ECR Group President Gordon Keymer CBE (Leader of Tandridge District Council) called on the  President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, during the 112th Plenary Session of the European Committee of the Regions to deliver bolder reforms. While welcoming the Commissions "Better Regulation Package" that was recently announced, Gordon Keymer noted that "greater European localism" was needed.

"We of course very much welcome that the Commission has explicitly referred to territorial impact assessments in the better regulation toolbox and has noted that the CoR will be part of the Regulatory Fitness and Performance Programme (REFIT) platform. However, we regret that the Commission is putting the CoR into the same camp as trade unions and businesses" said President Keymer.

The European Commission has proposed that two permanent and inclusive REFIT platforms are created – one composed of representative of Member States and another composed of stakeholders. The Commission proposes that the CoR should be represented in the latter platform, have 1 representative in a platform of 20 members composed of 18 representatives from outside the formal EU structure like civil society representatives, businesses and trade unions.

President Keymer underlined that the better-regulation package does not do justice to the CoR's role in the EU's formal decision-making process, despite the CoR being an advisory EU institution formally consulted under the ordinary legislative procedure with a specialised task on subsidiarity monitoring. "President – do you think it is appropriate that despite being part of the formal EU mechanism, we are put in the same camp as stakeholders and social partners? Local and regional authorities implement approximately 70 per cent of EU legislation. Some of our regions represented in the CoR also have legislative powers. Furthermore, the Committee of the Regions has a specialised task on subsidiarity monitoring given to it under the EU Treaties," stated Cllr Keymer.

Localism is one of the founding principles of the ECR Group, defined as "the exercise of power at the lowest practicable level - by the individual where possible and by local or national authorities in preference to supranational bodies" as well as "EU decisions do not exceed the level of intervention necessary." The ECR Group in the CoR believes that the CoR should be given the inter-institutional powers to amend and delay EU legislation that is not in line with the principle of subsidiarity.