New CIVITAS Political Advisory Committee invites applications by 25 May 2018

Elected politicians from any CIVITAS Forum Network city are invited to apply to become members of the new CIVITAS Political Advisory Committee.  Interested candidates should send an expression of interest (letter of intent) to paccivitas [dot] eu (pac[at]civitas[dot]eu). In the letter, candidates should provide;

• their name
• city
• what qualifies them for the role
• experience
• reasons for applying, and;
• their vision for their two years as a PAC member.

Applications should be no longer than 500 words.

About the PAC

The Political Advisory Committee (PAC) is a small group of leading politicians that acts as the steering group of the CIVITAS initiative and network of cities. Its members participate in a personal capacity.  PAC members are mainly responsible for:

1. Delivering policy recommendations to the European Commission (EC)’s Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE);
2. Facilitating cooperation between the EC and the CIVITAS city network, and CIVINET national and regional networks;
3. Choosing the host city and providing input for the annual CIVITAS Forum Conference;
4. Taking part in key CIVITAS activities, including study tours, peer reviews, and thematic working groups;
5. Ensuring and strengthening the involvement of politicians from CIVITAS cities in the initiative's activities.

PAC members meet three times a year, including at the yearly CIVITAS Forum Conference. The current PAC was selected in July 2015 and will serve until the election of the new one. The European Commission will appoint 16 PAC members (with the PAC Secretariat's support) based on general criteria of representativeness, including type of city and geographical position, CIVITAS experience, and gender. Candidates' individual records of promoting policies in line with CIVITAS's goals also plays a key role in selection.

Candidates apply in their personal capacity (i.e. not as formally nominated representatives of their local administrations). Politicians of non-CIVITAS cities may also apply but they should consider that their city joins the network. The PAC has no formal “power of representation”.

The application deadline is 25 May 2018. The selection process will take place in June, with all applicants receiving a response on 30 June 2018. The first PAC meeting will be held at the CIVITAS Forum in Umeå, Sweden, between 19-21 September 2018.