Portuguese EU Presidency follows up on 'Leipzig'
The Portuguese EU Presidency is to hold an informal ministerial meeting onspatial planning and regional development in the Azores on 23 and 24 November.This was announced by the Portuguese Minister for the Environment, SpatialPlanning and Regional Development, Francisco Nunes Correia during his visit tothe European Parliament's Regional development committee in Brussels on 17 July.
The informal meeting of ministers of spatial planning and regionaldevelopment is to be the main event organised by the Portuguese in terms ofregional policy. The first day will focus on spatial planning and the second onregional development. For the former, this will include the follow up to theinformal Council held in Leipzig on 24 and 25 May which concluded with theadoption of the ‘Leipzig Charter’ containing details of the main principles forurban development.
The meeting in the Azores will see how to further implement the LeipzigCharter. It is foreseen that the informal ministerial meeting will see theadoption of a concrete action plan. This action plan will be prepared ahead oftime by a working group within the presidency consisting of representatives fromMember States, the European Commission, the Parliament, the Committee of theRegions and the European Economic and Social Committee.
The day devoted to regional development will discuss a document prepared bythe Commission's DG Regio on the extent to which the Lisbon strategy is takeninto account in the national strategic reference frameworks drawn up by MemberStates.
The Portuguese Presidency is also involved in the preparations for the fourthforum on cohesion organised by the European Commission in Brussels on 27 and 28September. It will be attended by Nunes Correia and the Portuguese PrimeMinister José Socrates. At the forum, the 4th report on economic and socialcohesion will be discussed.
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By: Bart Nijhof,