The Government of the Azores has assured the approval of its proposed amendments to the Committee of the Regions on the EU strategy for forests and the forestry sector in Brussels.

The information was provided by the Regional Under Secretary of the Presidency for External Relations, who took part in the 105th plenary session of that Committee on Thursday and Friday.

According to Rodrigo Oliveira, "the report issued by the Committee of the Regions proposes a comprehensive and balanced approach to various aspects related to the management and exploitation of forests in Europe through the development of a new strategy that recognises the importance of the sector for employment creation in Europe."

In this regard, the proposals submitted by the Government, which had the supported of the rapporteur, were "intended enhance the visibility of European territorial diversity, with emphasis on the ORs, and the importance of the involvement of regional authorities; these goals were fully met," added Rodrigo Oliveira.

One of the proposals submitted by the Azores, approved by unanimity, has added a new section to the report; the latter draws the attention of European institutions for territories such as the Azores, where forest management and recovery programmes face the challenge of a steep topography, compared to the vast majority of European forests.

Other proposals made by the Regional Government have included the power of ORs in the management and monitoring of forest activities, with special emphasis on the "regions where the growth and job creation potentialities are not yet fully developed."

The plenary session of the Committee of the Regions was attended by the President of the European Commission Durão Barroso, and the Vice-President, Olli Rehn, who is also the Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs.

Several reports issued by the Committee with recommendations to the European institutions on issues such as education and higher education in Europe, the single market for electronic communications or the policies for climate and energy in 2030  were discussed and approved during the working sessions.