L 348/22 Official Journal of the European Union 29.12.2009 COUNCIL DECISION of 22 December 2009 appointing the members and alternate members of the Committee of the Regions for the period from 26 January 2010 to 25 January 2015 (2009/1014/EU) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Articles 300(3) and 305 thereof, in conjunction with Article 8 of the Protocol on Transitional Provisions annexed to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the Treaty on European Union, Having regard to the proposals made by each Member State, Whereas: (1) Article 300(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union requires that members or alternate members of the Committee of the Regions, besides being representatives of regional or local bodies, ‘either hold a regional or local authority electoral mandate or are politically accountable to an elected assembly’, (2)  Article 305 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union provides for the members of the Committee and an equal number of alternate members to be appointed by the Council for five years in accordance with the proposals made by each Member State, (3)  Article 8 of the Protocol on Transitional Provisions sets out the allocation of members of the Committee of the Regions, (4 As the term of office of the members and alternate members of the Committee of the Regions is due to expire on 25 January 2010, new members and alternate  members should be appointed to the Committee of the Regions. (5)  This appointment will be followed at a later date by the appointment of the other members and alternate members  whose nominations have not been communicated to the Council before 14 December 2009, HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: Article 1 The following are hereby appointed to the Committee of the Regions for the period from 26 January 2010 to 25 January 2015: — as members, the persons listed by Member State in Annex I, — as alternate members, the persons listed by Member State in Annex IL Article 2 This Decision shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union. It shall take enter into force on the date of its adoption. Done at Brussels, 22 December 2009. For the Council The President A. CARLGREN