Adrian-Dragoș Benea, a Social Democrat from Romania, has been elected as the new Chair of the European Parliament’s Regional Development Committee (REGI) during its first constitutive session. He succeeds Younous Omarjee from France, who led the committee in the previous term. Benea will hold this position for a two-and-a-half-year mandate, which constitutes the first half of the current five-year legislative term.
Benea has a background in local politics in Romania, having served as the deputy mayor of Bacău and President of the Bacău County Council from 2004 to 2016. This marks his second term as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP), highlighting his continued involvement in European and regional politics.
In addition to Benea, the REGI committee also elected four vice presidents to support the committee’s work: Gabriella Gerzsenyi from Hungary (EPP), Nora Mebarek from France (S&D), Francesco Ventola from Italy (ECR), and Ľubica Karvašová from Slovakia (Renew).
Adrian-Dragoș Benea
In his inaugural speech, Benea emphasized the challenges the committee will face, including ensuring the smooth implementation of the 2021-2027 period and preparing a new cohesion policy package.
Benea outlined the key pillars of the Cohesion Policy that need to be safeguarded: a robust budget, shared management, multilevel governance, a place-based approach, and the partnership principle. He committed to ensuring the committee’s involvement in all stages of designing new investment capacities, reflecting his dedication to comprehensive regional development.
The responsibilities of the REGI bureau, which includes the Chair and up to four Vice-chairs, are substantial. They ensure the committee functions smoothly, handle legislative proposals, appoint negotiation teams, adopt reports, organize hearings, and scrutinize other EU bodies and institutions. The Chair also represents the committee both within and outside the Parliament, overseeing legislative negotiations and presiding over meetings.
