The EU's regions and cities are looking forward to the Social Economy Action Plan, which the European Commission is expected to publish before the end of the year. The opinion adopted by the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) on Thursday underlines that it is essential to harness the full potential of social economy enterprises and organisations to ensure economic recovery, to promote collective entrepreneurship and to create high-quality jobs after the COVID-19 crisis. 

​Aviation has been one of the sectors worst affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Smaller regional airports have recorded the greatest decline in direct flight connections, particularly in passenger flights. Treviso (Italy) lost 95% of its connections, Vaasa (Finland) 91%, Quimper (France) 87%, and Burgas (Bulgaria) 82%. 

While the climate emergency is still very much a pressing matter, the path towards carbon neutrality must take into account the challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis and the specific features of each region. Against this backdrop, rapporteur and Mayor of Autun Vincent Chauvet presented an opinion in today's plenary session that sets out the European Committee of the Regions' positions and demands regarding climate change in view of COP26, the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, which will take place in November 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland. 

The work of the European Commission's Fit for Future Platform (F4F) has taken on speed and its subgroups and experts are about to carry out consultations on selected EU legislation in order to check whether it is futureproof and fit for purpose. 

Az európai közlekedési ágazat sikeres átalakítása és fenntarthatóbbá tétele érdekében az uniós városoknak és régióknak nagyobb hangsúlyt kell fektetniük a kibocsátásmentes mobilitás ösztönzésére, az aktív közlekedési módok és a közös járműhasználat előmozdítására, a városi mobilitás átalakítására és a vidéki területek jobb összekapcsolására. Ezek a javaslatok a fenntartható és intelligens mobilitási stratégiáról szóló véleményből származnak, amelyet Robert van Asten (NL/RE) előadó ismertetett, majd pedig a Régiók Európai Bizottsága (RB) elfogadott az RB június 30-i, szerdai plenáris ülésén. 

The European Union needs to create a "new democratic infrastructure" in order to ensure elections are free and fair, improve media pluralism and boost citizens' engagement, the European Committee of the Regions said on 30 June. In recommendations intended to strengthen democracy, equality, and respect for human rights, municipal and regional leaders emphasised that sub-national governments can play an important role in promoting media literacy, critical thinking and transparency in political campaigning, as well as in supporting citizens' participation in politics. 

The European Union should make improving the health of the Mediterranean Sea one of the priorities of its cooperation with countries in its southern neighbourhood, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) has said in recommendations that also praise the EU for making support for youth entrepreneurship central to its new strategy for the region.  

European local and regional leaders are calling for the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations (SDGs) to be put back on the top of the European Union's agenda, asking the EU institutions and Member States to ensure their implementation by 2030. In an opinion adopted today by its plenary, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) highlights that the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the importance of sustainable development and that SDGs can help move towards a coherent, holistic vision within Next Generation EU . However, a recent CoR study points out a lack of explicit and transparent reference to the UN SDGs in many national recovery and resilience plans. 

In a bid to put cross-border cooperation back at the top of the EU's policy agenda, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) has adopted a resolution today calling on the European Commission to present a proposal for maintaining cross-border cooperation and cross-border life in the event of future crises. The resolution contains multiple proposals to improve cross-border cooperation and calls on the European Commission to follow up on already existing legislation and treaties, whose implementation could often still be improved. The future of cross-border cooperation will be further discussed during an event organised by the CoR, together with other key European partners, on 5 July. 

The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) has adopted its proposals on climate adaptation in the opinion Forging a climate-resilient Europe - the new EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change. The CoR calls for demand-based policies, market incentives, carbon footprints and handprints in public procurement criteria and to accelerate cooperation with academia and businesses to boost broad-scale innovation, sustainable products, services and nature-based solutions. Despite net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2020 estimated to drop 35% below 1990 levels, the economic rebound from the COVID-19 risks bringing emissions back up. Around 40% of EU cities with more than 150 000 inhabitants have adopted climate adaptation plans.  

The European energy infrastructure update and expansion is a key enabler for the green energy transition and must be consistent with the Green Deal objective of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. Therefore, last December 2020 the European Commission adopted a proposal to revise the 2013 Trans-European Energy Infrastructure Regulation (TEN-E). In an opinion drafted by the rapporteur Robert Sorin Negoiță (RO/PES) and discussed today, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) calls on the European Commission to ensure that the new regulation takes into account the needs and specificities of EU regions and that it stimulates sustainable energy security, market integration, fair competition, diversification of energy supply and affordable energy for all.  

