10th February 2010 Mr. Zoltan Varga Minister of Local Government attended the plenary session of the Committee of the Regions and held a professional consultation with Manuel Chavez González the Spanish Minister of Territorial Policy.
In the course of the consultation both parties underlined the necessity of devoting a particular attention to strengthening the involvement of the local and regional governments in the EU’s decision-making mechanism.
Furthermore it is the primary task to define the joint actions in implementing the provisions of the Lisbon Treaty and the principles of the multi-level governance. For discussing these topics the informal ministerial meeting to be held in Malaga 16-17th March provides an excellent opportunity.
The parties agreed on cooperating to summarize the experiences of both countries in the field of EGTC (European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation) and assisting in the regulatory review process of EGTC.
After the meeting, the representatives of the Ministry of Local Government had a consultation with the representatives of the European Commission’s DG Regional Policy. The representatives of the Commission considered the professional proposals collected by the Ministry of Local Government well-founded and eligible. The negotiating parties take the next steps in cooperation with the Committee of the Regions and the presidency representatives of Spain and Belgium.