The #CohesionAlliance partners met online on 26 November to discuss the current state of the trilogue negotiations of the cohesion policy package with representatives from the European Parliament, the European Commission and the German Council Presidency. The partner organisations representing cities, regions and regional assemblies voiced their concern about macroeconomic conditionality, the risk of centralisation and the full implementation of cohesion and REACT EU programmes over the upcoming years and urged for cohesion as a fundamental value. 

​The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) and the European Parliament Intergroup on Rural, Mountainous and Remote Areas (RUMRA)&smart villages intergroup at the European Parliament with the supports of the International Association Rurality-Environment-Development (R.E.D) and Euromontana have organised a conference in Brussels on 27 November to talk about the specific needs of rural areas post-2020. 

Eiropas Komisija aicina iesniegt priekšlikumus pasākumiem, ko varētu iekļaut Eiropas Dzelzceļa gada (2021) oficiālajā programmā. Pirmā iesniegšanas kārta norisinās līdz 2020. gada 11. decembrim. 

The first plenary meeting of the Fit for Future (F4F) Platform chaired by European Commission’s Vice-President for Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight Maroš Šefčovič took place with three CoR members Mark Speich (DE/EPP), Anne Karjalainen (FI/PSE) and Ulrika Landergren (SE/RE). The F4F platform is the main instrument of the Better regulation agenda of the European Commission that aims at reducing unnecessary administrative burdens to citizens and businesses and to help make sure that EU legislation is future proof, more digital and better placed to tackle future challenges. The local and regional level of government, which is the closest to the citizens, is represented in the meetings of the F4F platform in the early drafting and the evaluation phases of EU legislation. This is the one of the achievements of the CoR work in the Task force on Subsidiarity and Proportionality.  

The members of the commission for territorial cohesion and EU budget (COTER) discussed the future of cross-border cooperation including their participation in the Cross Border Citizens' Alliance and adopted the draft opinion on cross-border public services prepared by rapporteur Pavel Branda (ECR/CZ). During their meeting members agreed that a minimum of cross-border cooperation needs to be guaranteed in times of crisis. 

Climate change is having wide-ranging impacts on ecosystems, economic sectors, human health and well-being in Europe. From 1980 to 2016, the total reported economic losses caused by weather and other climate-related extremes in Europe amounted to over EUR 436 billion, according to the European Commission. In this interview, Markku Markkula (FI/EPP) answers four questions on climate adaptation. The Chair of Espoo City Board and President of the Helsinki Region is the rapporteur of a draft opinion on climate adaptation to be adopted at the next plenary session of the European Committee of the Regions on 8, 9 and 10 December 2020.