​Local and regional politicians from the United Kingdom have, for the first time, met members of the European Committee of the Regions in a Contact Group intended to ensure that lines of communication developed over the course of the UK's nearly 47 years of membership of the European Union remain open at regional and local level beyond 2020. After its creation in 1994, the European Committee of the Region became the principal point of contact between regions and cities from the UK and other EU member states.