On 29 January, François Decoster was re-elected as Renew Europe CoR President at an extraordinary Group meeting in Brussels.
The current Mayor of Saint-Omer and Vice-President of the Hauts-de-France region in France will lead the liberal, centrist and democrat group in the European Committee of the Regions in the new mandate running through to 2030.
A prominent figure in the political family, Decoster has been a key player in major CoR initiatives, setting up and chairing the Brexit Interregional Group, contributing to the COR-UK Contact Group, and various CoR initiatives related to the EU’s neighbourhood policy.
As CoR rapporteur, he worked on several files on migration policy, skills and talent mobility such as the Rights and Values Programme which laid the groundwork for the EU councillors’ initiative, now a formal programme run jointly with the European Commission.
“The European Committee of the Regions is more connected than ever to other local and regional representations and more committed, because we strongly believe that the European project starts in our towns, villages and regions. If we want the European ideal to work, we have to really do it here at the CoR, but also with the citizens that we represent and the territories that we represent,” said Decoster.
Decoster has been deeply engaged in regional and local governance in a career spanning over two decades, including key advisory roles in the private office of the French Defence Minister and the French Minister Delegate for European Affairs.