​​In its Annual Subsidiarity Report​ published last month, the European Commission underlined (referring to the European Committee of the Regions), that "The Committee also took concrete steps and actions to implement this ‘Active Subsidiarity’ approach within its consultative and political work. A major example of these efforts is the pilot project for a network of regional hubs to assess the implementation of the European Union’s legislation. 

RegHub took part in the Regional Initiative for Culture and Creativity (RICC) network's Annual Conference on 24 June 2019. 

​The European Commission would like to promote and facilitate the correct application of EU Public Procurement law by local and regional public procurement practitioners in the 28 EU Member States. You are invited to participate to this online survey to help the European Commission understand the type and form of information related to public procurement law, policies and tools you need to perform your work effectively and in compliance with law. 

​On 26 July all 36 contact points of the regional hubs network received their questionnaire for the network's second consultation via EU Survey. The topic is the EU's air quality policy. 

Det Europæiske Regionsudvalgs (RU) ordfører for reformen af den fælles landbrugspolitik lykønsker dyrevelfærdsforkæmpere med, at de har indsamlet over 1 million underskrifter til deres europæiske borgerinitiativ "End the Cage Age". 

137 delhenstillinger, dvs. særskilte henstillinger i de mere generelle landespecifikke henstillinger som optalt af Kommissionen, var i 2019 enten direkte/indirekte henvendt til lokale og regionale myndigheder eller havde territoriale følgevirkninger, hvilket var en stigning fra 120 i 2018. Disse landespecifikke henstillinger, som vi kalder "områderelaterede", udgør 62 % af alle landespecifikke henstillinger. Dette og andre konklusioner i RU's territoriale analyse af 2019 viser den nøglerolle, som byer og regioner i EU spiller i at opfylde de landespecifikke henstillinger, og behovet for, at de inddrages som partnere i udformningen af de nationale reformprogrammer.  

RU's formand Karl-Heinz Lambertz henstiller til Kommissionens valgte formand Ursula von der Leyen, at EU's fremtid formes i fællesskab med byer og regioner 

Der er stadig en risiko for, at den forventede budgetnedskæring og centralisering vil undergrave mulighederne for, at de europæiske struktur- og investeringsfonde (ESI-fondene) i perioden 2021-2027 kan mindske kløfter og udbrede den bæredygtige og inklusive vækst til hele EU. Partnerne i #CohesionAlliance , som er en alliance med deltagere fra hele EU, der ønsker en stærk samhørighedspolitik efter 2020, drøftede, hvordan disse risici kan fjernes, under en debat i Det Europæiske Regionsudvalg (RU) den 10. juli med nyudnævnte medlemmer af Europa-Parlamentet. 

Narrowing the innovation and digital divides in Europe was in the spotlight on 11 July, when the European Committee of the Regions' Commission for Social Policy, Employment, Culture, Education and Research (SEDEC) met in Brussels. Members adopted an opinion drafted by Eamon Dooley (IE/Renew Europe), a member of Offaly County Council, on the future of research infrastructure and the European Research Area. 

Leading members of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) met the Federation of Local Authorities in Israel on 2 July during a brief visit to Tel Aviv intended to strengthen cooperation. 

Regional development strategies and better communicating EU cohesion policy were the main topics addressed by local and regional representatives during of the 10 July meeting of the Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and the EU Budget (COTER) of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR).  

De europæiske kulregioners behov i forbindelse med EU's energiomstilling stod øverst på dagsordenen for mødet i Det Europæiske Regionsudvalgs (RU) Underudvalg for Økonomisk Politik (ECON) den 9. juli i Bruxelles. I en udtalelse udarbejdet af Mark Speich, statssekretær for føderale, europæiske og internationale anliggender i Nordrhein-Westfalen, slår ECON-medlemmerne til lyd for en tilpasning af statsstøttereglerne og en tildeling af supplerende støttemidler til de berørte regioner inden for rammerne af samhørighedspolitikken for perioden 2021-2027. 

Opening of EURegionsWeek 2019 registration scheduled on 8 July 2019. 

On 26 June the trainees of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) awarded the winners of the [Y]Factor photo competition "Capturing [Y]our Europe". The goal of the competition was to promote young artistic talents from across Europe and to empower young people to present their unique perspective. The winning pictures by Pavla Vaňková (CZ) and Stefano Scagliarini (IT) were exhibited in the European Parliament in Brussels from 26 to 28 June. 

Finland takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union at a defining moment for the EU. The Union turns over a new leaf in light of the results of the European election: there will be new leaders at the helm of the EU institutions who will deal with major issues such as the next EU budget, as well as take responsibility for defining the content for the next EU programme period. This is a time for renewal. 

The city of Ramallah and the Association of Palestinian Local Authorities on 30 June hosted a meeting of the executive board of the Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM), to discuss how cities and regions can collaborate to achieve the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Local and regional leaders, working together in the context of the Union for the Mediterranean, also considered ways to develop the blue economy in the Mediterranean and to deepen integration and economic relations between local and regional authorities throughout the Mediterranean. 

Her inden det nye Europa-Parlament træder sammen for første gang, formes klimadebatten i stadig højere grad af den offentlige opinion. Som de ugentlige protestmarcher vidner om, er den nuværende ambition for klimaet ikke tilstrækkelig til at vende den globale opvarmning. EU's byer og regioner efterlyser derfor mere ambitiøse mål og flere ressourcer for at sikre en hurtig omstilling til bæredygtig energi i Europa. Hvad angår medlemsstaternes nationale energi- og klimaplaner, beklager Det Europæiske Regionsudvalg (RU), at der ikke findes nogen permanent flerniveaudialog med de lokale og regionale myndigheder i overensstemmelse med forvaltningen af energiunionen. 

