RK 142. plenārsesijā pašvaldību vadītāji pirmo reizi uzaicināja divu Eiropas pilsoņu iniciatīvu pārstāvjus, klātesot Eiropas Parlamenta priekšsēdētāja vietniekam Pedru Silvam Pereiram (Pedro Silva Pereira), kurš atbild par Eiropas demokrātiju un Eiropas pilsoņu iniciatīvām, un jaunievēlētajai Eiropas Ekonomikas un sociālo lietu komitejas priekšsēdētājai Kristai Švengai (Christa Schweng). Ar šo iniciatīvu RK uzsāk debates par demokrātiju, gatavojoties konferencei par Eiropas nākotni, un apliecina savu apņemšanos atbalstīt Eiropas pilsoņu iniciatīvas, kas ietilpst tās politiskajās kompetencēs un ir politiski nozīmīgas pašvaldībām. Eiropas pilsoņu iniciatīvas (EPI) veicina un atbalsta RK politisko prioritāti – tuvināt Eiropu tās iedzīvotājiem, un RK kā iedzīvotājiem tuvākā pārvaldes līmeņa pārstāve ir galvenais partneris to popularizēšanā. Ja Eiropas Komisija neveic pienācīgus turpmākos likumdošanas pasākumus, tas ne tikai rada vilšanos miljoniem iedzīvotāju, bet arī var radīt negatīvu attieksmi pret Eiropas iestādēm.

CoR members Karl-Heinz Lambertz (BE/PES) and Declan McDonnell (IE/AE), as well as Gisela Erler from the State Ministry of Baden-Württemberg in Germany and Bassem Asseh, Deputy Mayor of Nantes in France, debated in a panel 'Citizens' engagement in times of COVID-19: lessons from EU cities and regions' in the framework of the European Citizen Engagement and Deliberative Democracy Festival and presented the citizen engagement initiatives that they are conducting in their cities or regions. They expressed unanimously that COVID-19 pandemic with its uncertainties and shared responsibilities makes is even more pertinent to mobilise citizens to share with them not only relevant knowledge, but also to involve them on the governance of political agenda and crisis. Against this background, they call for a launch the Conference on the Future of Europe as soon as possible.

CoR President and the Presidents of six European territorial associations met on 4 December online to discuss the challenges ahead of the year 2021 for the European Union from the point of view of local and regional governments and issued a political Declaration in which they address their priorities. They also reiterated their steady commitment to help people and communities suffering the heavy social, health and economic consequences of the pandemic and to offer quality public services, sustainable local economies and a liveable environment.

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.