​The European Committee of the Regions' SEDEC commission began its new term of office with a discussion on the European Commission's initiatives for strengthening the social dimension of the European Union. At the meeting on 24 February, members also adopted an opinion which urges to tackle demographic challenges at all levels of government and across EU policies. These two topics are among the top priorities in the SEDEC 2020 work programme. 

Some regions and cities have expressed their interest in joining a Regional Partnership or finding partners to complete their Regional Partnership. Have a look at the list of regions and cities looking for partners and get in touch with them. The call for applications to become an event partner is open until 27 March. 

The draft of the questionnaire for the fourth #RegHub consultation, on state aid, is being finalised. Considering the key role of subnational governments in the provision of Services of General Economic Interest (SGEIs) along with the decisive role of the regional State aid framework in the way Member States and regions address regional disparities, the upcoming consultation of the Hubs will focus on the SGEIs and the regional State aid framework 2014-2020. 

​​Europejski Komitet Regionów (KR) zwraca się o utrzymanie funduszy przeznaczonych na szpitale, szkoły, transport lokalny, środowisko naturalne, uczelnie wyższe i małe przedsiębiorstwa. 

Regions and cities looking for partners, with whom they can set up a Regional Partnership at the #EURegionsWeek 2020, can use the partner search tool. The survey should be completed by 19 February. The list of entries will be published on the event website. 

The chairs of the six policy commissions of the European Committee of the Regions were elected on 13 February, the last day of the inaugural plenary of the Committee's 2020-25 mandate.  

​Anne Karjalainen (FI/PES) was elected chair of the European Committee of the Regions' Commission for Social Policy, Education, Employment, Research and Culture (SEDEC) at the Committee´s constitutive meeting on 13 February. Ms Karjalainen, Member of Kerava City Council, will chair the SEDEC commission's work during the first 2,5 years of the new five-year mandate. 

The European Commission is currently implementing a project 'Fostering collaboration through mapping, analysing and interlinking of European Entrepreneurial Regions'. The project was launched in 2019 to strengthen the impact of existing start-up and scale-up support actions by building on the EER initiative's experience. It fosters the development and implementation of collaborative action plans to support scale-ups and entrepreneurs according to thematic priorities. 

Juan Espadas to coordinate the European Committee of the Regions' Green Deal Working Group The Commission for the Environment, Climate change and Energy (ENVE) of the European Committee of the Regions has elected the mayor of the Spanish city of Seville, Juan Espadas (ES/PES), as its new Chair. The upcoming Circular Economy Action Plan and Climate Pact, the 8th Environmental Action Programme, biodiversity protection, air quality and water management are amongst the key dossiers on the table. Not least, Juan Espadas will lead the works of the newly created Green Deal Working Group, which is to ensure the voice of cities and regions is at the heart of the EU's path towards climate-neutrality.  

The European Commission has recently published the Call for Proposals of the Partnership for sustainable cities (EuropeAid/167744/DH/ACT/Multi). The deadline for the submission of concept notes is 27/03/2020 at 12:00 (Brussels time). 

Michael Murphy was elected chair of the European Committee of the Regions' Commission for Economic Policy (ECON) at the Committee´s constitutive meeting on 13 February. Mr Murphy, member of the Tipperary County Council, will chair the ECON commission's work during the first 2,5 years of the new five-year mandate.  

Isabelle Boudineau (PES/FR), Vice-President of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region in charge of European and international affairs was re-elected President of the Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget (COTER) at the Committee's constitutive meeting on 13 February. She will chair the COTER commission's work for the next 2.5 years. 

The Commission for Natural Resources (NAT) of the European Committee of the Regions has elected Ulrika Landergren (SE/RE), Councillor in the Swedish municipality of Kungsbacka as its new Chair. Rural development, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), fisheries, forestry, food production and public health are amongst the key topics on the NAT agenda for this new mandate.  

​The new chair of the Citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External Affairs (CIVEX) is Mark Speich (DE/EPP), Secretary of State for Federal, European and International Affairs for the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia. 

​The Secretariat of the Commission for Environment, Climate Change and Energy (ENVE) of the CoR is in the process of informing other EU institutional and non institutional actors about the Implementation Report of the consultation on Air Quality.  

Marek Woźniak, Marszałek Województwa Wielkopolskiego będzie przewodzić polskiej delegacji krajowej w Europejskim Komitecie Regionów, którego członkowie 12 lutego odbyli pierwsze posiedzenie nowej pięcioletniej kadencji. Wśród członków tego zgromadzenia przedstawicieli samorządów lokalnych i regionalnych UE Polskę reprezentować będą po raz pierwszy dwie kobiety Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, Prezydent Gdańska i Hanna Zdanowska Prezydent Łodzi. 

Apostolos Tzitzikostas (EPL) z Grecji został dziś wybrany na przewodniczącego Europejskiego Komitetu Regionów. Gubernator greckiego regionu Macedonia Środkowa będzie przewodził unijnemu zgromadzeniu demokratycznie wybranych polityków szczebla lokalnego i regionalnego przez najbliższe dwa i pół roku. Ponadto na pierwszym posiedzeniu Komitetu w ramach nowej pięcioletniej kadencji V asco Ilídio Alves Cordeiro, przewodniczący rządu regionalnego Azorów, został wybrany na pierwszego wiceprzewodniczącego Komitetu. 

