Important role of local government in reconstruction in spotlight ahead of international Ukraine Recovery Conference. The governments of Ukraine, Switzerland and the United Kingdom and representatives of the European Alliance of Cities and Regions for the Reconstruction of Ukraine, the European Commission and the OECD have agreed that continuing Ukraine's pre-war efforts to decentralise government will help to bolster Ukraine's recovery and reconstruction and to drive forward its ambition to join the EU. 

​At a joint debate at the Committee of the Regions' Plenary sitting, the President of the European Committee of the Regions, Vasco Alves Cordeiro, and the newly elected President of the European Economic and Social Committee, Oliver Röpke, underlined their joint commitment for a social Europe that leaves no one behind, ahead of their participation in the Porto Social Forum on Saturday, 27 May, Portugal. 

With nearly 6 million Europeans who have been actively seeking employment for at least a year, long-term unemployment has a significant social impact. Its high cost to society would be offset by providing unemployed people with decent jobs at local level, the European Committee of the Regions underlines in an opinion drafted by Yonnec Polet (BE/PES), Deputy Mayor of Berchem-Sainte-Agathe. The opinion, which was adopted at the plenary session on 25 May, calls for the European Commission to take stock of the success of the Youth Guarantee, to earmark some ESF+ funds for local "zero long-term unemployment" initiatives and to set up ad hoc fund to combat long-term unemployment. 

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine has thanked cities and regions in the European Union for giving shelter to Ukrainians following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He also urged the EU's cities and regions to join the work of ensuring an "effective recovery of Ukraine", saying that "we will recover every ruin that russia brought with its war… to show that our strength – the strength of our Europe – is obvious". 

Local and regional leaders call on the European Commission to publish the legislative framework for sustainable food systems as planned, later this year. The framework law should create coherence between different food-related policies, promote access to more healthy food, and recognise the crucial role of local and regional authorities by setting up an inclusive governance model.  

Two years after its adoption, it is clear that the EU Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-27 does not offer sufficient responses to current crises such as the consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, high inflation and the sharp rise in energy costs. The mid-term review of the long-term budget, planned by the European Commission for 20 June 2023, should therefore address regions' and cities' emerging needs and promote economic, social and territorial cohesion. These are the main demands discussed by CoR members with leading MEPs and included in an opinion adopted at the 24 May plenary session.