The results of a survey carried out by the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) show a clear demand among local and regional authorities to extend the flexibility measures introduced last year to mobilise EU structural funds and state aid in the fight against COVID-19. Regions and cities need extraordinary rules to be maintained in order to secure the continuity of emergency investment and the deployment of crucial initiatives such as job retention schemes. This request is included in a letter co-signed by the CoR President Apostolos Tzitzikostas and the chair of the CoR's COTER commission Isabelle Boudineau, addressed to the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the commissioners responsible for the relevant policies.  

In reactie op het pakket 'Fit for 55’ van de Europese Commissie, dat beoogt de koolstofuitstoot in de EU tegen 2030 met 55 % terug te brengen, dringt het Europees Comité van de Regio's (CvdR) erop aan dat de nieuwe en geactualiseerde regels een centrale rol toebedelen aan en voorzien in rechtstreekse financiering voor steden en regio’s die bij de transitie naar klimaatneutraliteit over wettelijke bevoegdheden beschikken en dicht bij de burger staan. 

​​​Countries in the Western Balkans should use significant new financial support from the European Union to make their economies greener and more digital and to advance their case for EU membership, local and regional leaders heard at the Enlargement Day conference held by the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) on 13 July. The conference – which was addressed by the Slovenian presidency of the Council of the European Union and the European Commission's Acting Director-General for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations – also identified the post-pandemic recovery as a major milestone in the history of regions' and cities' involvement in the EU accession process.  

Grensoverschrijdende samenwerking weer boven aan de beleidsagenda van de EU brengen is een van de topprioriteiten van het Europees Comité van de Regio’s (CvdR). De Conferentie over de toekomst van grensoverschrijdende samenwerking, die samen met de andere stichtende partners van de Europese Alliantie van burgers in grensoverschrijdende regio’s werd georganiseerd, draagt bij tot deze doelstelling. Tijdens het evenement, dat plaatsvond op 5 juli, bespraken de deelnemers de gevolgen van de COVID-19-crisis en de huidige en toekomstige uitdagingen voor grensoverschrijdende regio’s en voerden zij een debat over de visie op grensoverschrijdende samenwerking als onderdeel van de toekomst van Europa. Het evenement vond plaats enkele dagen nadat de voltallige vergadering van het CvdR een resolutie over grensoverschrijdende samenwerking had goedgekeurd, die als bijdrage zal dienen voor de Conferentie over de toekomst van Europa. 

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. 

Om de Europese vervoerssector met succes te hervormen en duurzamer te maken, moeten steden en regio’s in de EU meer nadruk leggen op het bevorderen van emissievrije mobiliteit, het aanmoedigen van actieve en gedeelde vervoerswijzen, het hervormen van de stedelijke mobiliteit en betere verbindingen met plattelandsgebieden. Deze voorstellen staan in een advies over de strategie voor slimme en duurzame mobiliteit, dat rapporteur Robert van Asten (NL/RE) tijdens de zitting van het Europees Comité van de Regio's (CvdR) op woensdag 30 juni heeft gepresenteerd waarna het door het CvdR werd goedgekeurd. 

De Europese Unie moet een “nieuwe democratische infrastructuur” creëren om vrije en eerlijke verkiezingen te waarborgen, de pluriformiteit in de media te verbeteren en de betrokkenheid van de burgers te vergroten, aldus het Europees Comité van de Regio’s op 30 juni. In aanbevelingen ter versterking van de democratie, gelijkheid en eerbiediging van de mensenrechten benadrukten gemeentelijke en regionale leiders dat subnationale overheden een belangrijke rol kunnen spelen bij het bevorderen van mediageletterdheid, kritisch denken en transparantie in politieke campagnes, alsook bij het ondersteunen van de deelname van burgers aan de politiek. 

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.  

De Europese lokale en regionale leiders pleiten ervoor de VN-doelstellingen inzake duurzame ontwikkeling (SDG’s) weer bovenaan de agenda van de Europese Unie te zetten en vragen de EU-instellingen en de lidstaten ervoor te zorgen dat ze uiterlijk in 2030 worden gerealiseerd. Het Europees Comité van de Regio’s (CvdR) benadrukt i n een advies dat vandaag door zijn voltallige vergadering is goedgekeurd, dat tijdens de COVID-19-pandemie is gebleken hoe belangrijk duurzame ontwikkeling is en dat de SDG’s kunnen helpen een coherente, alomvattende visie tot stand te brengen binnen NextGenerationEU . In een recente CvdR-studie wordt er echter op gewezen dat expliciete en transparante verwijzingen naar de SDG’s van de VN in veel nationale plannen voor herstel en veerkracht ontbreken. 

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. 

Veel regionale luchthavens hebben moeite om de economische problemen ten gevolge van de pandemie te boven te komen. Daarom heeft het Europees Comité van de Regio’s (CvdR) op 1 juli een advies goedgekeurd waarin het de Europese Commissie vraagt flexibelere en effectievere regels voor overheidssteun uit te werken die de lidstaten in staat stellen regionale luchthavens financiële steun te verlenen. In het advies , dat werd opgesteld door Władysław Ortyl (PL/ECR), benadrukte het CvdR ook dat financiële steun moet worden verleend om luchthavens duurzamer te maken en zo bij te dragen aan de doelstellingen van de Europese Green Deal. 

