October 10, 2019 - The Joint Advisory Committee of the European Committee of the Regions - CoR and Montenegro will hold its 13th session on Monday, 15 October, in Tivat.
The CoR is an assembly of local and regional representatives in the European Union. It is an EU political organization comprising 350 members and 350 alternate members from all EU Member States. The members are elected at the local or regional level (e.g., mayors, mayors, mayors, city board members, assemblies). The members were assembled into political groups (European political parties; there are now five). CoR is headed by President, now Karl-Heinz Lambertz (Socialist from Belgium).
The European Committee of the Regions is the voice of EU cities, municipalities, and regions. Advises EU legislatures (EU Council, European Parliament) on legislation, which is implemented at the local and regional levels in 70%. It meets full six times a year in Brussels / Brussels, and also acts on six thematic committees.
As a permanent form of cooperation with EU candidate countries - including Montenegro - CoR maintains joint advisory committees. These are parity bodies, meaning that they have an equal number of members from the CoR and the partner country, in this case, eight. JCC ME has two co-chairs; from the EU (CoR), it is Jelena Drenjanin (Sweden, European People's Party - EPP), and from Montenegro is Aleksandar Kašćelan, Mayor of Cetinje. On the European side, the CoR General Secretariat prepares the session of the Committee, and on the Montenegrin Union of Municipalities.
The purpose of the Committee is to support the development of local democracy, good governance, the rule of law, economy and culture at the local level, and to assist local and regional authorities and public administration bodies in preparing for future EU membership, by discussing various topics of common interest. The JCC usually holds two sessions a year: in the spring in Brussels, as part of EU Enlargement Day, and in the autumn in a partner country.
There will be two crucial topics on the agenda of the 13th session of the JCC ME: the system of financing and maintenance of municipal infrastructure and "Should we still work with our hands?" - The role of industry in economic development at the local level. Speakers from Montenegro (host, Tivat Mayor Dr Sinisa Kusovac; Montenegrin Chief EU Negotiator Aleksandar Drljevic; Sanja Zivkovic, Secretary of the Spatial Planning Committee of the Union of Municipalities of Montenegro; Ranko Misnic, Mayor of Mojkovac and others), guests from the EU will also speak : Aivo Orav, Ambassador of the EU Delegation to Montenegro; Jaroslav Hlinka, CoR rapporteur for the 2019 Enlargement Package (Slovakia, Socialist); Sonja Polonijo, Crikvenica City Hall, waste management expert, and Dr. Velibor Mackic, professor at the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb.
