Constitutional-affairs committees of the European Committee of the Regions and the European Parliament share lessons drawn from the EU's period of reflection on its future.

The European Union's regions and cities have backed plans to reduce the amount of plastic and fuels dumped in the sea, stressing that clear rules, consistent enforcement and moderate fees would help ports and ships keep the sea clean. The European Committee of the Regions also supported the EU's plans on economic grounds, arguing that the changes would help tourism and the development of a circular economy.

V Bruslju se bo 8. oktobra z razpravo pod naslovom Prihodnost Evrope je kohezija začel evropski teden regij in mest . Razpravo bodo vodili predsednik Evropskega odbora regij Karl-Heinz Lambertz, predsednik Evropske komisije Jean-Claude Juncker, evropska komisarka Corinna Creţu in podpredsednik Evropskega parlamenta Pavel Telicka. Dan pozneje bo predsednik Lambertz ob navzočnosti predsednika Evropskega parlamenta predstavil svojo vizijo za prihodnost Evrope v letnem govoru Stanje v Uniji s stališča regij in mest . OR bo med plenarnim zasedanjem sprejel tudi mnenja o proračunu EU in temah, kot so migracije, raziskave, podnebni ukrepi in plastika za enkratno uporabo.

Access to money and how much power should be given to give to local government were the central themes when local leaders from the European Union and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia met in Skopje on 11 September, against the backdrop of a renewed drive by the country to join the European Union.