Local and regional politicians from across the political spectrum have voiced preliminary support for a fast-tracked set of recommendations intended to ensure that the regions and cities of the European Union can become deeply and effectively involved in the reconstruction of Ukraine. The rapporteur, Mayor of Florence Daria Nardella , said that "rebuilding is a re-birth" for Ukraine and that the EU's local and regional authorities "should be proud" to help this re-birth, a process that would include a sharp focus on helping Ukraine's transition to a greener and more sustainable economy. 

Rental and housing markets in European cities and regions have significantly come under pressure since the start of the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Members of the Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget ( COTER ) of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) call for increased support for European regions and cities on the frontline of the refugee income to ensure the long-term integration through affordable and accessible housing to all citizens.  

​Emil Boc, Mayor of Cluj-Napoca and former Prime Minister of Romania, was elected chair of the European Committee of the Regions' commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget (COTER). His mandate will last two and a half years. 

Enzo Bianco (IT/PES) was elected chair of the European Committee of the Regions' Commission for Citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External Affairs (CIVEX) at the commission´s meeting on 28 September. Mr Bianco, a member of the Catania Municipal Council, will chair the CIVEX commission work for 2.5 years, the second half of the CoR's current five-year mandate. 

The Joint Research Centre (JRC) is inviting European regions to express their interest to contribute to the Pilot Project "REGIONS2030: Monitoring the SDGs in the EU regions – Filling the data gaps", supported by the European Parliament. 

​​The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) awarded the prizes for the best region, city and bio-district as part of the European Organic Day. The awards were organized by the CoR together with the European Commission , the European Economic and Social Committee, COPA-COGECA and IFOAM Organics Europe to reward excellence along the European organic value chain. 

​Access to affordable energy and raw materials, friendly business environment and the development of new skills are the most pressing challenges for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the EU. Local and regional leaders, members of the Commission for Economic Policy (ECON) of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), gathered in Zwolle (the Netherlands) to discuss how to help SMEs face these challenges to overcome the current crisis and contribute to a more sustainable and resilient future. 

The President of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) , Vasco Alves Cordeiro, has called for higher climate ambition and a dedicated framework for encoding, monitoring and reporting cities' and regions' climate commitments and achievements in the context of the Paris agreement. This was the main message shared at the General Assembly of the Under2Coalition, ​the world's largest network of subnational governments committed to 2050 net zero emissions, which took place in New York, on 19 September 2022, as part of the Climate Week NYC 

​Czech representative Jaroslava Jermanová was elected chair of the European Committee of the Regions' commission for Economic Policy (ECON) at the meeting on 22 September. Ms Jermanová, Councillor of the Central Bohemian Region, will chair ECON's work over the forthcoming two and half years, until the end of the CoR's current five-year mandate. 

Hilary Benn, a senior figure in parliamentary relations between the United Kingdom and the European Union, has said that some UK and EU ideas on how to resolve differences over the management of trade in Northern Ireland are "quite close" – and that agreement would provide "an opportunity to move on".  

Het Europees Comité van de Regio’s (CvdR) heeft het eerste Green Deal Handbook gepubliceerd. Het thema hierin is klimaatadaptatie. Het handboek is een interactieve toolkit met informatie over financiële steun en technische instrumenten voor het invoeren van klimaatadaptatiemaatregelen in verschillende geografische gebieden waarbij rekening wordt gehouden met specifieke regionale kenmerken. Het doel is om lokale en regionale overheden een reeks instrumenten in handen te geven en aanbevelingen te doen met het oog op een betere aanpassing aan de klimaatverandering, het minimaliseren van kwetsbaarheden en het opbouwen van veerkracht om het risico op rampen en verlies en schade te beperken.Er is een specifiek handboek voor elke EU-lidstaat. 

​The registration to EuroPCom 2022 is now open. The 13th edition of the annual European Public Communication Conference takes place online – hybrid for CoR members in the morning on Friday 28 October 2022 under the slogan "Communicating Climate Action". 

Het Europees Comité van de Regio’s staat onvoorwaardelijk achter de Oekraïense steden en regio’s, aldus voorzitter Vasco Cordeiro op 16 september, die daaraan toevoegde dat de EU-regio’s en -steden de Oekraïense lokale en regionale overheden ook op de lange termijn zullen blijven steunen. 

President von der Leyen' speech on the State of the European Union is a good sum up of the challenges Europe is facing and a clear demonstration of political will and ambition to overcome them. On behalf of regions and cities from all the Union, represented by the European Committee of Regions I would like to make it clear that we answer her call to win over these challenges and we stand ready to do our part in the European common effort. 