The model of collaboration between European and Libyan cities developed over the past four years could serve as an inspiration for peer-to-peer partnerships with regions and cities elsewhere in Africa, the European Committee of the Regions said on 12 February. The recommendation is contained in a set of proposals by the EU's assembly for local and regional politicians that also called for more involvement in development cooperation by cities and regions from member states that, "for historical or other reasons, do not currently maintain intensive development cooperation links with African countries".​ 

The European Union should do much more to support the consolidation of effective and independent public administrations in municipalities and regions in the Balkans and Turkey. This would, the European Committee of the Regions argues in an opinion adopted on 12 February, help counter the "increasingly hostile environment for civil society" in some countries, help drive economic growth and, more broadly, advance sustainable development. 

Utrata młodych i wykształconych pracowników to ogromne wyzwanie dla społeczności lokalnych w całej Unii Europejskiej. Europejski Komitet Regionów (KR) przestrzega, że jeśli nie rozwiąże się problemu nierównowagi społecznej i gospodarczej między regionami wysyłającymi i przyjmującymi pracowników, zjawisko drenażu mózgów będzie zagrożeniem dla długoterminowej stabilności projektu europejskiego. Opinia sporządzona i przedstawiona przez Emila Boca (RO/EPL), burmistrza Klużu-Napoki i byłego premiera Rumunii, została przyjęta na sesji plenarnej KR-u w dniu 12 lutego. 

Przywódcy lokalni i regionalni z całej Unii Europejskiej wyrazili poparcie dla propozycji Komisji Europejskiej i Parlamentu mających na celu umocnienie praworządności, w tym dla możliwości nakładania sankcji na państwa za „poważne i systemowe” naruszenia. Europejski Komitet Regionów (KR) zaapelował również do instytucji UE o propagowanie kultury poszanowania praworządności poprzez większe zaangażowanie społeczności lokalnych, w tym administracji publicznej i sieci rzeczników praw obywatelskich działających na szczeblu lokalnym i regionalnym. 

During a debate with Dubravka Šuica, the European Commission's Vice-President for Democracy and Demography, members of the European Committee of the Regions called for a genuine open, inclusive and democratic consultation that reaches out to all citizens in all regions and cities. 

Duże europejskie stolice zajmują się szeroko zakrojonymi planami dotyczącymi przemysłu i globalnymi strategiami inwestycyjnymi mającymi obniżyć emisyjność światowej gospodarki. Jednak to małe nadmorskie społeczności najbardziej ucierpiały z powodu szalejącego na Morzu Śródziemnym sztormu Gloria. Wspólnoty mniejsze niż gminy jako pierwsze odczuwają wpływ zmiany klimatu i mają zasadnicze znaczenie dla wdrożenia działań w zakresie adaptacji do skutków globalnego ocieplenia. W czasie gdy Zielony Ład staje się priorytetem UE, Europejski Komitet Regionów apeluje o większe środki finansowe i dostosowane do potrzeb programy dla społeczności mniejszych niż gminy, w tym dla wysp, obszarów słabo zaludnionych, wsi i dzielnic. 

Culture should be on a more prominent position on the EU's political agenda, and the next multiannual EU budget should provide adequate support for cities and regions in the management, use and development of cultural heritage, the European Committee of the Regions argues in an opinion prepared by Vincenzo Bianco (IT/PES), Member of Catania Municipal Council. 

More flexibility in applying the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) remains the European Committee of the Regions' (CoR) main recommendation for the Economic Governance Framework review, launched today by the European Commission. The CoR recommends excluding EU cohesion policy co-financing from the deficit calculations to ensure the full mobilisation of national, regional and local public investment.  

The CoR COTER commission would like to inform you about a targeted stakeholder consultation that the European Commission is undertaking in relation to the review of the TEN-T policy. 

Preparations for the 18th European Week of Regions and Cities, which will take place from 12 to 15 October 2020, have officially been launched with a Kick-Off meeting. The call for applications for event partners is now open. Apply no later than 27 March 2020! 

In its recently published work programme, the European Commission strongly commits to "reinforce evidence from evaluations, integrate foresight in its regulatory tools, apply the concept of ‘active’ subsidiarity and develop more efficient consultations of citizens". 

The European Commission and the European Committee of the Regions in association with City of Zagreb, City office for social protection and persons with disabilities, is organizing, for the first time in Croatia, an international conference as a part of the Knowledge Exchange Platform on Social Innovation - „Quadruple Helix approach to social innovation ‒ „a key to success”, that will be held on the 31st of January 2020 in Hotel International in Zagreb. 

As operators and designers of public transport services, local and regional authorities and policy makers have the opportunity to shape and structure urban spaces. The best way to make the most positive impact on people’s living conditions, and to influence their daily mobility choices, is to offer the very best options for movement.