​Local and regional politicians from the United Kingdom have, for the first time, met members of the European Committee of the Regions in a Contact Group intended to ensure that lines of communication developed over the course of the UK's nearly 47 years of membership of the European Union remain open at regional and local level beyond 2020. After its creation in 1994, the European Committee of the Region became the principal point of contact between regions and cities from the UK and other EU member states.

Regional and local leaders shared their experience in fighting the pandemic and their proposals for the recovery with Commissioner Ferreira

Energy poverty and the fight against global warming have starred at the 23rd meeting of the Commission for Environment, Climate change and Energy (ENVE) of the European Committee of the Regions. The implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris climate agreement locally, along with explicit support for coal regions, were also on the discussion table. Ahead of the European elections in May, the ENVE Chair Cor Lamers stressed the need to 'live up to the expectations of our youth on the climate emergency we live in.'

A stronger focus on sustainable urban development and, at the same time, more attention to urban-rural gaps; regional thresholds to concentrate funds on key priorities instead of thematic concentration at national level; wider flexibility of EU fiscal rules to allow for increasing investment for growth; and a better coordination with other EU policies and investment tools: this is the European Parliament's position on the rules for the European Fund for Regional Development (ERDF) and the Cohesion Fund 2021-2027 and it is fully in line with proposals adopted by the European Committee of the Regions last December.