​Europe is rich in diversity. All territories face the same societal challenges, such as climate change, energy crisis, or the interruption of supply chains, but these impact on regions in different ways. Every region has different priorities, different conditions and different assets in face of such challenges. The uniqueness of each territory requires bespoke actions that are tailored to both the specific territorial needs and the availability of tools at the disposal of each region. For example, some places may have a greater need to support the creation of new industries, while others to help existing industries become more sustainable. 

​​ As part of the delegation of the European Union to COP27, local and regional leaders have discussed with the Czech Presidency, the European Commission, and the European Parliament concrete ways to strengthen climate governance and help citizens face global warming and unprecedented energy prices  

Vasco Alves Cordeiro, President of the Committee of the Regions, met yesterday with a delegation of the National Conference of State Legislatures of the United States (NCSL), led by Speaker Scott Saiki, from Hawaii, and discussed opportunities for cooperation on key common challenges. 

 

The 20th edition of EURegionsWeek under the motto New Challenges for Europe's cohesion is ready to take off. 

With the ongoing war in Ukraine, more and more areas in the country are cut off the electricity supply, including hospitals and other places which urgently require access to power. In order to help civilians, the World Wind Energy Association WWEA and the Global 100% Renewable Energy Platform Global100RE (http://www.global100re.org/), supported by Global100RE Ambassador Ruslana (https://ruslana.ua/en/), are calling for donations of equipment which can supply power independently from the national grid, after all small and stand alone solar systems including batteries, power banks etc. 

Het Europees Comité van de Regio’s (CvdR) lanceert een nieuwe oproep aan zijn leden en plaatsvervangers, jonge gekozen politici (YEP’s) en de leden van het CvdR-netwerk van lokale en regionale raadsleden om goede praktijkvoorbeelden te delen. Het doel is om koolstofarme en duurzame projecten te verzamelen en te stimuleren, alsook toezeggingen van lokale en regionale overheden uit de hele EU om de uitstoot van broeikasgassen te verminderen. Heeft uw regio of stad een specifiek project om de doelstellingen van de Europese Green Deal te halen? Heeft uw regio of stad een doelstelling vastgelegd om de uitstoot van broeikasgassen tegen 2030 of 2050 te verminderen? Dan is deze nieuwe oproep zeker iets voor u. 

The President of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), Vasco Alves Cordeiro, met today the Prime Minister of Portugal, António Costa, in an exchange meant to present the priorities of President Cordeiro at the helm of the CoR for 2022-2025. 

The European Commission has just published its 2021 Annual Burden Survey, explaining and taking stock of the EU's better regulation efforts in 2021, their concrete findings and follow-up. 

The presidents of the European Committee of the Regions and the Association of Ukrainian Cities have congratulated cities and regions that are organising summer camps in the European Union for Ukrainian children, saying that this is an act of solidarity that offers a sense of normality to some of the millions of Ukrainian children whose lives have been shaken by the war.  

The European Commission and the European Economic and Social Committee are launching the call for expression of interest to participate to the 7th meeting of the European Migration Forum, which will take place on 20-21 October 2022 in Brussels. The European Migration Forum is a platform for dialogue between civil society and the European institutions on issues relating to migration, asylum and the integratio n of non-EU country nationals. 

​The ENVE commission meeting on 15 July showed that the prospect of the energy crisis is worsening as the approaching winter is a major concern for EU local and regional authorities. The severe droughts across the EU and the tragic collapse of the Marmolada glacier confirm the urgent need to adapt to global warming. The ENVE commission adopted two draft opinions on the energy package on gas, hydrogen and methane, and the role of cities and regions in global climate governance ahead of the United Nations climate summit to take place in November in Egypt. The priorities of the Czech Presidency were also on the discussion table.  

​​​How to better finance the decarbonisation of public transport through cohesion policy and other EU instruments, remove administrative bottlenecks and give cities direct access to EU funds: these were the main issues discussed during a two-day meeting that gathered to Prague local and regional leaders from all over the European Union at the start of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU.​ ​ 

The European Union and any country wishing to join the EU need to do more to address the concerns of young people and secure their participation in politics, local and regional politicians from the EU, the western Balkans, Turkey, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia at a two-day conference focused on EU enlargement. 

The growing digital divide between urban and rural areas is one of the major challenges faced by citizens and businesses in Europe. EU, national, regional and local governments must therefore intensify cooperation to ensure a decent access to internet and digital services in key areas such as healthcare, education, public services, social inclusion. This was one of the main messages that emerged from the meeting of the Commission for Economic Policy (ECON) of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) on 8 July.  

​With the New European Innovation Agenda , the European Commission wants to position Europe as a leading player on the global innovation scene, capable to develop new technologies to address the most pressing societal challenges. The European Committee of the Regions welcomes that the communication published on 5 July puts an important focus on closing the innovation divide between EU regions and reinforcing the links between regional smart specialization strategies, Horizon Europe and other funding mechanisms. 

