The European Committee of the Regions' High Level Group on European Democracy chaired by President Emeritus of the European Council
Herman Van Rompuy adopted its final report. The seven European personalities – former European Commissioners
Joaquín Almunia and
Androulla Vassiliou, former Members of the European Parliament
Rebecca Harms and
Maria João Rodrigues, the President of the European Youth Forum,
Silja Markkula, and Professor
Tomasz Grzegorz Grosse, University of Warsaw –advised the CoR on ways and means to strengthen democracy in the EU and put forward a number of recommendations to improve democracy in the EU, including:
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Taking a fresh look at its governance and its procedures to be able to deliver. This should encompass a well-functioning executive capacity and a close interplay between the EU, the national, and the regional and local levels, coupled with a more dynamic interpretation of the EU Treaties on policies such as health, migration and climate policy focused on citizens' needs
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Enhancing the role of local and regional authorities in EU decision-making, in particular by strengthening the role of the European Committee of the Regions - which is political body representing more than one million locally elected politicians in the EU - in the preparatory, decision-making, implementation and evaluation phases.
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Reducing the gap between citizens and decision-makers by enhancing participation through, for example, “local hubs", improving the European Citizens' Initiative and taking on board the best outreach practices and lessons learned from the Conference on the Future of Europe in order to create a permanent structured mechanism for citizens' participation.
This report will be considered as part of the contribution of local and regional authorities to the Conference on the Future of Europe.
Read the Full report