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. 

​Európsky výbor regiónov (VR) žiada, aby sa zachovali finančné prostriedky pre nemocnice, školy, miestnu dopravu, životné prostredie, univerzity a malé podniky. 

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. 

​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 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.  

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 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.  

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. 

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.  

​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 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 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.  

Grécky člen Apostolos Tzitzikostas (EĽS) bol dnes zvolený za predsedu Európskeho výboru regiónov. Predseda gréckeho regiónu Stredné Macedónsko bude viesť zhromaždenie EÚ združujúce miestnych a regionálnych volených politikov nasledujúcich dva a pol roka. Členovia výboru si na svojom prvom zasadnutí v novom päťročnom funkčnom období zvolili aj prvého podpredsedu. Stal sa ním Vasco Ilídio Alves Cordeiro, predseda vlády portugalského autonómneho regiónu Azory. 

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".​ 

Európska únia by mala urobiť oveľa viac na podporu upevnenia účinných a nezávislých verejných správ v obciach, mestách a regiónoch na Balkáne a v Turecku. Ako uvádza Európsky výbor regiónov (VR) vo svojom stanovisku prijatom 12. februára, pomohlo by to prekonávať „čoraz nepriateľskejšie prostredie“, ktorému je v niektorých krajinách vystavená občianska spoločnosť, podnietiť hospodársky rast a v širšom zmysle aj podporiť udržateľný rozvoj. 

Strata mladej a vzdelanej pracovnej sily je veľkou výzvou pre miestne spoločenstvá v celej Európskej únii. Európsky výbor regiónov (VR) varuje pred tým, že fenomén úniku mozgov predstavuje riziko pre dlhodobú udržateľnosť európskeho projektu, ak sa nebudú riešiť otázky sociálnej a hospodárskej nerovnováhy medzi vysielajúcimi a prijímajúcimi regiónmi. Stanovisko , ktoré vypracoval a predložil primátor mesta Kluž a bývalý predseda vlády Rumunska Emil Boc (RO/EĽS), bolo prijaté na plenárnom zasadnutí VR 12. februára. 

Miestni a regionálni vedúci predstavitelia z celej Európskej únie vyjadrili podporu návrhom Európskej komisie a Európskeho parlamentu, ktorých cieľom je posilniť právny štát vrátane možnosti ukladať sankcie štátom za „závažné a systémové“ porušenia. Európsky výbor regiónov (VR) zároveň vyzval inštitúcie EÚ, aby podporovali kultúru rešpektovania právneho štátu prostredníctvom väčšieho zapojenia miestnych spoločenstiev vrátane orgánov verejnej správy a „sietí“ ombudsmanov fungujúcich na miestnej a regionálnej úrovni. 

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. 

Veľké európske hlavné mestá sa pravdepodobne budú musieť zaoberať rozsiahlymi priemyselnými plánmi a globálnymi investičnými stratégiami s cieľom dosiahnuť dekarbonizáciu svetového hospodárstva. Búrka Gloria v oblasti Stredozemia však najviac zasiahla malé pobrežné spoločenstvá. Spoločenstvá na subkomunálnej úrovni sú najviac vystavené klimatickým vplyvom a zároveň zohrávajú naďalej kľúčovú úlohu pri zavádzaní opatrení na prispôsobenie sa globálnemu otepľovaniu. Vzhľadom na to, že ekologický dohovor sa stáva hlavnou prioritou EÚ, Európsky výbor regiónov žiada väčší objem finančných prostriedkov a špecifické programy pre spoločenstvá na subkomunálnej úrovni, vrátane ostrovov, komunít s riedkym osídlením, obcí a okresov. 

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. 

Spolu s neočakávaným hosťom, búrkou Gloriou, oslavuje Európsko-stredomorské zhromaždenie regionálnych a miestnych samospráv (ARLEM) 10. výročie svojho vzniku v Barcelone, v meste, v ktorom sa konala jeho prvá schôdza. Hlavné mesto Katalánska privítalo viac ako 100 zástupcov miestnych a regionálnych samospráv z troch brehov Stredozemného mora. Hlavnou témou programu bola zmena klímy. Je všeobecne známe, že tento región je v mimoriadnej miere vystavený účinkom globálneho otepľovania.