​With antisemitism worryingly on the rise in Europe and beyond, the European Union is beginning to implement the first ever EU Strategy on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life. EU regions and cities have a crucial role in protecting and promoting Jewish cultural heritage as a vital part of Europe's culture and way of life. 

The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) on 29 June welcomed the increasing attention paid to local and regional government in the European Union's enlargement process, but added that the European Commission should now go further by focusing on encouraging national governments to cooperate more with regional and local governments. The recommendations are contained in the Committee's response to the European Commission's 2021 reports on reforms made by countries wishing to join the European Union.  

One of the Czech Republic's top priority during its six months in the chair of the Council of the European Union will be to cope with the influx of displaced Ukrainians forced to flee because of Russia's invasion, Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Bartoš told the European Committee of the Regions on 30 June. He also pledged to try to make it easier for regions and cities to secure EU funding for the support of refugees and speed up the transition towards safe and sustainable energy. 

Lokale en regionale leiders hebben tijdens hun plenaire vergadering een resolutie goedgekeurd over de uitkomsten en follow-up van de Conferentie over de toekomst van Europa. Ze roepen op om snel gevolg te geven aan de aanbevelingen uit het eindverslag van de Conferentie en die zonder dralen uit te voeren om tegemoet te komen aan de verwachtingen van de burgers. Daarnaast zijn ze van mening dat een ambitieuze hervorming van de werking van de EU vereist is om toekomstige uitdagingen aan te gaan. De leden van het Europees Comité van de Regio’s (CvdR) moeten volledig worden betrokken bij een toekomstige conventie zodat ze de stem van de meer dan 1 miljoen lokaal en regionaal verkozen politici in Europa kunnen laten horen en tevens de lokale en regionale dimensie van het EU-beleid kunnen versterken. 

On Thursday, the European assembly of local and regional representatives adopted a series of recommendations on the new proposal for a European directive on the energy performance of buildings. The rapporteur for the opinion is André Viola, representative of Aude Departmental Council. The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive is a cornerstone of the Fit for 55 package, which aims to reduce EU greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030. 

At the request of the Council of the European Union, the EU's assembly of cities and regions has adopted an opinion on the environmental imperatives and social acceptability of the ecological transition. The European Committee of the Regions has greenlighted the proposals of the rapporteur Hanna Zdanowska (PL/EPP), Mayor of Lodz, which puts forward a series of economic and social measures to ensure that the European Green Deal – the EU's sustainable growth strategy to reach climate neutrality by 2050, is grounded in a strong social acceptability and leaves no citizen, territory nor business behind. 

On Thursday, the European assembly of regional and local representatives adopted a series of recommendations to support the implementation of green budgets at local and regional level. The recommendations were prepared at the request of the French presidency of the Council of the European Union. The rapporteur for the opinion is Vincent Chauvet (FR/Renew Europe), Mayor of Autun and member of the Green Deal working group of the European Committee of the Regions. The Committee calls on the European Commission and the Member States to exempt green investments from the regional public deficit calculation and to establish effective, participatory and transparent green budgeting, with a clear methodology linked to specific environmental performance indicators. 

Naar aanleiding van de goedkeuring door de Raad van algemene oriëntaties over relevante componenten van het ‘Fit for 55’-pakket heeft het Europees Comité van de Regio’s (CvdR) vier adviezen uitgebracht waarin het ingaat op de rol van steden en regio’s bij de uitvoering van de Europese Green Deal, de groeistrategie van de EU om uiterlijk in 2050 klimaatneutraal te worden. Die adviezen gaan over economische en financiële maatregelen om lokale groene begrotingen te verhogen, de uitvoering van de richtlijn energieprestatie van gebouwen en de noodzaak sociale maatregelen uit te denken om de meest kwetsbare mensen te beschermen en de burgers een grotere rol te geven in de groene transitie. 

Het Europees Comité van de Regio's (CvdR) heeft de Automotive Regions Alliance gelanceerd – een politiek netwerk van regio's die zich inzetten voor de succesvolle transitie van de Europese auto- en toeleveringsindustrie. De Alliantie wil het regionale perspectief betrekken bij de lopende debatten over het koolstofvrij maken van het vervoer in de EU en tegelijkertijd banen en concurrentievermogen veiligstellen en zorgen voor economische en sociale cohesie op elk Europees grondgebied dat door de overgang wordt getroffen. De auto-industrie behaalde in 2020 een omzet van meer dan 7% van het bbp van de EU en biedt momenteel werk aan meer dan 14 miljoen Europeanen, wat neerkomt op 6,1% van de totale werkgelegenheid in de EU. Het lanceringsevenement vond plaats tijdens de plenaire vergadering van het CvdR op 30 juni en is het startpunt voor verdere acties van de alliantie, die bestaat uit 22 regio's met een sterke automobiel- en toeleveringssector uit zeven lidstaten: Oostenrijk, Frankrijk, Duitsland, Italië, Slowakije, Spanje en Nederland. 

