CzechReg Days, the regions of the Czech Republic contribute to the agenda of the Czech Presidency of the Council

Our country is taking this important role in 2009 – in the year of the twentieth anniversary of the Iron Curtain’s fall and the fifth anniversary of the EU enlargement to central-and-east European countries. The regions in the Czech Republic benefit significantly from both of these historical events that made possible the re-establishment of decentralized governance and started the process of integration and economical development of our regions and cities.

The program of the Czech Presidency, with its motto “Europe without barriers”, will feature political topics which are important for the future of the European Union and its regions. Above all, the discussion will deal with the future strategy of the cohesion policy including topics such as convergence, competitiveness, the Lisbon Strategy, cross-border cooperation and business development support. Another important item on the agenda is the revision of the TEN-T guidelines. This agenda is particularly important for the integration of the regions of the new EU member states into a wider territorial context which will contribute to a higher level of cross-border cohesion within the EU.

Since European policies have their real impact on towns and regions, their experience, attitudes and proposals are particularly useful having practical and realistic background.

Representations of the Czech regions in Brussels therefore came with a concept of thematic seminars, conferences and accompanying cultural events entitled “CzechReg Days”, that would create a platform for inter-regional as well as inter-institutional discussion on these important topics. The series of seminars is planned to take place between the two CoR plenary sessions in the middle of the CZ-PRES.

Our goal is to support the role of regional and local governments in the policy-making process of the EU where regions and cities must have a significant word-to-say being mostly the primary beneficiaries of the policy results. Owing to this their contributions have often more practical and realistic background. Hand in hand with this fact we want to stress the role of the Committee of the Regions as the voice of regions in Brussels and the meeting point of their representatives.