The COTER Commission has decided that Władysław Ortyl, Marshal of the Podkarpackie region in Poland and chair of the Polish delegation in the ECR Group, will be the European Committee of the Regions’ rapporteur for the opinion on the launch of a Carpathian macro-regional strategy.

The decision was taken by the Committee Members unanimously on 17 May. The Marshal of the Podkarpackie region's candidacy must now be approved by the Committee of the Regions’ Bureau, which is due to meet on 25 June. The position paper will be adopted by the Committee of the Regions’ plenary session to be held in December this year.

Speaking at the COTER Commission of the Committee of the Regions in Brussels, Mr Ortyl declared that the Carpathian strategy would offer a response to the main needs of the Carpathian region, in particular the need to improve quality of life and stimulate the local economy.

Marshal Władysław Ortyl has been a Member of this prestigious Commission since May. COTER, which stands for Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget, has now had two meetings involving Mr Ortyl. The COTER Commission’s remit covers, among other things, economic, social and territorial cohesion, structural funds and spatial planning, urban policy, transport and trans-European transport networks, macro-regions, territorial cooperation, the annual EU budget, multiannual financial frameworks, and local and regional finances.