Het Europees Comité van de Regio’s en verenigingen van Europese steden en regio’s hebben op 30 juni jl. de Europese Alliantie van steden en regio’s voor de wederopbouw van Oekraïne gelanceerd, bedoeld om de Oekraïense lokale en regionale overheden te helpen bij de wederopbouw van huizen, scholen, infrastructuur en voorzieningen die sinds de invasie op 24 februari door Rusland zijn vernietigd. De lancering van de Alliantie, nauwelijks zeven dagen nadat de EU-lidstaten Oekraïne de status van kandidaat-lidstaat hadden toegekend, werd door de Oekraïense minister voor Gemeenschappen en Territoriale Ontwikkeling toegejuicht als een “mogelijke basis voor de Europese integratie van ons land”. 

The Arctic can provide Europe with knowledge, products, resources and energy which are crucial for achieving the EU's climate goals. At its plenary session on 29 June, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) adopted an opinion drafted by Mirja Vehkaperä (FI/Renew Europe), Chair of Oulu City Board, underlining that EU funding must support the Arctic's potential as a driver of green growth and the digital transition in the EU, while striking a balance with protecting the Arctic nature and fighting climate change. 

De leden van het Europees Comité van de Regio’s (CvdR) hebben Vasco Alves Cordeiro gekozen als hun nieuwe voorzitter voor de komende tweeënhalf jaar. Cordeiro, lid van het regionale parlement van de Azoren, zal zich als leider van de EU-assemblee van regionale en lokale afgevaardigden richten op het versterken van de democratie, de instandhouding van het cohesiebeleid, het verwezenlijken van de doelstellingen van de Green Deal en de intensivering van de regionale steun voor Oekraïne. Verder kozen de leden van het CvdR Apostolos Tzitzikostas, gouverneur van Centraal-Macedonië in Griekenland, als hun nieuwe eerste vicevoorzitter. 

Today, in a ceremony at the European Committee of the Regions premises in the presence of Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, outgoing President of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), donated an olive tree to praise democracy and peace as European fundamental values and as a symbol of commitment to a greener future.  

EU-steden en -regio’s verzoeken de Europese Commissie om strengere criteria om de status van werknemers van digitale platforms goed te definiëren en hun arbeidsomstandigheden te verbeteren. In een advies van Yonnec Polet (BE/PSE), eerste schepen van Sint-Agatha-Berchem, maakt het Comité zich ook zorgen over het gebruik van algoritmen en wijst het erop dat werknemers altijd recht moeten hebben op een beslissing van een menselijke manager of supervisor. Het advies is tijdens de zitting van 29 juni goedgekeurd. 

​​​Members of the European Committee of the Regions, members of the European Parliament, citizens' consultations experts and citizens draft a checklist to be used for future citizens' consultations. 

​​The European Union's response to the refugee crisis caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine shows that it "can learn lessons", the president of the European Committee of the Regions said at a conference on 24 June, going on to call for the EU to reform the its asylum and migration system "to have more justice in the distribution of responsibilities". Such reforms would, he said, also respond to the opinion of EU citizens, articulated in recommendations that recently emerged from the Conference on the Future of Europe. 

​The European Committee of the Regions will at its plenary on 29-30 June elect a new president for the second half of the Committee's 2020-25 mandate, to replace Apostolos Tzitzikostas. The current First Vice-President Vasco Alves Cordeiro is standing for the presidency. The newly-elected president will over the following two days launch a European alliance of cities and regions for the reconstruction of Ukraine, welcome a bottom-up alliance to support regions with a strong automotive industry as they move away from the combustion engine, and honour the three winners of this year's European Entrepreneurial Regions Awards. 

The Knowledge Exchange Platform, a joint initiative of the European Committee of the Regions and the European Commission, held its first meeting of 2022 on 22 June with the topic of Building Synergies for Successful Green and Digital Transitions. 

The European Committee of the Regions expresses its full and unequivocal support to the decision taken today by the EU Heads of State and Government to grant EU candidate status to Ukraine and to the Republic of Moldova. This important signal of political support will encourage our Ukrainian and Moldovan partners to advance on the way of democracy, the rule of law, and ability to provide a safe future for their citizens. 

​As the European Year of Youth 2022 is soon reaching the halfway mark, debates at the CoR's SEDEC Commission meeting on 21 June focused around youth policy. Mainstreaming the youth dimension across EU policies, improving the young people's participation in democratic life and promoting the social inclusion of vulnerable young people into the educational system are among the key elements of an upcoming opinion which will be prepared by Tine Radinja (SI/The Greens), Mayor of Škofja Loka.