Rafał Trzaskowski, Mayor of Warsaw, has been elected chair of the European Committee of the Regions' Commission for the Environment, Climate Change and Energy (ENVE) , in charge of the European Green Deal including energy and climate policies, biodiversity, circular economy and zero pollution. His mandate will last for two and a half years. Mayor Trzaskowski will also chair the Green Deal Going Local Working Group, leading the CoR's efforts to place cities and regions at the heart of the EU's transition towards climate neutrality.  

​The Mayor of Portimão – Portugal - Isilda Maria Prazeres Gomes was elected chair of the European Committee of the Regions' commission for Natural Resources (NAT) at the constitutive meeting on 5 October. Ms Gomes, is a member of the CoR European Socialists Group and will chair NAT's work over the forthcoming two and half years, until the end of CoR current five-year mandate. ​ 

Bulgarian Tanya Hristova (BG/EPP) was elected chair of the European Committee of the Regions' Commission for Social Policy, Education, Employment, Research and Culture (SEDEC) at the commission's external meeting in Brno, Czech Republic, on 3 October. The Mayor of Gabrovo will chair the SEDEC commission work for two and half years, the second half of the Committee's current five-year mandate. In her new role, Ms Hristova will lead the EU regions' and cities' work on a wide range of topics, including employment and social policies, education and training, culture, equality and youth policy, as well as research, innovation and artificial intelligence. 

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. 

​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 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. 

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. 

O Comité das Regiões Europeu (CR) publicou a primeira edição do Manual do Pacto Ecológico, dedicada à adaptação às alterações climáticas. Trata-se de uma ferramenta interativa que fornece informações sobre a ajuda financeira e os instrumentos técnicos disponíveis para a execução de medidas de adaptação às alterações climáticas por zona geográfica, tendo em conta as especificidades regionais. O manual visa dotar os órgãos de poder local e regional de uma série de instrumentos e formular recomendações para que estes possam melhor adaptar-se às alterações climáticas, minimizar as vulnerabilidades e reforçar a resiliência para limitar os riscos de catástrofes, bem como as perdas e os danos.Está disponível um manual diferente para cada Estado-Membro da UE. 

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".  

​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". 

O Comité das Regiões Europeu oferece o seu total apoio às cidades e regiões ucranianas, afirmou o seu Presidente, Vasco Cordeiro, a 16 de setembro, sublinhando que as regiões e cidades da UE continuarão a apoiar as autoridades locais e regionais ucranianas a longo prazo. 

"O discurso da Presidente von der Leyen sobre o Estado da União Europeia é uma boa síntese dos desafios que a Europa enfrenta e uma clara demonstração de vontade política e ambição para os ultrapassar. Em nome das regiões e cidades de toda a União, representadas pelo Comité das Regiões Europeu, gostaria de deixar claro que respondemos ao seu apelo para vencer estes desafios e estamos prontos a fazer a nossa parte no esforço comum europeu. 

​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. 

O presidente do Comité das Regiões Europeu (CR), Vasco Alves Cordeiro, participou na reunião informal dos ministros responsáveis pela política de coesão dos 27 Estados-Membros, organizada em Praga pela Presidência checa do Conselho da UE. 

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. 

O Comité das Regiões Europeu (CR) acaba de lançar um novo convite à apresentação de boas práticas, dirigido aos seus membros e suplentes, aos jovens políticos eleitos e aos membros da Rede de Conselheiros Regionais e Locais da UE. O convite visa mapear e promover projetos hipocarbónicos e sustentáveis, bem como compromissos em matéria de clima destinados a reduzir as emissões de gases com efeito de estufa dos órgãos de poder local e regional da UE. O seu município ou região adotou projetos específicos que visam realizar os objetivos do Pacto Ecológico Europeu ou estabeleceu metas de redução das emissões de gases com efeito de estufa para 2030 ou 2050? Nesse caso, este novo convite é precisamente para si. 

O Presidente do Comité das Regiões Europeu (CdR), Vasco Alves Cordeiro, foi hoje recebido pelo Primeiro-Ministro de Portugal, António Costa, num encontro destinado a apresentar as prioridades para o seu mandato à frente do CdR, de 2022 a 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 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.  

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. 

​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.  

«Nos seis meses em que assume a presidência do Conselho da União Europeia, a República Checa terá como uma das suas principais prioridades fazer face ao afluxo de ucranianos deslocados e forçados a fugir devido à invasão da Rússia», afirmou o vice-primeiro-ministro Ivan Bartošao dirigir-se ao plenário do Comité das Regiões Europeu em 30 de junho. Declarou também que tentará fazer com que as regiões e os municípios obtenham mais facilmente financiamento da UE para apoiar os refugiados e acelerar a transição para uma energia segura e sustentável. 

