Populism, nationalism, disinformation, hate speech and conspiracy theories are widespread in the European public and political sphere, which is leading to polarisation and intolerance. The deterioration of fundamental rights in one Member State has a negative impact across the EU. Therefore, in the 8th meeting of the CIVEX Commission, members welcomed the European Commission's initiative on the European Democracy Action Plan (EDAP) and adopted an opinion that puts forward a set of proposals for tackling disinformation and hate speech, as well as for promoting media literacy and critical thinking, including the setting up of a European agency linked with the CoR. The members also pointed out that local and regional leaders can play an important role in strengthening citizenship, as they are the closest authorities to citizens and the ones that aremost trusted, according to the EU annual regional and local barometer published in October 2020 .

Členovia komisie VR pre občianstvo, riadenie, inštitucionálne a vonkajšie záležitosti (CIVEX) diskutovali so zástupcami Európskeho parlamentu Antoniom Tajanim a Helmutom Scholzom o tom, ako zapojiť milión miestnych a regionálnych politikov do projektov a iniciatív, ktoré môžu Európu priblížiť ľuďom a zabezpečiť úspech Konferencie o budúcnosti Európy. Vyzvali najmä na zapojenie členov VR do pilotného projektu Building Europe with local entities – BELE (Budovanie Európy s miestnymi územnými celkami) , ktorý spustil Výbor Európskeho parlamentu pre ústavné veci (AFCO).

Európsky výbor regiónov spolu s Medzinárodnou sieťou miest pre utečencov (ICORN) a mestom Gdansk ohlásili dnes za prítomnosti eurokomisárky pre vnútorné záležitosti Ylvy Johansson vytvorenie Ceny primátora Pawla Adamowicza. Cena nesie meno primátora Gdanska a člena VR Pawla Adamowicza, ktorý bol zavraždený v roku 2019. Budú ňou oceňovaní jednotlivci bojujúci za slobodu a solidaritu a vedúci boj proti neznášanlivosti, útlaku a xenofóbii.

Local and regional politicians from the European Union voiced short-term relief mixed with long-term caution and concern at their first meeting with UK counterparts since the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement was settled on 24 December. Politicians from both the EU and the United Kingdom emphasised a wish to develop new ties in the wake of an agreement that ended most region-to-region programmes and envisages no role for regions in overseeing and developing the deal.