Report by the European Parliamentary Assembly on the problems of regional policy and the ways and means to be adopted in order to implement such policy in the Community of the Six (rapporteur: Bertrand Motte). As of 1960, the Assembly proposes the establishment of an advisory committee on regional economies.

Extraits des Résolutions politiques des États généraux de 1953 à nos jours, du Conseil des Communes et Régions d'Europe (CCRE), montrant le rôle de pression que cette association a eu depuis sa constitution afin d'obtenir une représentation des collectivités territoriales dans les institutions européennes, notamment à travers la création dans le cadre communautaire d'un organisme consultatif des collectivités locales et régionales.

In accordance with this Decision of 18 March 1975, a Committee on regional policy is established by the Council and the Commission. This Committee is the first consultative body with responsibility for studying the problems of regional policy at Community level. However, it can not be considered to be a body of regional representation at Community level, since its Members are civil servants appointed by the Member States.

European Parliament Resolution of 13 April 1984 on the role of the regions in the construction of a democratic Europe and the outcome of the Conference of the Regions. In its Resolution, Parliament calls for greater participation by the regions at Community level.

Joint Statement by the Council, Commission and Parliament of 19 June 1984 issued following the conciliation procedure on the reform of the ERDF, annex to the Resolution on the results of the conciliation with the Council on the proposal from the Commission of the European Communities to the Council for a Regulation amending Regulation (EEC) No 724/75 establishing a European Regional Development Fund.

Aware of the necessity of associating the regional and local authorities to the elaboration and to the implementation of the regional policy, the Commission creates the Consultative Council of Regional and Local Authorities by decision n° 88/487 of 24 June 1988.

European Parliament Resolution of 18 November 1988 on Community regional policy and the role of the regions. In its Resolution, Parliament recognises the need to extend the process of regionalisation in the European Community.

Dans le cadre des débats sur la préparation de la Conférence intergouvernementale sur l'Union politique, la délégation allemande présente, le 18 octobre 1990, une contribution sur les organes des régions de la Communauté européenne.

In this Opinion of 21 October 1990 on the Proposal for Amendment of the Treaty Establishing the European Economic Community with a View to Political Union, the Commission declares itself in favour of the creation of a body to represent the Community's regions.

In its Resolution of 22 November 1990 on the Intergovernmental Conferences in the context of the European Parliament’s strategy for European Union, Parliament recommends the creation of a Committee of the Regions and Local Authorities with consultative status.

Resolution of the Assembly of European Regions (AER) of 6 December 1990, concerning the formal participation of the regions in the decision-making process of the European Community. Since its creation on 14 June 1987, the AER calls for the establishment of a body to represent the regions within the Community institutional framework.

Extracts from the European Parliament Resolution of 12 December 1990 on the constitutional basis of European Union. In the Resolution, the ‘Committee of Regions and Local Authorities of the Community’ is mentioned as an advisory body.

Excerpt from the Conclusions of the Presidency of the Rome European Council (14 and 15 December 1990). In the context of the preparatory work for the Intergovernmental Conference on Political Union, the consultation of local and regional authorities is a question of particular importance for some Member States.

Extrait du projet de Traité sur l'Union établi sous la présidence luxembourgeoise, le 18 juin 1991. L'extrait porte sur les dispositions institutionnelles du Comité des régions.

Excerpt from the European Parliament Resolution of 7 April 1992 on the results of the intergovernmental conferences. In its Resolution, Parliament highlights the creation of the Committee of the Regions as one of the positive elements of the Treaty on European Union.

European Parliament Resolution of 23 April 1993 on the Committee of the Regions. In its Resolution, Parliament calls for original provisions concerning the Committee of the Regions, officially created by the Treaty on European Union, to be reviewed in accordance with the tasks and powers entrusted to the newly established Committee.

Report of 4 November 1993, drawn up by the Committee on Regional Policy, Regional Planning and Relations with Regional and Local Authorities, on the participation and representation of the regions in the process of European Integration: the Committee of the Regions. In the explanatory statement, the rapporteur, Mario Melis, outlines the development of the role played by the regions and by local authorities in the European Union. The European Parliament adopted a resolution on this matter on 18 November 1993.

