Local and regional priorities agreed for EU’s Eastern Partnership

Local and regional leaders from the European Union and partner countries on the EU's eastern neighbourhood met in Yerevan on 27 October to identify priority areas for cooperation over the next five years.

The meeting of the Conference of the Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership (CORLEAP) – which brings together members of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) and local and regional politicians from, currently, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia – identified the environment, decentralisation, capacity-building and countering disinformation as among the key areas in which local and regional authorities in the deepening of cooperation. The selection of priorities reflects the broader recovery, resilience and reform agenda of the Eastern Partnership, which was established in 2009 to expand and deepen the relations between the EU, its member states, and countries on the EU's eastern borders.

The immediate focus of CORLEAP's meeting – in which members from Azerbaijan did not participate – was on the EU's review of its strategy in the Black Sea region, part of a package of EU policy responses to changes in geopolitical dynamics caused by Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. The review has three pillars: security, economic growth, and environmental resilience. The debate at CORLEAP will contribute to an opinion on the Black Sea strategy currently being drafted by the CoR.

The second theme was a review of the current state of the decentralisation of political and fiscal powers in the countries of the Eastern Partnership.

The meeting was co-chaired by Magali Altounian (FR/Renew Europe), member of the regional council of Sud-Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and chair of the CoR's Commission for Citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External Affairs (CIVEX), and Varsham Sargsyan, mayor of Armavir. Ms Altounian's home city, Nice, is a sister city of Yerevan, the host of the meeting.

The CORLEAP meeting took place on the eve of the annual meeting of the EuroNest Parliamentary Assembly, which brings together representatives of the European Parliament and the national parliaments of Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Co-President of the EuroNest Parliamentary Assembly, MEP Sergey Lagodinsky (DE/Greens-EFA), addressed the CORLEAP annual meeting, while a CORLEAP member – Csaba Borboly (RO/EPP), Vice-President of the Harghita County Council – spoke on 29 October at the EuroNest plenary session in the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia. CORLEAP has observer status with EuroNest.

Quote:

Magali Altounian, member of the regional council of Sud-Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and chair of the CoR's Commission for Citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External Affairs (CIVEX): "The Eastern Partnership remains a strategic issue for the European Union. In the context of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, it is more essential than ever to preserve stability, resilience and cooperation on our continent. More than ever, dialogue, solidarity and cooperation between our territories are the keys to a European area of peace and shared prosperity."

More information:

• Meeting details: Agenda, CORLEAP Action Plan 2025-29, photos.
• CORLEAP: Background information on the Conference of the Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership (CORLEAP) is available on the website of the European Committee of the Regions.
• Co-chairmanship: CORLEAP is co-chaired by a representative of the European Committee of the Regions and a representative of a partner country in the Eastern Partnership. CORLEAP members decided on 27 October that, as of 1 February 2026, the next co-chair will be Constantin Cojocari, Mayor of Edineț in Moldova. Mr Cojocari invited CORLEAP to Moldova in 2026.
• Division of powers and decentralisation: The European Committee of the Regions is advancing its analytical work on the multi-level governance structures in different countries. Following a study on the enlargement countries, the work has now been complemented by a component on Armenia and Azerbaijan. This completes the overview of Eastern Partnership countries. The study was presented to CORLEAP members in the meeting. More information and links to the analytical work can be found here.