CoR commissions start work in new mandate

The policy commissions of the European Committee of the Regions began their work on 21 February in the institution's new five-year mandate with the election of new chairs and vice-chairs.

The meetings followed the election on 20 February of Kata Tüttő (HU/PES), member of Budapest city council, as president of the CoR and of Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla (ES/EPP), president of the region of Andalusia, as the CoR's 1st vice-president.

The chairs of the commissions will serve for two and a half years, with leadership roles to be rotated between the CoR's six political groups in mid-term.

The chairs of the policy commissions until mid-2027 are:  

• Commission for Citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External Affairs (CIVEX): Magali Altounian (Renew), regional councillor from Sud-Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur. 

• Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget (COTER): Vasco Alves Cordeiro (PT/PES), member of the Regional Assembly of the Azores and ex-president of the CoR (2022-2025). 

• Commission for Economic Policy (ECON): Alberto Cirio (IT/EPP), president of the Piedmont region. 

• Commission for the Environment, Climate Change and Energy (ENVE): Konstantinos Bakoyannis (EL/EPP), municipal councillor of Athens, former mayor of Athens (2019-23) .

• Commission for Natural Resources (NAT): Piotr Całbecki (PL/EPP), councillor of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie voivodeship. 

• Commission for Social Policy, Education, Employment, Research and Culture (SEDEC): Heike Raab (DE/PES), state secretary of Rhineland Palatinate. 

The seventh commission in the CoR – the Commission for Financial and Administrative Affairs (CAFA) – will hold its inaugural meeting on 19 March, under the chairmanship of Friso Douwstra (NL/EPP), regional minister of the province of Friesland.

The work of the CoR commissions has been updated and streamlined, to reflect political priorities in the EU's new political cycle and organisational changes within the institutions. These include an upgrading in the EU's work on defence and housing, reflected in the appointment of European Commissioners for these dossiers. COTER will lead the CoR's work on housing, while ECON will be responsible for the defence industry. COTER will also coordinate the CoR's work on the EU's long-term budget – the Multiannual Financial Framework – with ECON taking the lead on artificial intelligence and ENVE for water issues.