The Regional Under Secretary of the Presidency for External Relations, Rodrigo Oliveira, will participate on behalf of the President of the Government in the 110th plenary meeting of the Committee of the Regions of European Union to take place in Brussels this week.

This is the inaugural meeting of the new Committee of the Regions, whose term of office expires in January 2020, and, for this reason, it will include the statutory election of the President and the first Vice-President, in addition to the installation of members and the establishment of commissions.

The programme of the meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, will focus on the analysis and voting of the resolution project on the work programme of the European Commission for 2015 as well as on the reports addressing the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the extension of the European Union's geographical indication protection to non-agricultural products and the revision of EU legislation on waste.

This session will feature as speakers the first Vice-President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, European Commission for Trade, Cecilia Malmström, and Zanda Kalnina-Lukaševica, Secretary of State for European Affairs of the Government of Latvia, the country that currently holds the presidency of the European Council.

The Committee of the Regions is an advisory body of the European institutions representing EU regional and local bodies. It currently comprises 353 members from 28 Member States.

Its primary mission is to issue reports on today's relevant political issues and prepare legislative proposals in areas related to the exercise of regional and local power in Europe, such as the case of economic and social cohesion, employment, vocational training, education and culture, health, social policies, environment, climate change, energy and transport.

The Autonomous Region of the Azores holds a seat in the Committee of the Regions since its inception. In the current term of office, the Azores are represented by President of the Government, Vasco Cordeiro, and by the Regional Under Secretary of the Presidency for External Relations, Rodrigo Oliveira, as alternate member.