Tijdens de COVID-19-crisis is eens te meer gebleken hoe belangrijk het is om de beleidsvorming van de EU af te stemmen op de behoeften van lokale gemeenschappen, met lokale politici als cruciale schakel. Dat is de boodschap die de leden van het Europees Comité van de Regio’s (CvdR) vandaag hebben overgebracht aan Maroš Šefčovič, vicevoorzitter van de Europese Commissie. In een debat tijdens de zitting van het CvdR hebben de lokale en regionale leiders benadrukt dat zij de EU-wetgeving mee willen verbeteren via hun bijdrage aan het Fit for Future (F4F)-platform . In een resolutie met voorstellen voor het werkprogramma van de Europese Commissie voor 2022 verzoeken de CvdR-leden de Europese Commissie ervoor te zorgen dat de lokale en regionale overheden worden betrokken bij de uitvoering van de nationale plannen voor herstel en veerkracht, zodat de gevolgen van de pandemie ter plaatse doeltreffend kunnen worden aangepakt. Tevens pleiten zij voor een verlenging van de cruciale flexibiliteitsmaatregelen die zijn ingevoerd om Europese structuur- en investeringsfondsen te mobiliseren tijdens de COVID-19-crisis. 

Regionale en lokale gekozen politici — in de EU vertegenwoordigd door het CvdR — en leden van het Europees Parlement — de enige EU-instelling waarvan de leden rechtstreeks door de burgers worden gekozen — moeten in het kader van de Conferentie over de toekomst van Europa hun krachten bundelen. Samen moeten zij de aandacht vestigen op de roep van de burgers om een Unie die dichter bij de mensen staat, het subsidiariteitsbeginsel naleeft en vooruitloopt op nieuwe uitdagingen op mondiaal en lokaal niveau. Zo luidde de boodschap van de CvdR-leden tijdens de 145e CvdR-zitting , die werd bijgewoond door Guy Verhofstadt, Manfred Weber en Iratxe Garcia Perez — drie vertegenwoordigers van het Europees Parlement in de raad van bestuur van de Conferentie. De drie EP-leden benadrukten dat ook de CvdR-leden warme voorstanders zijn van een breed, echt inclusief, transparant en geografisch en politiek evenwichtig debat over de toekomst van Europa. 

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. 

Het Europees Comité van de Regio’s (CvdR) zal zich nog harder gaan inspannen voor het omvangrijke wetgevingsproject van de EU om de democratische controle op dominante internetplatforms aan te scherpen en een eerlijke online-economie te creëren waarvan ook kleine en middelgrote ondernemingen en individuele consumenten profiteren. De leden van het CvdR hebben tijdens hun plenaire zitting van juni een advies goedgekeurd waarin het voornemen van de Europese Commissie wordt gesteund om digitale markten en diensten strenger te reguleren, en ook wordt gewezen op de innovaties en competenties die steden en regio’s kunnen inbrengen om de nieuwe wetgeving solide en doeltreffend te maken. Dit CvdR-advies over het wetgevingspakket digitale diensten maakt deel uit van een reeks initiatieven waarmee het CvdR zich duidelijker wil profileren als een van de drijvende krachten in de EU achter een inclusieve digitale transitie. 

Het Europees Comité van de Regio’s (CvdR) en de Europese Commissie zullen gezamenlijke projecten uitwerken om het onderwijs over EU-waarden te ondersteunen, met de hulp van regionale en lokale overheden en op vrijwillige basis. In een debat tijdens de CvdR-zitting met Margaritis Schinas, de vicevoorzitter van de Europese Commissie die bevoegd is voor bevordering van onze Europese levenswijze, benadrukten regionale en lokale leiders dat onderwijsstelsels de waarden van vrijheid, gelijkheid, tolerantie en non-discriminatie ten volle moeten respecteren en promoten. Voorts onderstreepten zij dat het onderwijs over de Europese Unie, de Europese waarden en diversiteit en het Europees cultureel erfgoed van essentieel belang is en in alle gemeenschappen aan bod moet komen, voor alle EU-burgers, ongeacht hun leeftijd. 

​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. 

Vanaf vandaag kunnen kandidaten worden voorgedragen voor de Burgemeester Paweł Adamowicz-prijs voor moed en bijzondere verdiensten bij het bevorderen van vrijheid, solidariteit en gelijkheid. Deze prijs is ingesteld door het Europees Comité van de Regio’s (CvdR), het International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN) en de stad Gdańsk. 

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.  

Terwijl de staatshoofden en regeringsleiders van de EU in Brussel bijeenkomen om de stand van zaken met betrekking tot het economisch herstel te bespreken, blijkt uit de resultaten van een nieuwe studie in opdracht van het Europees Comité van de Regio’s (CvdR) dat lokale en regionale overheden niet betrokken worden bij het opstellen en uitvoeren van de nationale herstel- en veerkrachtplannen (NPHV’s). De resultaten van deze studie zijn gepresenteerd tijdens de vergadering van de commissie Economisch Beleid (ECON) van het CvdR . De ECON-leden hebben ook hun ernstige bezorgdheid geuit over het feit dat de plannen onvoldoende aandacht besteden aan regionale ongelijkheden en onvoldoende zijn afgestemd op de doelstellingen van het cohesiebeleid, waardoor het risico ontstaat dat middelen elkaar gaan overlappen. 

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. 

De delegatie van het Europees Comité van de Regio’s (CvdR) voor de Conferentie over de toekomst van Europa kwam vandaag bijeen om haar bijdrage aan de openingszitting van de Conferentie over de toekomst van Europa op 19 juni in Straatsburg voor te bereiden. De afgevaardigden willen de door de Conferentie geboden gelegenheid aangrijpen om de democratische dimensie van de Europese Unie te versterken en het vertrouwen van de burgers in het Europese project te herstellen. Als EU-orgaan dat het bestuursniveau vertegenwoordigt dat het dichtst bij de burgers staat, wil het CvdR de stem van lokale en regionale overheden op de conferentie laten horen. 

​​On 14 June 2021, ARLEM member and CoR rapporteur Vincenzo Bianco (IT/PES) participated at the third UfM Ministerial Conference on Energy.  

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.