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. 

​​Comitetul European al Regiunilor (CoR) solicită să se păstreze nivelul fondurilor destinate spitalelor, școlilor, transportului local, mediului, universităților și întreprinderilor mici. 

​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. 

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 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). 

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.  

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 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. 

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.  

Apostolos Tzitzikostas (PPE), membru al delegației Greciei, a fost ales astăzi președinte al Comitetului European al Regiunilor. Președintele regiunii Macedonia Centrală din Grecia va conduce în următorii doi ani și jumătate adunarea UE a politicienilor aleși la nivel local și regional. În cursul primei ședințe a Comitetului din cadrul noului mandat de cinci ani, membrii l-au ales, de asemenea, ca prim-vicepreședinte, pe Vasco Ilídi Alves Cordeiro – președintele Guvernului Regional al Insulelor Azore, Portugalia. 

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. 

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".​ 

Liderii locali și regionali din întreaga Uniune Europeană și-au exprimat sprijinul față de propunerile Comisiei Europene și ale Parlamentului European menite să consolideze statul de drept, inclusiv posibilitatea de a aplica sancțiuni pentru cazurile de încălcare „gravă și sistemică”. Și Comitetul European al Regiunilor (CoR) a îndemnat instituțiile UE să promoveze o cultură a respectării statului de drept, printr-o implicare mai amplă a comunităților locale, inclusiv a administrațiilor publice și a „rețelelor” de mediatori activi la nivel local și regional. 

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. 

Planurile ample ale industriei și strategiile globale de investiții pentru decarbonizarea economiei mondiale se află, fără îndoială, pe masa discuțiilor marilor capitale europene. Însă furtuna Gloria de pe Marea Mediterană a afectat cel mai mult comunitățile costiere de mici dimensiuni. Comunitățile inframunicipale sunt primele afectate de impactul schimbărilor climatice, având, în același timp, un rol esențial în aplicarea măsurilor de adaptare la încălzirea globală. Pe măsură ce Pactul ecologic devine prioritatea absolută a UE, Comitetul European al Regiunilor solicită fonduri sporite și programe adaptate pentru comunitățile aflate sub nivelul municipal, inclusiv pentru insule, comunități slab populate, sate și districte. 

Pierderea forței de muncă tinere și educate reprezintă o provocare uriașă pentru comunitățile locale din întreaga Uniune Europeană. Comitetul European al Regiunilor (CoR) avertizează că fenomenul exodului de creiere va reprezenta un risc pentru sustenabilitatea pe termen lung a proiectului european, dacă dezechilibrele sociale și economice dintre regiunile „exportatoare” și cele „receptoare” vor rămâne nesoluționate. Avizul , elaborat și prezentat de dl Emil Boc (RO-PPE), primarul orașului Cluj - Napoca și fost prim-ministru al României, a fost adoptat în sesiunea plenară a CoR din 12 februarie. 

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. 

An information session on the main CoR (European Committee of the Regions) events and communication activities of 2020 is scheduled on 3 February 2020 at 14:30-16:30 in JDE 52, European Committee of the Regions (Rue Belliard 101, 1040 Brussels). Please register by 12:00 pm on 29 January 2020 at the latest. 

Pe fundalul furtunii Gloria ca musafir nepoftit, Adunarea autorităților locale și regionale din zona euromediteraneeană (ARLEM) și-a sărbătorit cea de-a 10-a aniversare în orașul primei sale reuniuni: Barcelona. Capitala catalană a găzduit peste 100 de reprezentanți ai autorităților locale și regionale de pe cele trei țărmuri ale Mediteranei, iar schimbările climatice au ocupat primul loc pe ordinea de zi. Regiunea este recunoscută ca deosebit de vulnerabilă la încălzirea globală.