Meeting of COPEAM Commissions Presidents

Convened by the Secretary General, the Presidents of COPEAM Commissions met in Rome on 30 September 2013 in order to start a reflection on the role and functioning of these bodies. With a view to better structuring this meeting, a short questionnaire was submitted to each President. Their replies underlined the shared need for such an initiative, in order to address common problems and identify joint solutions. In particular, this exercise highlighted how necessary a stronger engagement and a tighter cooperation within these bodies were. Concrete proposals were put forward, notably concerning the improvement of information exchange and coordination, the development of a better defined action framework for the Presidents and the restructuring of the Commissions, according to the identified needs. In this regard, it was decided to integrate the TV Sat Group within the TV Commission, and to rename the “Women” Commission as “Gender Equality” one. Moreover, while stressing the cross-cutting nature of some Commissions – in particular, Training and Gender Equality – and the need to develop synergies among their projects, the Presidents suggested organizing, on the occasion of COPEAM annual Conference, their meetings in a way to enable all the participants to attend the works of such Commissions. Finally, the importance of a bolder commitment to raise funds was underlined, addressing not only the European Institutions but also other international and national organizations. This occasion for dialogue thus proved to be really useful. Considering this success, all the participants expressed their willingness to make of this meeting a regular appointment.