During the 136th European Committee of the Regions (CoR) Plenary, that took place on 7-9 October in Brussels, regional and local leaders delivered their recommendations for the preparation of the next generation of cohesion programmes, which set the basis for cohesion policy implementation for the 2021-2027 period. In the opinion on "Recommendations for the successful design of regional development strategies beyond 2020", drafted by Adam Struzik (PL/EPP), President of Mazovia Region, the CoR recognises the urgent need to develop a long-term policy framework at EU level to replace the Europe 2020 strategy. 

The international Athens Democracy Forum prize has been awarded posthumously to the Mayor of Gdańsk, Paweł Adamowicz. His wife Magdalena and their daughters Antonina and Teresa received the award from the Mayor of Athens Kostas Bakoyannis at a ceremony in the Greek capital on Thursday, 10 October. 

The European Union needs to invest into policies and programmes that support the development and connectivity of entrepreneurial ecosystems in European regions and cities also in the next EU programming period 2021-27. Furthermore, entrepreneurial education should be embedded in both SME and education policies in Europe – these were the main messages of the final conference of the Interreg Europe-funded iEER project, organised in Brussels during the European Week of Regions and Cities. ​The conference, organised as part of the European Week of Regions and Cities, gathered close to 100 local and regional experts, policy makers and political representatives. 

At its October plenary session, the European Committee of the Regions has unanimously adopted an opinion on pastoralism, at the initiative of Jacques Blanc (FR/EPP), mayor of La Canourgue. Maintaining pastoralism is vital for farming across the EU in order to keep rural areas alive, as well as for meeting our environmental and climate-related objectives, argue local government leaders. Keeping grazing going is also conducive to developing tourism in rural areas and helps to safeguard against fires and avalanches. The common agricultural policy (CAP), as well as environmental and social policy, must therefore take greater account of pastoralism. 

Führende Politiker aus den Regionen und Kommunen haben ihre Vorschläge dazu vorgelegt, wie die territoriale Dimension in einem breiteren Spektrum von Politikfeldern gestärkt und wie die lokalen Akteure enger in die Umsetzung der von der EU kofinanzierten Investitionsoffensive eingebunden werden könnten. Die Beratungen zu diesem Thema fanden auf der 136. Plenartagung des Europäischen Ausschusses der Regionen (AdR) am 7. - 9. Oktober in Brüssel statt. In der Stellungnahme „Der Beitrag des AdR zur erneuerten territorialen Agenda mit besonderer Betonung der von der örtlichen Bevölkerung betriebenen lokalen Entwicklung“ von Radim SRŠEŇ (CZ/EVP), Abgeordneter des Bezirks Olmütz, fordern sie eine stärker von der Basis ausgehende territoriale Perspektive und mehr Mittel für entsprechende Maßnahmen. 

​At his hearing in the European Parliament on 30 September 2019, Maroš Šefčovič, EU Commissioner-designate for Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight, expressed his appreciation for the work of the Committee of the Regions in the field of ex-post evaluation of legislation, and more in particular, the development of RegHub.