As Europe's population is ageing, the need for care services is expected to increase significantly in the coming decades. In an opinion drafted by Heinrich Dorner (AT/PES), Member of the State Government of Burgenland, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) calls on the European Commission to support cities and regions in addressing care worker shortages and highlights that family members – most often women – carrying out informal care work need adequate social rights and protection. 

The European Committee of the Regions' (CoR) discussed the role of cities and regions in reinforcing the resilience of critical entities during its plenary session on 1 July. To ensure a comprehensive approach, each Member State should have a strategy prepared in cooperation with local and regional authorities, setting out objectives and policy measures based on an assessment of all natural and man-made risks that may affect the provision of essential services. 

With many regional airports struggling to recover from the economic hardship caused by the pandemic, members of the European Committee of the Regions adopted an opinion on 1 July, which calls on the European Commission to develop more flexible and more effective public aid rules that enable Member States to provide regional airports with financial assistance. In the opinion , which was drafted by Władysław Ortyl (PL/ECR), the CoR also emphasized that financial support must be invested in making airports more sustainable in order to help achieve the objectives set out in the European Green Deal. 

A Covid-válság rávilágít arra, hogy az uniós szakpolitikai döntéshozatalt össze kell kapcsolni a helyi közösségek szükségleteivel, méghozzá a helyi szinten megválasztott politikusok kulcsfontosságú szerepe révén: ezt az üzenet fogalmazták ma meg a Régiók Európai Bizottsága tagjai Maroš Šefčovičnak, az Európai Bizottság alelnökének. A plenáris ülésen folytatott vita során a helyi és regionális vezetők megerősítették, hogy elkötelezettek az uniós jogszabályok javítása mellett. Ennek jegyében hozzá kívánnak járulni a jövőállósági platformhoz . Az RB tagjai egy, az Európai Bizottság 2022. évi munkaprogramjára vonatkozó javaslatokat tartalmazó állásfoglalásban kérik, hogy az Európai Bizottság biztosítsa, hogy a világjárvány következményeinek hatékony helyi szintű kezelése érdekében a helyi és regionális önkormányzatokat bevonják a nemzeti helyreállítási és rezilienciaépítési tervek végrehajtásába. Kérik továbbá, hogy terjesszék ki azokat a kulcsfontosságú rugalmassági intézkedéseket, amelyeket azért vezettek be, hogy a Covid-válság alatt mozgósítsák az európai strukturális és beruházási alapokat. 

A regionális és helyi választott politikusoknak – akiket az EU-ban az RB képvisel – és az Európai Parlament tagjainak – az egyetlen olyan uniós intézményként, amelynek tagjait közvetlenül a polgárok választják meg – össze kell fogniuk az Európa jövőjéről szóló konferencia keretében. Közös célként azt kell kitűzniük, hogy hangot adjanak a polgárok azon igényének, hogy az Unió közelebb kerüljön hozzájuk, tiszteletben tartva a szubszidiaritás elvét, és előretekintő módon reagálva a globális és helyi szinten jelentkező új kihívásokra. Ezt az üzenetet osztották meg az RB tagjai az RB 145. plenáris ülése folyamán a konferencia vezető testületében részt vevő három európai parlamenti képviselővel, Guy Verhofstadttal, Manfred Weberrel és Iratxe García Pérezzel. A három európai parlamenti képviselő hangsúlyozta, hogy az RB tagjait erős szövetségesnek tekintik abban, hogy Európa jövőjéről széles körű, ténylegesen inkluzív, átlátható, földrajzilag és politikailag kiegyensúlyozott vitára kerülhessen sor. 

The publication of the long-term vision for rural areas by the European Commission is a major success for the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), which has been asking for a rural agenda since 2016. Local leaders welcome the proposal of a Rural Pact and Action Plan setting objectives and reinforcing the political ownership for investment on sustainable rural developments. The CoR appreciates the long-term vision of rural areas in all their diversity and the effort to revitalise them in a way that goes beyond agriculture and considers every policy area through the rural lens. As foreseen in the Commission's proposal, the Committee is ready to promote the mobilisation of local communities in the implementation of the rural action plan and vision. At the same time, the CoR demands that EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is coordinated not only with cohesion policy but also with the Recovery and Resilience Facility. 

