THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 300(3) and Article 305 thereof,
Having regard to Council Decision (EU) 2019/852 of 21 May 2019 determining the composition of the Committee of the Regions,
Having regard to the proposals made by the Belgian, German and Maltese Governments,
Whereas:
(1)
Article 300(3) of the Treaty provides that the Committee of the Regions is to consist of representatives of regional and local bodies who either hold a regional or local authority electoral mandate or are politically accountable to an elected assembly.
(2)
Article 305 of the Treaty provides for the members of the Committee of the Regions and an equal number of alternate members to be appointed by the Council for a term of five years in accordance with the proposals made by each Member State.
(3)
As the term of office of the members and alternate members of the Committee of the Regions expired on 25 January 2020, new members and alternate members should be appointed.
(4)
On 10 December 2019, the Council adopted Decision (EU) 2019/2157. That Decision appointed, for the period from 26 January 2020 to 25 January 2025, the members and alternate members proposed by the Czech, Danish, Estonian, Cypriot, Latvian, Luxembourg, Dutch, Austrian, Romanian, Slovenian, Slovak and Swedish Governments. Decision (EU) 2019/2157 also appointed for the same period three members proposed by the Belgian Government, 21 members and 20 alternate members proposed by the German Government, eight members and eight alternate members proposed by the Irish Government, 16 members and 16 alternate members proposed by the Spanish Government, 10 members and 14 alternate members proposed by the Italian Government, four members and four alternate members proposed by the Maltese Government and eight members and eight alternate members proposed by the Finnish Government. Members and alternate members for whom no proposals from the respective Member State had been received by the Council before 15 November 2019 could not be included in Decision (EU) 2019/2157.
(5)
On 20 January 2020, the Council adopted Decision (EU) 2020/102. That Decision appointed, for the period from 26 January 2020 to 25 January 2025, the members and alternate members proposed by the Greek, French, Croatian, Lithuanian, Hungarian and Portuguese Governments, as well as four members and four alternate members proposed by the Belgian Government, one member proposed by the Bulgarian Government, one member and one alternate member proposed by the Irish Government, one member and one alternate member proposed by the Spanish Government, 14 members and 10 alternate members proposed by the Italian Government and 21 members and 20 alternate members proposed by the Polish Government. Members and alternate members for whom no proposals from the respective Member State had been received by the Council before 20 December 2019 could not be included in Decision (EU) 2020/102.
(6)
On 3 February 2020, the Council adopted Decision (EU) 2020/144. That Decision appointed, for the period from 26 January 2020 to 25 January 2025, four members and four alternate members proposed by the Spanish Government, as well as one member and one alternate member proposed by the Finnish Government. Members and alternate members for whom no proposals from the respective Member State had been received by the Council before 23 January 2020 could not be included in Decision (EU) 2020/144.
(7)
Belgium has proposed its candidates for its remaining members’ and alternate members’ seats, Germany has proposed its candidate for one alternate member and Malta has proposed its candidate for one member. Those members and alternate members should be appointed for the period from 26 January 2020 to 25 January 2025. This Decision should therefore apply retroactively from 26 January 2020.
(8)
The appointment of the other members and alternate members for whom proposals have not been yet communicated to the Council will follow at a later stage,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: