"I would like to start by thanking the co-chairs for
their exceptional work and their great support.
Dear colleagues, I am here on behalf of the 1 million
regionally and locally elected politicians and the 300
regions and 90.000 municipalities of Europe.
Dear friends, it is thanks to the European Union today
that we breathe a cleaner air, that we consume high
quality products, that we have better equipped
hospitals and digitalised schools and public services.
But if you ask today an average citizen of Europe if he
or she feels and if he or she realises how the European
Union is involved in his or her everyday life, do you
think will you get the right answer? I am afraid not.
Is it his or her fault? Of course not. It means that we
have done something wrong.
And this is what we need to do during this conference:
we need to listen, we need a credible dialogue and we
need to focus on the real needs and the issues of the
citizens. And above all we need to create a new vision
that will unite us on climate, on mobility, on local
economy and local jobs, on digitalisation, and of
course on our European values, on education and
culture.
We need to bring Europe closer to its citizens and we
need to make everyone understand that Brussels and the
EU are not far. Right on the contrary: Europe is
everywhere.
So the European Committee of Regions is here to help
this process and to bring added value on the ground in
every region, city and village, through our political
work with our Members, through our local dialogues with
citizens and through the alliances we have built all
across Europe with territorial and European
associations and political families.
I am definitively positive that we can make this happen
and that together we can make this conference a
success!"
During the inaugural session of the Plenary of the
Conference on the Future of Europe, 8 CoR members
took the floor:
- Apostolos Tzitzikostas (EL/EPP), President of the
European Committee of the Regions (Governor of the
Region of Central Macedonia, Greece, President of the
Association of Greek Regions)
- Vasco Alves Cordeiro, 1st Vice-President of the
European Committee of the Regions (Member of the
Regional Parliament of Azores, Portugal)
- Olgierd Geblewicz (PL/EPP), President of the EPP
Group (President of West Pomerania Region, Poland,
President of the Polish Association of Regions)
- Kata Tüttő (HU/PES), Vice-President of the PES Group
(Deputy major of Budapest, Hungary)
- François Decoster (FR/Renew Europe), President of
Renew Europe Group (Mayor of Saint Omer, France)
- Roberto Ciambetti (IT/ECR), President of the Veneto
Regional Parliament, Italy
- Kieran McCarthy (IE/EA), President of the EA Group
(Member of Cork City Council, Ireland)
- Muhterem Aras (DE/Greens), President of the State
Parliament of Baden-Württemberg, Germany
3 more CoR members intervened as representatives
nominated by national Parliaments:
Matteo Bianchi (IT/ECR), Birgit Honé (DE/PES) and Karel
Vanlouwe (BE/EA).
Also former CoR President Karl-Heinz Lambertz (BE/PES)
spoke during the "Catch-the-eye" session.
President's Spokesperson:
Michele Cercone
Tel. +32 (0)498 98 23 49
Michele.Cercone@cor.europa.eu