The President of the European Union's assembly for cities and regions has voiced support for North Macedonia's bid to join the EU. During his visit to Skopje on 17-18 September, Karl-Heinz Lambertz of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) also urged municipalities in North Macedonia to support the country's accession drive by continuing reforms and exploring further cooperation with cities and regions in Bulgaria and Greece.  

Addressing the challenges and opportunities linked to any major sector always requires a collaborative effort. By joining forces with public transport colleagues, we can consider what is necessary to place urban mobility on top of the agenda. 

More than two million people in Europe are directly employed in the public transport sector. Public transport plays a major role in the life of cities and is also a key factor in the fight against climate change. 

​In an exchange of views with Finland's Minister for Economic Affairs Katri Kulmuni, EU local and regional leaders stressed that Finland's Presidency of the Council of the EU must come up with an ambitious proposal for the EU's next multiannual budget, providing all cities and regions with means to invest in human capital and to tackle the digital divide.  

On the International Democracy Day, the President of the European Committee of the Regions'(CoR) President Karl-Heinz Lambertz has recalled his appeal to launch a new permanent dialogue with citizens together with its regions and cities, and reinstated the urgency to strengthen the role of local and regional governments in the EU decision-making process. Contributing to the European Commission's commitment to strengthening European democracy, the CoR also published a collection of insights from local and regional governments, practitioners and academics on how best to engage citizens in the EU.  

As part of the initiative launched by the European Commission, 10 European regions awarded with the label of the European Entrepreneurial Region (EER) are collaborating in order to further develop and inter-connect their startup and scale ​up support ecosystems.