Olga Zrihen, vice-president of the Belgian senate and member of the Walloon parliament (PES/Belgium), today has been elected as the new chair of the Committee of the Regionss (CoR) Commission for Economic Policy.
Succeeding Michel Delebarre, member of Dunkirk Municipal Council (PES/France), Olga Zrihen will guide the work done by the EU's local and regional politicians to shape EU economic policy, complementing the assembly's efforts to maintain strong EU funding for regions.
Olga Zrihen, who has been a member of the CoR since 2015 and served in the past as a member of the European Parliament, emphasised: "I am taking over the presidency of the ECON commission on the last lap of important financial programmes post-2021 (such InvestEU, the Reform Support Programme and the European Investment Stabilisation Function, the Internal Market Programme) as well as the design of a new EU long-term strategy based on the Sustainable Development Goals. I will make sure that there will be a strong Socialist footprint on these topics."
The Belgian PES member is herself currently in the process of drafting recommendations on EU support for economic reform and stabilisation, scheduled for adoption in December. She has previously served as rapporteur on the EU's Structural Reform Support Programme and on the Stability and Growth Pact, emphasising the need for flexibility in the EU's rules on public finances and fiscal policies.
EU Félicitations à notre membre @ozrihen, élue nouvelle présidente de la commission ECON du @EU_CoR! Bon travail pic.twitter.com/I2zzQfOaY6
— PES Group CoR (@PES_CoR) October 23, 2018
