU and other policies. The EU's strategy should be to support its Member States and their local and regional levels in setting ambitious goals for sustainable policies, targeting funding directly at the level where it has the greatest impact, supporting awarenessraising, education and training so that people can adapt to new economic realities and promoting
DUC members adopted the draft own-initiative opinion of András SZALAY (ALDE/Hungary) on media literacy. It builds on earlier work of the EDUC commission under the leadership of Evangelia SCHOINARAKI-ILIAKI (PES), rapporteur on media literacy and creative content on-line. The draft opinion underlines the importance of enabling citizens of all ages to develop the necessary skills for exploiting the enormous potential of modern ICT. Like the PES rapporteur, Mr Szalay underlines that local and regional authorities, often being responsible for education, have a particular responsibility for integrating media literacy into the curricula of compulsory education in an open and flexible way, since one key ICT feature is that rapid technological developments continuously present new challenges to teachers and students. The draft opinion also reiterates one of the key messages of Ms Schoinaraki's opinion, that is, the importance of developing a critical attitude towards media contents. Moreover, it calls for the creation of partnerships in the interest of media literacy between those who produce media contents, those who work on their dissemination and the education systems.
The EDUC commission also adopted the draft opinion of Liudvikas ŽUKAUSKAS (EPP/Lithuania) on ICT Infrastructures for e-science, a strategy for ICT R&D and Innovation in Europe & A strategy for research on future and emerging technologies in Europe. The draft opinion underlines the crucial importance of existing and future ICT applications for economic and social development and stresses the role of local and regional authorities as ICT users, education and training providers and R&D supporters. It opinion therefore calls for an involvement of local and regional authorities in the debate on how exactly to frame a European policy for the ICT sector. Moreover, EDUC members adopted the draft opinion of Mohammad MASOOD (EPP/UK) on the EU Forum for University-Business Dialogue. The European Commission Communication, to which the draft opinion responds, is based