Policy Committee

The members of CEMR's Policy Committee met in Munich, on 25 and 26 June 2015. High on the agenda were the renewal of the secretary general's mandate, the appointement of spokespersons and CEMR's 2016 congress taking place in Nicosia.

The following is a summary of some of the conclusions:
 

• Mandate of the secretary general: Following the Executive Bureau’s proposal, Policy Committee members unanimously approved Frédéric Vallier’s mandate to be renewed for 6 years. This second mandate will start on 1 February 2016.
• CEMR's 2016 Congress: The mayor of Nicosia, Constantinos Yiorkadjis, invited local and regional elected representatives to participate in the Congress, to take place from 20-22 April 2016. Under the theme "Tomorrow starts Today", the 26th  edition will seek to reflect on a local and regional vision of Europe 2030.
• "Debating Europe 2030": The mayor of Fontainebleau and AFCCRE secretary general, Frédéric Valletoux, invited delegates to send until 1 December 2015 contributions, with the ultimate goal of feeding CEMR’s “vision of Europe and local government in 2030”, to be defined and adopted in Nicosia in the form of a blue book.
• CEMR's spokespersons: 13 new spokespersons have been appointed. Their core duties will be to relay CEMR's concerns and views to the European institutions and worldwide.
• CEMR lobbying strategy: Members of the Policy Committee adopted CEMR's new lobbying strategy. The strategy outlines the context within which CEMR operates and defines the place of advocacy and lobbying in CEMR’s work with the European Institutions.
• Adoption of position papers and declarations: CEMR has been working with its members on a series of position papers, statements and declarations approved by the Policy Committee: TTIP, Climate, Urban Agenda, Better regulation package.

Political exchanges also took place at the opening and closing of the meeting, one on "migration to integration – the local and regional path towards an inclusive continent”, and the other “Towards a new European Neighbourhood Policy – what opportunities for local & regional governments from Eastern Partnership countries”.

Earlier in the day, European Commission special adviser for Better regulation, Edmund Stoiber, was invited to CEMR's Executive Bureau to present its views on two key issues for local government: the 'better regulation' package and the EU lobby register. Speaking about overregulation at the European level, Edmund Stoiber said: "We set up a regulatory control committee to provide opinion and advice on the draft European legislation. This committee, which is composed of 6 experts, should include a representative from local government." 

The Policy Committee and the Executive Bureau meetings were organised at the invitation of deputy mayor of Munich, Josef Schmid.