Two sets of recommendations – on the future of the Eastern Partnership and media freedom – won preliminary support from members of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) on 1 February. Both opinions secured strong backing at a meeting of the Commission for Citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External Affairs (CIVEX) and are now poised for adoption at the CoR's plenary on 15-16 March.
The meeting also featured an exchange of views on the European Commission's
assessment of the enlargement process, and a debate on how to involve local
and regional authorities more deeply into the European democratic process.
Future of the Eastern Partnership
The opinion on the
future of the Eastern Partnership
(EaP)– created by the EU in 2009 to strengthen and structure relations with
Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia – is being
drafted by the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) on its own
initiative and focuses on local and regional aspects of cooperation. It
reflects, however, a broader discussion about how to adjust the EU's
cooperation within the Partnership's structure in the wake of Russia's
full-scale invasion of Ukraine last February and the role of the
Partnership now that two members – Ukraine and Moldova – are candidates for
membership of the EU.
Rapporteur
Alin-Adrian Nica
(RO/EPP), president of Timiş County Council, said: "The most powerful
European response to the Russian invasion will be the support for free,
democratic states in eastern Europe, the South Caucasus and beyond, with
strong regional and local authorities, economically and culturally vibrant
cities and societies committed to European values. The Eastern Partnership
needs to change and respond proactively to the new realities by supporting
all partner countries in their aspirations. In the draft text we favour
more flexibility and differentiation in both the EaP's bilateral and
multilateral approaches in order to match the different priorities of each
partner; as well as promote stronger involvement of regional and local
authorities when designing cooperation priorities with territorial impact."
Speakers at the meeting included Christina Johannesson,
Sweden's ambassador for the Eastern Partnership, and Lawrence Meredith, a director in the European Commission's
Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations. Sweden
currently holds the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European
Union and was one of the prime movers behind the creation of the Eastern
Partnership.
European Media Freedom Act
The European Commission presented proposals for a
European Media Freedom Act
in September 2022, aiming to protect media pluralism and independence with
proposals that include increased transparency of ownership and advertising,
more stable funding for public-service media, and measures to protect media
content.
The rapporteur is
Mark Speich
(DE/EPP), North Rhine-Westphalia's Secretary of State for Federal, European
and International Affairs and a former chair of the CIVEX committee. He
said: "Democratic societies are built on media freedom and pluralism. The
CoR is united to protect these principles and to bring together diverging
perspectives on how to secure them in an appropriate way. I am convinced
that the European Media Freedom Act on EU level should not replace but
support the Member States’ responsibility to safeguard the freedom and
plurality of the media. The common goal must be consistently anchored in
the internal market, while the need to ensure diversity at the regional and
local level has to be taken into account. During the drafting process I
have also considered the concerns of the relevant media players and the
concerns of local and regional authorities. As rapporteur I am keen to
achieve the objective of freedom and plurality of the media within the
internal market in the best possible way, while respecting the Union's
order of competences also in the interests of its cultural diversity."
The chair of the Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) of the European
Parliament, MEP
Sabine Verheyen
(DE/EPP), emphasised that when the CULT committee starts work on the Act it
will be mindful to ensure that the EU does not "over-extend its
competences" and that "with these rules we are addressing the real
problems." Problems she highlighted included media pluralism, "fair and
transparent funding", and independent oversight.
Thematic debate on "Active subsidiarity and greater involvement of
local and regional authorities to strengthen European Democracy"
CoR members held an exchange of views with
Gabriele Bischoff
(DE/S&D), Vice-Chair of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO)
of the European Parliament, on how to collaborate on the follow-up of the
Conference on the Future of Europe. As the European Parliament is working
on possible provisions for Treaty changes in order to implement the
citizens' recommendations, local and regional politicians could contribute
with the experiences from the group, notably through deliberative democracy
actions. On behalf of the CoR,
Karl-Heinz Lambertz
(BE/PES), Chair of the CoR's Better Regulation and Active Subsidiarity
Steering Group, member of the Parliament of the German-speaking Community,
and former president of the CoR, expressed the wish that local and regional
authorities work with the European Parliament in order to come up with
concrete proposals on how to involve the local and regional level more
deeply in the EU legislative process.
Enlargement Package 2022
The next meeting of CIVEX will be held on 18 April, at which commission
members will discuss and vote on an opinion on enlargement currently being
drafted by
Anna Magyar
(HU/ECR), member of the County Council of Csongrád Megye. To provide an
early steer for the rapporteur, Ms Magyar and commission members exchanged
views on the topic at their meeting on 1 February. The opinion will look
specifically at the 2022 Enlargement Package, in which the European
Commission provided a detailed assessment of the progress made by countries
in the Western Balkans and by Türkiye in reforms to pave the way for EU
membership. The package did not consider Ukraine or Moldova, which both
gained candidate status in June 2022.
Matters raised by regions and cities
CoR meetings frequently set aside time for councillors from regions and
cities to bring a local concern with an EU dimension to the attention of
their counterparts.
Vincenzo Bianco
(IT/PES), member of Catania Municipal Council and chair of the CIVEX
committee, said there was a need for the CoR to turn its attention once
again to migration and emphasised the need for legal pathways for
migration. "We need to facilitate legal migration flows and make migrants
an active part of the social fabric, empowering them to be economically
active and autonomous. At the same time, there is an urgent need for
greater public awareness initiatives about the values of solidarity,
tolerance, and the richness offered by cultural diversity, to help our
communities be more cohesive," he said.