Committee of The Regions - Internal Structure

Internal Structure

President

Elected for a two-and-a-half year term, the president guides the Committee’s work, chairs plenary sessions and is the CoR’s official representative. Ramón Luis Valcárcel Siso (ES/PPE), President of the Spanish region of Murcia, was elected in July 2012 as President.

First vice-president

The first vice-president is also elected by the plenary assembly for two-and-a-half years, to represent the president in the latter’s absence. Mercedes Bresso, the former President of Piedmont from the centre-left, and CoR President between 2010 and 2012, was elected First-Vice President in July 2012.

Bureau

The Bureau is the ruling body of the CoR. It comprises 60 members: the president, first vice-president, 27 vice-presidents (one per Member State), the four presidents of the CoR political groups and 27 other members, enabling it to reflect national and political balances. The Bureau generally meets seven times a year, draws up the CoR’s policy programme and instructs the administration on the implementation of its decisions.

Plenary assembly

The 344 members of the CoR meet in plenary session in Brussels five times a year, to discuss and adopt opinions, reports and resolutions.

CoR commissions

The CoR structures its work by means of six commissions, which specialise in the following areas: territorial cohesion policy; economic and social policy; environment, climate change and energy; natural resources; culture, education and research; citizenship, governance, institutional and external affairs. They prepare draft opinions and hold conferences and seminars focused on their areas of competence. Each commission has approximately 100 members and is supported by a secretariat within the administration.

Committee for Administrative and Financial Affairs (CAFA)

This committee – which has eight members – advises the Bureau on administrative and financial questions.

The political groups

The CoR has four political groups: the European People’s Party (EPP), the Party of European Socialists(PES), the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) and the European Alliance (EA). The members of each political group meet before major meetings to adopt common positions. The CoR president, first vice-president and presidents of the political groups also gather before each plenary session and other important meetings, with the aim of reaching a political consensus on key questions.

National delegations

The CoR also comprises 27 national delegations. Members meet in their national delegations before plenary sessions and other events to discuss common positions.

Secretary-general

The secretary-general is appointed for five years by the Bureau. As head of the CoR administration, the secretary-general must not hold a political mandate. He is responsible for implementing Bureau decisions and the smooth running of the administration. Gerhard Stahl is the Secretary-General of the CoR since 2004 (reappointed in 2009).

Secretariat-general

The secretariat-general consists of five directorates: Administration and Finance; Members Service and Registry; Consultative Works; Communication, Press and Events; and Horizontal Policies and Networks. The units for budget, personnel, commission work and interinstitutional relations are organised within this structure. The secretariat-general also includes the political group secretariatsand internal audit service. The Logistics and Translations Directorates are jointly managed with the European Economic and Social Committee.