A Régiók Európai Bizottsága megerősíti elkötelezettségét az EU széles körű jogalkotási projektje mellett, amelynek célja a domináns internetes platformok feletti demokratikus ellenőrzés megerősítése, valamint a kkv-k és az egyéni fogyasztók számára egyaránt működő, kiegyensúlyozott online gazdaság helyreállítása. A júniusi plenáris ülésen az RB tagjai véleményt fogadtak el, amely támogatja az Európai Bizottság azon szándékát, hogy szigorúbban szabályozza a digitális piacokat és szolgáltatásokat, ugyanakkor felhívja a figyelmet azokra az innovációkra és hatáskörökre, amelyekkel a városok és régiók a hatékony és eredményes szabályozáshoz hozzájárulhatnak. A digitális szolgáltatásokról szóló jogszabálycsomagot tárgyaló RB-vélemény olyan kezdeményezések szélesebb hálójába illeszkedik, amelyek célja, hogy az RB egyre inkább az inkluzív digitális átállás egyik uniós mozgatórugója legyen. 

A Régiók Európai Bizottsága és az Európai Bizottság a regionális és helyi önkormányzatok segítségével és önkéntes alapon közös projekteket fog kidolgozni az uniós értékek tanórákon való oktatásának támogatására. A plenáris vitán – amelyen Margarítisz Szhinász, az európai életmód előmozdításáért felelős európai bizottsági alelnök is részt vett – a regionális és helyi vezetők azt is hangsúlyozták, hogy az oktatási rendszereknek teljes mértékben tiszteletben kell tartaniuk és elő kell mozdítaniuk a szabadságot, az egyenlőséget, a toleranciát és a megkülönböztetésmentességet. Kiemelték továbbá, mennyire fontos tanulni az Európai Unióról, annak értékeiről, kulturális örökségéről és sokszínűségéről, és minden közösségben, minden korosztályban, minden uniós polgár számára elérhetővé kell tenni erről szóló tananyagot. 

​Presidents of regional parliaments with or without legislative powers, Presidents of Regions and other regional entities endorsed today a Declaration which is the starting point of an Alliance of Regions for European Democracy that aims at enhancing the regions' political impact on the European decision making process on matters with direct relevance to the work of local and regional authorities. The endorsement took place during the political event "The place of regions in the European Union architecture in the context of the Conference on the Future of Europe" organised by the European Committee of the Regions , the Conference of European Regional Legislative Assemblies (CALRE), and the Government of the Autonomous Region of the Azores. The Declaration also calls for the Conference on the Future of Europe to discuss the role of regions in the EU institutional architecture and to improve it to better address citizens' needs. 

When migrants move, it is overwhelmingly to cities that they come. Migrant integration happens in cities, and it is overseen by local governments. EUROCITIES recently published its fourth Integrating Cities Report which gives a direct insight into how cities are integrating migrants today. It is now available to read in full here. 

A Régiók Európai Bizottsága a menedéket nyújtó városok nemzetközi hálózatával (ICORN) és Gdańsk városával együttműködésben megnyitja a nevezési lehetőséget a 2021-es Paweł Adamowicz-díjra, amelyet a szabadságért, a szolidaritásért és az egyenlőségért való bátor és nemes kiállásért ítélnek oda. 

A large number of citizens and experts took part on 23 June in "Towards a multimodal Adriatic-Ionian major line with multiple connections to the Tyrrhenian coast", an event staged by the Abruzzo Region in collaboration with the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) as part of the European Year of Rail 2021. Connecting from L'Aquila and Brussels, speakers included president of the Abruzzo Region and CoR member Marco Marsilio; Portugal's secretary of state for infrastructure, Jorge Delgado on the outlook for the Portuguese Council presidency; the director for Investment, Innovative & Sustainable Transport at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE), Herald Ruijters; and Italy's deputy minister for infrastructure and sustainable transport, Alessandro Morelli. 

Three vice-presidents of the European Commission will address the European Committee of the Regions on 30 June, discussing efforts to strengthen and deepen democracy, build inclusive societies, and improve EU legislation. Vice-President Věra Jourová will present the European Democracy Action Plan to empower citizens and build more resilient democracies, Vice-President Margaritis Schinas will highlight the role of education and culture in protecting the European way of life, while Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič will set out the European Commission's work programme as well as the Commission's efforts to embed strategic foresight into its work. Members of the CoR will also discuss the Conference on the Future of Europe with the three MEPs leading the work of the European Parliament in the EU-wide consultation. 