To måneder efter Europa-Parlamentets beslutning om de negative virkninger af en række kemikalier, der anvendes i produktionen af fødevarer og kosmetik i EU, opfordrer lokale og regionale repræsentanter Kommissionen til at forbedre beskyttelsen mod farlige kemikalier. Undersøgelser viser, at hormonforstyrrende stoffer har skadelig virkning på hormonsystemets funktion i kroppen med barnløshed, fedme og kræft som konsekvenser. Hos børn sættes de stadig oftere i forbindelse med autisme og andre sygdomme. 

The European Committee of the Regions is calling for measures to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in Europe, especially among girls and women. With an opinion prepared by Csaba Borboly (RO/EPP), President of Harghita County Council, the EU's assembly of local and regional representatives calls on the European Commission and the Member States to support STEM-related initiatives at local and regional level, to ensure necessary investment and to tackle shortages in this field in the planning of cohesion policy. 

Following the European elections and ahead of the new term of the European Commission, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) has put forward its expectations and proposals for the EU's new legislative mandate for 2019-2024. In a resolution adopted on 26 June 2019, the CoR argues that for the EU to regain citizens' trust and address major current challenges, EU decisions and policies must be anchored locally and local and regional authorities involved at all stages of EU decision-making. 

Regional and local leaders deliver their proposals to tap the potential of macro-regional strategies (MRS) over the programming phase 2021-2027. Innovation of small and medium enterprises, digital and low carbon economy are the most promising cooperation fields identified in the opinion drawn up by Dainis Turlais, (LV/ Renew Europe), and approved during the 26 June plenary session of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR).  

Energifattigdom er en stor samfundsmæssig udfordring, der har direkte sundhedsmæssige konsekvenser, og som vedrører ca. 54 mio. europæere ( Kommissionen ). Høje energipriser, lave indkomster og fugtige, usunde boliger, der er dårligt isoleret, resulterer i, at en større andel af befolkningen rammes af energifattigdom. Gennem det seneste årti er elektricitetspriserne steget betydeligt i de fleste lande, hvilket i kombination med den nylige økonomiske og finansielle krise og europæiske bygningers dårlige energimæssige ydeevne har resulteret i, at energifattigdom giver anledning til voksende bekymring. 

Cities and regions are calling for an awareness of both the development opportunities for, and the threats to, European maritime industries. The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) urges support for the maritime industries to ensure the success of their environmental and energy transition, together with their digital transformation and industrial revolution, and for the sector's careers to be made attractive again. At its plenary session of 27 June 2019, the CoR adopted an opinion on A new European agenda to speed up the development of maritime industries, drawn up by Christophe Clergeau (FR/PES), member of the Pays-de-la-Loire Regional Council. 

Local and regional elected representatives call on the Commission to provide more incentives at local and regional level to promote cross-border cooperation on risk reduction. The opinion of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), adopted today in Brussels, comes in the context of the increasingly serious and frequent natural disasters that many European regions have experienced in recent years. Local authorities have expressed support for a greater culture of prevention to increase citizens' resilience and reduce risks related to natural hazards. 

The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) and the Council of Europe's Congress of Local and Regional Authorities both celebrate their 25th anniversary this year. To mark the occasion, a ceremony was held in the the CoR's June plenary session. It was followed by a joint conference on “The Added Value of Local and Regional Authorities in the Unification of Europe”. The aim was to highlight the synergies between the two institutions in their joint work toward the strengthening of local self-government and local/regional democracy. 

Den europæiske iværksætterregionspris (EER-prisen), som uddeles af Det Europæiske Regionsudvalg (RU), belønner regioner med den mest troværdige og fremsynede iværksættervision. I år er byen Gdansk i fællesskab med Pomorskie-regionen samt erhvervsregionen Göteborg og regionen Navarra blevet udpeget til vindere for deres fremragende strategier og indsats for at fremme iværksætteri i deres område. 

Det Europæiske Regionsudvalg – EU's forsamling af lokale og regionale myndigheder – vedtog på sin plenarforsamling i Bruxelles den 26. juni en udtalelse, hvori det slår til lyd for, at beslutninger på skatteområdet fremover bliver truffet med kvalificeret flertal. I udtalelsen, som er blevet udarbejdet af den franske borgmester, Christophe Rouillon, fremhæves det, at udfordringerne i forbindelse med skattesvig, grænseoverskridende handel og klimaændringer, hvis følger kan mærkes på lokalt plan, kræver en fælles indsats på skatteområdet. 

Målene for bæredygtig udvikling skal danne grundlaget for en langsigtet EU-strategi for et bæredygtigt Europa inden 2030 – det var kernen i drøftelserne med Kommissionens næstformand Jyrki Katainen på Det Europæiske Regionsudvalgs plenarforsamling i juni. RU's medlemmerne vedtog også Arnoldas Abramavičius' (LT/EPP) udtalelse , der fokuserer på regionernes og byernes rolle i tilpasningen af målene for bæredygtig udvikling på lokalt plan. 

The European Committee of the Regions is calling for measures to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in Europe, especially among girls and women. With an opinion prepared by Csaba Borboly (RO/EPP), President of Harghita County Council, the EU's assembly of local and regional representatives calls on the European Commission and the Member States to support STEM-related initiatives at local and regional level, to ensure necessary investment and to tackle shortages in this field in the planning of cohesion policy. 

Regional and local leaders call for a coordinated European approach to ensure that European industry remains innovative and competitive in the future. In an opinion drawn up by Jeannette Baljeu (NL/Renew Europe), the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) stresses the key role of regional and local authorities in establishing large-scale industrial cooperation that goes beyond ad-hoc initiatives and contributes to strengthening European value chains. Overall, a more holistic, multi-sectoral approach should be adopted that seeks to identify and harness local strengths and capabilities.