EU regional and local leaders call for stronger role against centralisation

The European Committee of the Regions Bureau met in Balatonfüred on 29 October to discuss the future of European Territorial Cooperation and sustainable tourism. This was a further platform for regional and local leaders to caution against the possible future centralisation of cohesion policy in the next Multi-annual Financial Framework. In this respect, the event built on the European Week of Regions and Cities earlier in October as well as the 11th "Subsidiarity Conference" which was hosted in Warsaw the previous week.

The European Committee of the Regions Bureau also took the opportunity to express its "unwavering" support for Ukraine, issuing a declaration on 29 October urging national governments "to stay united in the Council of the European Union and to step up political and material support to Ukraine, while maintaining the strongest possible sanctions on the Russian Federation until it complies with international law".

The declaration outlines and updates the CoR's work to strengthen political contacts with Ukrainian cities and regions and deepen capacity-building with municipal and regional administrations, building on a 10-point plan to support Ukrainian local and regional authorities during the war and during the process leading to Ukraine's membership of the European Union. The commitments set out in the 10-point plan were adopted following Russia's full-invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Vasco Alves Cordeiro, President of the European Committee of the Regions, highlighted one of the most immediate issues for the coming winter, with some estimating that as much as 60% of the country's energy generating capacity.

He said: "The declaration condemns the illegal attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and stresses the urgent need to support Ukraine to go through another difficult winter. I reiterate my call to members and partners to provide equipment and components, such as power generators, electricity grid components, and heating systems. There is no time to waste for a country where temperatures can fall below as low as -20° C. Without electricity, Ukrainians will have no heating, no water supply, no communication, and no critical social infrastructure. As we have done since the beginning of the war, European regions and cities are ready to support."

In relation to the Future of European Territorial Cooperation, CoR Bureau members held a high- level debate chaired by Ádám Karácsony (HU/ECR) which included a keynote speech by Karl-Heinz Lambertz (BE/PES), as President of the Association of European Border Regions. The debate also featured a live intervention by the European Commission’s Director General for Regional and Urban Policy, Themis Chrisophidou. As part of its strategy for a strong cohesion policy in the next MFF, the CoR is calling for the budget for European Territorial Cooperation to be increased to at least 8% of the total cohesion funding budget.

The round table on ‘Sustainable tourism development in regions with natural heritage’ was chaired by Anna Magyar (HU/ECR) and introduced by the Mayor of Erzsébetváros, Péter Niedermüller (HU/PES). Lake Balaton is the main tourist destination in Hungary outside Budapest.

The external bureau meeting of the European Committee of the Regions took place in Balatonfüred at the invitation of Mayor István Bóka (HU/ECR).

More information:

·         The "Declaration of support and solidarity with Ukraine" issued on 29 October by the bureau of the European Committee of the Regions can be found here.