​​​​​​​The webinar looked at the state of digital transformation in European regions, taking stock of the latest research showing an increasing digital divide across European regions and urban-rural communities. Invited speakers shared their views on how public authorities at all levels can facilitate the digital transition of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), showcasing some best practices and collaboration initiatives from the European Entrepreneurial Regions. 

On 13 July 2021, the CoR, in cooperation with the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU, will hold the Enlargement Day.  

​​​Local communities' needs will weigh more in the future Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) investment decisions and regions will be among leading actors in shaping, implementing and assessing the national CAP strategic plans. This crucial result was achieved thanks to the work of the CoR, its intense cooperation with the European Parliament and – more recently - with the EU Commission. Regional and local leaders are ready to use the new CAP to deliver the Green Deal on the ground but urge Member States to set adequate rules to make this happen.  

Miközben az EU állam- és kormányfői Brüsszelben üléseznek, hogy áttekintsék a gazdasági helyreállítás aktuális állását, a Régiók Európai Bizottsága (RB) által megrendelt új tanulmány eredményei rávilágítanak, hogy a helyi és regionális önkormányzatokat nem vonják be a nemzeti helyreállítási és rezilienciaépítési tervek kidolgozásába és végrehajtásába. A tanulmányt az RB „Gazdaságpolitika” (ECON) szakbizottságának ülésén ismertették. Az ECON szakbizottság tagjai komoly aggodalmuknak adtak hangot amiatt is, hogy a tervek láthatóan figyelmen kívül hagyják a területi egyenlőtlenségeket és nincsenek megfelelőképpen összehangolva a kohéziós politikai célkitűzésekkel, mindez pedig a redundáns finanszírozás kockázatát hordozza magában. 

The President of the European Committee of the Regions, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, has received the International Medal of the Community of Madrid in recognition of his "unconditional support" to the region, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

​​Jari Andersson, member of Sastamala City Council (FI/EPP) has drafted an opinion for the European Committee of the Regions on the EU strategy on the rights of the child and the European Child Guarantee. Mr Andersson's opinion was adopted on Wednesday at the meeting of the Commission for Social Policy, Education, Employment, Research and Culture (SEDEC) of the CoR. 

There are early signs that changes aimed at making the process of accession to the European Union more dynamic and predictable are yielding results, with local and regional leaders, Serbia's EU ambassador and the European Commission detecting a "new momentum" in the past year.  

Regional leaders from Turkey and the European Union have expressed some optimism that the strains in the relationship between Turkey and the European Union may ease and that a more productive period of contacts and collaboration is possible, with economic sustainability a central theme. 

Albanian municipalities are increasingly focused on improving their capacity to absorb European Union money and implement EU-related reforms, political leaders and government officials said as a meeting with the European Committee of the Regions on 17 June. There were, however, warnings about a continuing imbalance between the level of responsibility they have been given by central government and the funding available to them. 

Montenegro must overcome a period of political tension and administrative disruption and "do its homework" on issues related to the rule of law if it is to maintain the pace of its bid to join the European Union, local and regional leaders from Montenegro were told at a meeting and the European Committee of the Regions on 10 June. 

Over 80 young local and regional young elected politicians (YEPs) from 21 European countries participated in an info session organized by the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) on the implementation of the Renovation Wave at the local level . They engaged in a debate with the CoR member Rafal Trzaskowski, representatives of the Commission for the Environment, Climate Change and Energy (ENVE) from the CoR, the Covenant of Mayors Initiative, the European Investment Bank, the European Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) and the European City Facility Initiative, who provided them with the key information, tools and financial support opportunities to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.  

A joint survey of the European Committee of the Regions and the OECD  

The EU’s pilot initiative “Smart Specialisation Strategies for Sustainability" (S4) was launched in Seville today by the President of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), Apostolos Tzitzikostas, and the Director for Growth and Innovation of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC), Mikel Landabaso. The initiative represents a voluntary update to the Smart Specialisation Strategies, with a stronger focus on sustainability. The JRC and CoR will cooperate on the piloting of S4 methodology in more than ten regions in Europe. 

