The Committee of the Regions' Commission for Constitutional Affairs and External Relations (CIVEX) endorsed today the CoR's Subsidiarity Work Programme for 2017.
Introducing the proposals, Michael Schneider, President of the EPP Group and Political Coordinator of the CoR's Subsidiarity Monitoring Network stated that
Defending the Subsidiarity Principle is and will remain of the core tasks of the Committee of the Regions. The Lisbon Treaty entrusted upon new powers and responsibilities in this domain and it is our duty to ensure that this principle is respected, and decisions are taken as closely as possible to our citizens.
Five priority initiatives were selected to be subject to subsidiarity and proportionality scrutiny from a local and regional perspective by the CoR in 2017. They are the following proposals, announced as part of the European Commission's 2017 Work Programme:
- A revision of the Drinking Water Directive as part of the implementation of the Circular Economy Action Plan
- Youth aspects of the skills agenda, as part of the Youth Initiative
- Initiatives under the European pillar of social rights
- Renewables, biomass, and energy efficiency, including in buildings initiatives, as part of the Energy Union Package
- Implementation of the Digital Single Market Strategy
These can evolve according to European political agenda in 2017.
Micheal Schneider stressed the need to continue to work in synergy with the European Parliament, honouring the commitments made between the two institutions in this regard. He concluded with the announcement of the 8th Subsidiarity Conference to be co-organised with the Austrian Parliament in Vienna, in the autumn 2017. This biannual inter-institutional event dedicated to subsidiarity gathers EU institutions involved in subsidiarity monitoring, together with national parliaments, regional and local governments and COSAC.
