The EU Committee of the Regions (CoR) will elect a new president to serve for the second half of its four-year term, which runs to February 2010.

The first plenary session for this year, which will take place in the European Parliament, will also see the election of the CoR's new first vice president, 27 vice presidents of the national delegations and other members of the bureau.

European Commission President Josè Manuel Barroso; Vice President Gunter Verheugen (enterprise and industry); Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel (agriculture and rural development) and Ivan Zagar, Slovenian Minister for Local Self-Government and Regional Policy, have been invited to address the members.

The assembly will adopt 10 opinions and a resolution on the partnership for growth and jobs, which will be submitted to EU leaders at the European Council summit in Brussels on March 13-14.

The resolution for the Spring European Council, which will be discussed and adopted on Thursday, will reflect the findings of a new CoR report, requested by EU leaders in 2006, on the effects of the revised Lisbon Strategy and outlook beyond 2008.

Around two-thirds of EU legislation is implemented by local and regional authorities in EU member states.

The Committee of the Regions was set up in 1994 to give representatives of local government a say over the content of EU laws.

The CoR organises five plenary sessions a year, where its 344 members vote on reports, known as opinions, issued in response to the proposed legislation.

The Maltese delegation will be led by Michael Cohen, president of the Local Councils Association, and will include Noel Formosa, Frederick Cutajar, Maria Natoli, Doris Borg and Jimmy Magro as national coordinator.

Mr Cohen will intervene on two opinions, namely Flexicurity and the CAP Health Check.