Committee of the Regions

Schnöll replaces veteran in Brussels from 2025

At the festival reception in summer: Stefan Schnöll and Franz Schausberger

(Bild: Land Salzburg / Franz Neumayr)

Salzburg's former governor Franz Schausberger has been an active member of the Committee of the Regions - CoR for short - since 1996, i.e. for 28 years. Europe's regions, cities and municipalities are represented there. His successor on this committee in Brussels will be Deputy Governor Stefan Schnöll next year.

From January 2025, Deputy Governor Stefan Schnöll will be Salzburg's representative on the EU Committee of the Regions, while Provincial Parliament President Brigitta Pallauf will remain his deputy. Franz Schausberger has represented the interests of the province at EU level practically since the EU advisory body was founded 30 years ago.

Between 1996 and 2024, the former governor of Salzburg took part in 150 plenary sessions and just as many days of meetings in expert commissions in Brussels. "Franz Schausberger is a permanent fixture in the CoR. He has always persistently championed the interests of the regional level and our country in the EU. EU enlargement and decentralization are of particular concern to him. His CoR opinions and the activities of the Institute of the Regions of Europe, which he founded in Salzburg, bear witness to this," said Governor Wilfried Haslauer, commenting on Schausberger's activities.

"EU must become even more regional"
The CoR represents regional and local authorities and advises the European Commission, the Council and the European Parliament. "I am very happy that I have been able to contribute many initiatives for Salzburg and the European regions and, above all, to work on EU enlargement. A particular challenge was the CoR opinion I drafted on the Treaty of Lisbon, which decisively strengthened the regional and local level", who would like to see the EU move back towards more regionalization, decentralization and implementation of the subsidiarity principle.

"Efficient for Salzburg in the EU"
Schausberger's successor Stefan Schnöll emphasizes the importance of the committee in terms of subsidiarity and wants to focus strongly on securing Salzburg's competitiveness. "In the Committee of the Regions, I am following in the footsteps of a convinced European and fervent advocate of the cause of the regions, who has worked tirelessly for our country in Brussels. We all owe Franz Schausberger our thanks for this commitment. Thanks to the well-coordinated team with Brigitta Pallauf as deputy and our EU liaison office in Brussels, the handover of responsibility will be smooth. We will be able to continue to efficiently represent and further develop Salzburg's position as an EU region," says Deputy Governor Stefan Schnöll, outlining his approach as a future CoR member.