On the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the Brussels office of Bavarian municipalities, Mr Buriánek welcomed more than 100 Bavarian elected local representatives in the CoR premises as well as representatives of local financial institutions. In his welcome speech, he seized the opportunity to present cohesion policy as an essential and crucial EU focus to have in the next months from the CoR's point of view.
Mr Burianek emphasized that in order to ensure a Europe of solidarity beyond 2020, all actors must work together for a strong future cohesion policy. The cohesion alliance launched by the CoR and European territorial associations is designed to serve this purpose. The municipal representatives were therefore invited to support the alliance. The draft Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) to be submitted by the Commission in 2018 will be indicative and ultimately show how cohesion policy will proceed in future years.
The Secretary General also referred to the financial union consisting of the Banking Union and the Capital Markets Union. "The next step is now the full implementation of the Banking Union, including the European Deposit Insurance Scheme (EDIS)", he said.
Secretary general's welcome address was followed by a keynote speech from EC-Vice-President for Euro and social dialogue Dombrovskis on the state of play of implementation of the Banking Union.