Os dirigentes locais e regionais adotaram uma resolução sobre o seguimento a dar aos resultados da Conferência sobre o Futuro da Europa na sua reunião plenária. Na resolução, apelam para que se dê seguimento rapidamente às recomendações formuladas no relatório e instam à sua célere execução, a fim de ir ao encontro das expectativas dos cidadãos. Além disso, consideram que a reforma ambiciosa do funcionamento da UE para fazer face aos desafios que se avizinham exige a revisão dos Tratados. A futura convenção deve contar com a participação plena dos membros do Comité das Regiões Europeu (CR) em representação das vozes dos mais de um milhão de políticos eleitos a nível regional e local na Europa, a fim de reforçar igualmente as dimensões local e regional das políticas da UE. 

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. 

Na sequência daadoção das orientações gerais do Conselho sobre os principais dossiês do pacote Objetivo 55, o Comité das Regiões Europeu (CR) adotou quatro pareceres diretamente relacionados com o papel dos municípios e das regiões na execução do Pacto Ecológico Europeu, ou seja, a estratégia de crescimento da UE para alcançar a neutralidade climática até 2050. Os pareceres abrangem desde medidas económicas e financeiras para reforçar os orçamentos verdes a nível local até medidas de aplicação da Diretiva Desempenho Energético dos Edifícios, bem como a necessidade de conceber medidas sociais para proteger os mais vulneráveis e reforçar o papel dos cidadãos na transição ecológica. 

The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) has launched the Automotive Regions Alliance – a political network of regions engaged for the successful transition of the European automotive and supply industry. The Alliance aims to bring in the regional perspective into the ongoing debates on decarbonisation of EU transport while securing jobs, competitiveness and ensuring economic and social cohesion in every European territory impacted by the transition. The automotive industry reached a turnover of over 7% of the EU GDP and currently employs over 14 million Europeans, representing 6.1% of total EU employment. The launch event took place during the CoR's plenary session on 30 June and is the starting point for further actions of the Alliance, which is so far composed of 20 regions with a strong automotive and supply sector from seven Member States: Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Slovakia, Spain and The Netherlands. The Alliance is open to any new region to join the network. 

O município de Penela (distrito de Coimbra) foi designado uma das três Regiões Empreendedoras Europeias (EER) 2023, a par de Barcelona (Espanha) e a região da Pomerânia Ocidental (Polónia). O Comité das Regiões Europeu (CR) atribuiu este rótulo de excelência aos três territórios europeus que se distinguiram pela promoção de estratégias de empreendedorismo e de crescimento inteligente, tendo simultaneamente em conta os desafios societais. A edição de 2023 do prémio EER é dedicada ao tema «Empreendedorismo e comunidades resilientes». 

Em 30 de junho, o Comité das Regiões Europeu (CR) e as associações representativas das regiões e municípios europeus lançaram a Aliança Europeia dos Municípios e Regiões para a Reconstrução da Ucrânia. O objetivo da Aliança é ajudar os órgãos de poder local e regional do país a reconstruir as habitações, escolas, infraestruturas e serviços destruídos pela Rússia desde a sua invasão em 24 de fevereiro. A Aliança, lançada apenas sete dias após os Estados-Membros da UE terem chegado a acordo para conferir à Ucrânia o estatuto de país candidato, foi saudada pelo ministro ucraniano das Comunidades e do Desenvolvimento Territorial como potencial «base para a integração europeia do nosso país». 

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. 

Os membros do Comité das Regiões (CdR) elegeram hoje Vasco Alves Cordeiro como o seu novo Presidente para os próximos dois anos e meio. O deputado à Assembleia Legislativa Regional dos Açores liderará a Assembleia de representantes locais e regionais da UE, tendo por foco o reforço da democracia, a defesa da politica de coesão, a concretização dos objetivos do Pacto Verde da UE e o incremento do apoio das regiões à Ucrânia. Os membros do CdR elegeram ainda Apostolos Tzitzikostas, Governador da Macedónia Central na Grécia, como seu primeiro Vice-Presidente. 

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 cities and regions call on the European Commission to strengthen the criteria for defining the employment status of digital platform workers in order to improve their working conditions. In an opinion drafted by Yonnec Polet (BE/PES), First Deputy Mayor of Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, the European Committee of the Regions also voices its concern about the use of algorithms and stresses that workers must always have the right to a decision taken by a human manager or supervisor. The opinion was adopted by the plenary session on 29 June. 

​​​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.