Dialogue with European Institutions

Charter Awards 2017 at the European Parliament

To achieve its policy priorities, EUROPARC maintains fruitful connections with different European institutions.

At the European Union level, EUROPARC maintains connections with representatives and units of the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the European Committee of the Regions that are relevant for the Protected Areas’ work. On this webpage you find the most important EU institutions that EUROPARC works with and whose work EUROPARC keeps track of in representation of Protected Areas.

European Commission

The European Commission is the main executive body in the European Union. 27 Commissioners, including the Commission President, are appointed as the political leadership for a five-year term and they form the College of Commissioners. Each Commissioner is responsible for a specific EU policy area.

At the European Commission, EUROPARC works with or keeps informed about the agendas of the following Directorates-General:

Read about our annual event, the Seminar Dialogue, with the Commission!

European Parliament

The European Parliament is an important decision-making body at the EU level. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are directly elected by voters in the EU Member States. There are 720 MEPs. Members of European Parliament are divided into Committees to work on specific topics. EUROPARC keeps informed about the debates of the following Committees:

European Committee of the Regions

The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) represents local and regional authorities across the European Union and advises on new laws that have an impact on regions and cities. The CoR is composed of 329 members and 329 alternates from all EU Member States elected at local or regional level. EUROPARC works with CoR and keeps informed about the agendas of the following Commissions:

Charter Ceremony 2019 – copyrights EUROPARC

At the wider European level, EUROPARC works particularly with the Council of Europe.

Council of Europe

The Council of Europe (CoE) is an international organisation (not an EU organisation) in Strasbourg, France which comprises 47 countries of Europe. All EU Member States are part of the CoE. It was set up to promote democracy and protect human rights and the rule of law in Europe. The European Youth Centres in Strasbourg and Budapest offer training for young people in democracy and human rights issues. The Council of Europe works in close partnership with the European Union, and co-operates with the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and with partner countries in its neighbourhood and worldwide.

EUROPARC works closely with the Council of Europe to contribute to the development and implementation of relevant policies and strategies, to ensure the perspective of Protected Areas from all over Europe is taken into account and to facilitate the dissemination of knowledge and expertise. EUROPARC is also contributing to ensure coherence between EU policies and Council of Europe initiatives.

Here some of our main activities with the Council of Europe:

  • Since 2013 EUROPARC has a participatory status within the Conference of International NGOs.
  • Following closely and supporting the development and implementation of the Bern Convention and Council of Europe Landscape Convention;
  • Liaising with the CoE for the European Diploma for Protected Areas;
  • Actively contributing to the work of Group of Experts on Protected Areas and Ecological Networks;
  • Supporting the work of the Group of Experts on Climate Change.

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