European Parliament Resolution of 18 November 1993 on the participation and representation of the regions in the process of European integration: the Committee of the Regions. In this Resolution, Parliament deals with the principle of subsidiarity and the participation of the regions in the drawing up and implementation of Community policies.

Ce compte rendu de la réunion du Bureau de l'Assemblée des Régions d'Europe (ARE) - tenue le 2 décembre 1993 à Sitges, suite à la ratification du Traité de Maastricht par tous les États membres de l'Union européenne - illustre l'activité de l'ARE en vue d'accélérer la mise en place du Comité des régions. À souligner la recherche d'une stratégie commune avec le Conseil des communes et régions d'Europe (CCRE) et la désignation du candidat de l'ARE pour la présidence du Comité des régions.

Extrait, concernant l'Union européenne et le Comité des régions, de la Déclaration finale de l'Assemblée des régions d'Europe (ARE), adoptée à l'unanimité par l'Assemblée générale réunie à Sitges, Catalogne, le 3 décembre 1993. Se félicitant de la création du Comité des régions par le Traité de Maastricht, l'ARE ne le considère cependant qu'une étape transitoire avant la prochaine révision du Traité sur l'Union européenne.

As President of the European Parliament, Egon Klepsch welcomes the Committee of the Regions to its inaugural sitting in the hemicycle in Brussels. In his speech he emphasises the importance of the Committee’s establishment to the democratic development of the European Union, and congratulates those responsible for its creation: the representatives of regional and local authorities, the Assembly of European Regions, the Council of European Municipalities and Regions, the Consultative Council of Local and Regional Authorities, the European Commission and the European Parliament.

Enthusiastic speech by the first President of the Committee of the Regions, Jacques Blanc, delivered during its inaugural session, on 10 March 1994 in Brussels. Jacques Blanc displays pride in the creation of the first ‘institution' to give a role to the local and regional authorities and places great hope in the Committee's task of giving real meaning to the ‘Europe of the citizens'.

Following the establishment of the Committee of the Regions on 9 March 1994, the Consultative Council of Regional and Local Authorities is wound up by the Commission Decision of 21 April 1994.

European Parliament Resolution on the role of regional and local authorities in European integration. In its Resolution, Parliament calls on the Convention to amend several Treaty articles (in particular with a view to promoting territorial cohesion, linguistic diversity in Europe and transfrontier cooperation, and to granting the Committee of the Regions the right to bring proceedings before the Court of Justice for annulment of acts which might infringe the principle of subsidiarity or in order to defend its prerogatives).

Reflection paper on the regional and local dimension in Europe, forwarded to the Members of the European Convention on 29 January 2003 by its Praesidium, and intended to serve as a basis for the debate in the plenary session of the Convention on 6 and 7 February 2003. The paper analyses the various means of participation available to the regional and local authorities in drawing up and implementing Community decisions: partnership in the implementation of certain Community policies, in particular regional policy; participation in the decision-making process at both Community (Council and Committee of the Regions) and national (defining the national position) level; and the right to bring an action before the Court of Justice.

Article from the daily newspaper Le Monde published after the signing of the Treaty on European Union in Maastricht on 7 February 1992 and before its entry into force on 1 November 1993. Following the Maastricht amendments, the Treaty establishing the European Community gives rise to a new Community body with advisory status, consisting of representatives of regional and local bodies (previously Article 198a, now Article 263 following the Amsterdam amendment). On this occasion, the author of the article considers the future of a body for which responsibilities will vary considerably according to its composition.

Article paru en 1993 suite à la création du Comité des régions par le Traité de Maastricht et avant sa mise en place effective. Encore trop tôt pour se prononcer sur les répercussions d'une telle création, l'auteur se montre plutôt prudent face à cette étape représentant – à côté des solutions existantes relevant du droit interne – l'institutionnalisation de la participation des régions au niveau européen. Néanmoins, les différences entre les régions des États européens sont très accusées et la compétence du nouvel organe reste purement consultative.