Trade effects of Brexit likely to become clearer only after 1 October, senior EU official tells EU and UK local and regional politicians at meeting that puts spotlight on Northern Ireland and Gibraltar. Movement across the United Kingdom's borders with Ireland and Spain were central issues discussed at a meeting of British and EU local and regional politicians that focused on connections at risk of being lost by the UK's withdrawal from the EU.

Ako Európsky výbor regiónov uviedol 30. júna, Európska únia musí vytvoriť „novú demokratickú infraštruktúru s cieľom zabezpečiť slobodné a spravodlivé voľby, zlepšiť pluralitu médií a posilniť angažovanosť občanov. V odporúčaniach, ktoré majú pomôcť posilniť demokraciu, rovnosť a rešpektovanie ľudských práv, miestni a regionálni lídri zdôraznili, že územné samosprávy môžu zohrávať dôležitú úlohu pri podpore mediálnej gramotnosti, kritického myslenia a transparentnosti v politických kampaniach, ako aj pri podpore zapojenia občanov do politiky.

Európsky výbor regiónov spolu s Medzinárodnou sieťou miest poskytujúcich útočisko (ICORN) a mestom Gdansk otvárajú nominácie na Cenu primátora Pawla Adamowicza za odvahu a mimoriadny prínos pri presadzovaní slobody, solidarity a rovnosti za rok 2021.

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 .