Leader of the CoR's British Delegation, Cllr Gordon Keymer (UK/ECR), has announced the launch of a new political party in the Committee of the Regions.

Interview with Joëlle Deglin – External Communications Director – regional government administration of Wallonia

L'Internet et d'autres nouvelles technologies de la communication ont modifié de manière radicale les relations entre les dirigeants politiques et les citoyens. Neelie KROES, commissaire européenne en charge de la stratégie numérique, en est convainc...

In the last decades, policy makers have put citizen’s engagement on top of their priorities, in order to stimulate participatory democracy, improve transparency and accountability and restore trust in public governments. Laura Massoli from the Italia...

Public confidence in the EU and its policy is at its lowest level ever. Andreas Mavroyiannis, the Cypriot Deputy Minister for European Affairs, believes in a pragmatic approach to regain the citizens' trust: real policy results, combined with an open...

Markku Markkula (FI/EPP), Member of the Espoo City Council, is the Committee of the Regions (CoR) rapporteur on the "Horizon 2020" opinion, which was adopted at the CoR Plenary Session on 19 July. Mr Markkula made recommendations to increase the regi...

A successful e-participation strategy is based on open and honest dialogue with citizens. Hannes Astok, Project Manager of "E-citizens II", stresses that citizens like to discuss about local development not only before the local elections. E-particip...

Le rapporteur du Comité des régions sur le projet d'avis relatif aux réseaux transeuropéens de télécommunications, Alin Nica, nous fait part de son point de vue sur la protection des données à caractère personnel dans le cadre du programme intitulé "...

René Souchon (FR/PES), President of the Regional Council of Auvergne and the Committee of the Regions' rapporteur on the future Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) post- 2013 sets out his position on the main points of the reform.

The European Commission is currently working on a new framework for the European Capitals of Culture programme after 2019. Anton Rombouts (NL, EPP), mayor of the Dutch city of 's-Hertogenbosch is the Committee of the Regions' rapporteur on this dossi...

The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) is marking the end of its 60th anniversary celebrations with a high-level conference on 12 December in Brussels. Wolfgang Schuster, Mayor of Stuttgart and CEMR President, spoke to us about the...

While Europe continues to suffer the effects of the global financial crisis, Reijo Kemppinen, Director General for Press Communication and Transparency at the EU Council, talks about the effects of positive communication at all levels of government.

Industry must be placed centre stage if Europe is to remain a global economic leader. This is the core message of the new integrated industrial policy for the globalisation era initiated by European Commission Vice-President, Antonio Tajani, who will...

For the first time in its history – and for the first time in the history of the European Union – Poland will be taking the helm of the six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. With local and regional authorities naturally ...

"The EU budget is not a 'budget for Brussels': 95% of the budget goes to towns, regions, SMEs, the general public and the Member States:" this was the message from Janusz Lewandowski, European Commissioner responsible for the budget and financial pla...

The European Commission published its communication on the budget review on 19 October 2010. This document examines how the current EU budget works and identifies potential improvements to make it more effective, as well as future policy priorities t...

Keith Whitmore, a former CoR member and a local councillor from Manchester, was recently elected president of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. Here he discusses how the CoR and Congress have complimentary roles...

Hungary will be responsible for supporting and channelling the energy of the European Union during the first half of 2011. When addressing these immediate and long-term challenges, the Hungarian Presidency of the EU Council can count on the support o...

Jean-Yves Le Drian, President of Brittany Regional Council, is the new President of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR). Le Drian, who has been a member of the Committee of the Regions since 2005, has been elected CPMR President for ...

Circumstances changed in 2010 in several respects. One year ago with the Lisbon treaty, the European Union reformed its policy framework and the relations between its different institutions. In addition, while the economic recovery remains tentative,...