The full respect of the "partnership principle" and its implementation under the new instruments financed by Next Generation EU, such as the Just Transition Fund and the Recovery and Resilience Facility, are among the main requests included in the opinion adopted today by the members of the European Committee of the Region’s (CoR) Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget (COTER). Members were also briefed on the progress of the European Year of Rail and exchanged views on an opinion about the gender dimension of structural and cohesion funds 2021-2027. 

The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) endorsed today the official launch of the European Platform on Combatting Homelessness and signed the Lisbon Declaration, which sets the target of eradicating homelessness in Europe by 2030. The SEDEC Commission Chair Anne Karjalainen, who represented the CoR in the high-level conference and official signing, highlighted the importance of successful regional and local approaches to tackle the phenomenon which currently affects an estimated 700 000 people in Europe.  

The Green Deal Going Local working group of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) held its sixth meeting today with the green recovery as its top priority. Members discussed the importance of involving local and regional authorities in the implementation phase of the national recovery and resilience plans (NRRPs) which will support the European green transition in the next years. The meeting took place while the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen continues her tour through the EU capitals to hand over the endorsement of NRRPs to European leaders, and "make" the recovery "real".  

 

Baseline survey on how cities, towns and rural areas across Europe approach digital innovation launched today 

As bolstering sustainable economic development remains one of the three priorities of ARLEM, the Assembly continues to be invested in supporting young entrepreneurs. After what is now the third successful edition of the ARLEM Award – Young local entrepreneurship in the Mediterranean, the 2022 edition just opened for applications. Once more, we encourage young entrepreneurs (up to 35 years old) from the Mediterranean region to showcase their successful cooperation with their local and regional authorities. 

A Régiók Európai Bizottságának (RB) az Európa jövőjéről szóló konferenciára delegált küldöttsége ma összeült, hogy előkészítse a konferencia június 19-én Strasbourgban tartandó alakuló plenáris üléséhez való hozzájárulását. A küldöttek élni kívánnak a konferencia által kínált lehetőséggel, hogy megerősítsék az Európai Unió demokratikus dimenzióját, és helyreállítsák a polgárok európai projektbe vetett bizalmát. Az RB mint a polgárokhoz legközelebb álló kormányzati szintet képviselő uniós szerv elkötelezett amellett, hogy a konferencia elé tárja a helyi és regionális önkormányzatok véleményét. 

The second 2021 Broadband Platform meeting brought together members of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) with European Commission experts and a Portuguese Presidency of the Council representative – giving them the occasion to exchange on the latest developments concerning key European initiatives in the field and to discuss critical challenges around the empirical measurement of digitalisation progress. The Broadband Platform's main objective is to accelerate the deployment of high-speed broadband across all European regions, including rural and sparsely populated areas where there is not enough market-driven infrastructure development.  

The European Committee of the Regions and the European Alliance for Apprenticeships are organising a joint high-level conference this week. At the opening session on 3 June, the Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights Nicolas Schmit and the chair of the CoR's SEDEC Commission Anne Karjalainen highlighted the pivotal role of regions and cities in providing quality and effective apprenticeships for all. 

The European Committee of the Regions, the Yolda Initiative, the European association of mountain areas (Euromontana) and the Regional International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists Support Group for Europe organised a joint online workshop on 14 June to underline the need to maintain pastoralists. 

​This year, the European Committee of the Regions has once again cooperated with the European Commission to make the EU Green Week a success. Seven members of the European Committee of the Regions took part in different panels of the EU Green Week, three of them co-organized by the CoR, to discuss how to achieve the target of zero pollution. A major highlight of the EU Green Week is the launch of the Zero Pollution Stakeholder Platform on 4 June which will help deliver the objectives of the Green Deal and help implement the EU Action Plan 'Towards Zero Pollution for Air, Water and Soil' on the ground. 

The Commission for the Environment, Climate change and Energy (ENVE) of the European Committee of the Regions debated on the Conference on the Future of Europe, the 2022 European Commission's Work Programme and the 'Fit for 55 package' whose purpose is to update the EU’s 2030 climate and energy laws to reflect the 55% net emissions reduction target that the EU set for 2030. Other topics included the development of a trans-European energy infrastructure, the new EU strategy on climate adaptation and the mainstreaming of gender equality under the European Green Deal. ​  

The European Commission and the European Committee of the Regions, in cooperation with the Polish newspaper, Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, invite you to two webinars devoted to discuss Polish urban policy, the European Green Deal and the EU's multiannual financial perspective for 2021-2027.