Regions, cities to set out response to EU budget reforms

The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) will on 4 March reiterate its opposition to the nationalisation of core elements of the EU's long-term budget – including regional development – and will present alternatives intended to ensure that the voices of local communities, cities and regions are respected.

The adoption of the CoR’s formal response to proposals for the 2028-34 budget will be the centrepiece of its plenary session on 4-5 March, and will follow a debate with Piotr Serafin, European Commissioner for Budget, Anti-Fraud and Public Administration. The detailed recommendations were drawn up after discussions in all six of the CoR's policy commissions about the reforms set out by the European Commission. Further recommendations on specific areas will follow in subsequent plenary sessions.

The CoR will also present proposals on how water resilience can be strengthened across the Union. Improving water management across a continent suffering from increased shortages and intensified flooding is a priority for the CoR. The opinion has been co-drafted by the CoR's President – Kata Tüttő (HU/PES) – and its First Vice-President, Juanma Moreno (ES/EPP). Adoption will follow a debate on the EU's water with Jessika Roswall, European Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy.

Competitiveness is the third major debate of the plenary session, with Stéphane Séjourné, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy. Discussion is expected to span the range of competitiveness-related issues being discussed by EU Member States, the European Parliament and the European Commission. The CoR will adopt opinions on legislation related to the Single Market, public procurement, the European Competitiveness Fund, the chemicals industry, and start-ups.

The plenary will close with a celebration of champions of local democracy, with the presentation of the Mayor Paweł Adamowicz Award, created to honour the late mayor of Gdańsk, who was murdered in 2019. This year's winner is Ekrem İmamoğlu, Mayor of Istanbul. Mayor İmamoğlu was placed in a Turkish jail in 2025 after having been nominated by his party as its candidate for presidential elections in Türkiye. Istanbul's Acting Mayor Nuri Aslan will receive the award on Mayor İmamoğlu's behalf. 

Other opinions set for adoption at the plenary will provide a local and regional perspective on the EU's enlargement and on the EU's strategic approach to the Black Sea, as well as a mapping of child-benefit systems across EU Member States.

Follow the plenary session (#CoRplenary) on the CoR's website.

Photos of the CoR's plenary session will also be available.

KEY MOMENTS 

4 March, 3.05 p.m.: Debate on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) post 2027, with Piotr Serafin, European Commissioner for Budget, Anti-Fraud and Public Administration, and Markus Töns, member of the German Bundestag's Committee on European Affairs and former member of the European Committee of the Regions. The CoR will then adopt its opinion on the MFF. 

4 March, 4.35 p.m.: Debate on competitiveness, with Stéphane Séjourné, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy.  

4 March, 6:35 p.m.: Debate on water resilience, with Jessika Roswall, European Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy. The debate will be followed by the adoption of an opinion co-drafted by CoR President Kata Tüttő and CoR 1st Vice-President Juanma Moreno on 'Turning the tide – A local and regional roadmap for water resilience'. 

5 March, 9:20 a.m.: Debate on the EU's enlargement, with the adoption of two opinions on the European Commission's Enlargement Package for 2025.  

5 March, 10:00 a.m.: Presentation of the Mayor Paweł Adamowicz Award. This year's winner is Ekrem İmamoğlu, the imprisoned mayor of Istanbul. Mayor İmamoğlu will be represented by Nuri Aslan, Acting Mayor of Istanbul. Mary Crilly, founder and director of the Cork Sexual Violence Centre in Ireland, will attend to accept a special recognition award.

OPINIONS FOR ADOPTION 

• 'Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) post 2027, including own resources package'. Rapporteur: Sari Rautio (FI/EPP), member of Hämeenlinna City Council.
• 'Turning the tide – A local and regional roadmap for water resilience.' Rapporteurs: Kata Tüttő (HU/PES), CoR President, and Juanma Moreno (ES/EPP), CoR First Vice-President.
• 'Evaluation of the Public Procurement Directives.' Rapporteur: Roberto Gualtieri (IT/PES), mayor of Rome.
• 'Single Market and Customs Programme.' Rapporteur: Emma Blain (IE/EPP), member of Dublin City Council.
• 'Single Market Strategy.' Rapporteur: Lorenzo Galligani (IT/ECR), councillor of Pistoia.
• 'European Competitiveness Fund.' Rapporteur: Pehr Granfalk (SE/EPP), member of Solna Municipal Council.
• 'European Grids Package.' Rapporteur-general: Clare Colleran Molloy (IE/Renew Europe), councillor of Clare County Council.
• 'European Chemicals Industry Action Plan.' Rapporteur: Frederiek Vermeulen (BE/EPP), member of the Council of the Municipality of Ichtegem.
• 'The EU Startup and Scale-up Strategy.' Rapporteur: Jozef Viskupič (SK/Renew Europe), chairman of Trnava Self-Governing Region.
• 'Exploring the role of the private sector in reinforcing cohesion policy post-2027.' Rapporteur: Kristoffer Tamsons (SE/EPP), member of the County Council of Stockholm Region.
• 'The European Union’s strategic approach to the Black Sea region.' Rapporteur: Blagomir Kotsev (BG/RE), mayor of Varna.
• 'Enlargement package 2025 – Western Balkans and Türkiye.' Rapporteur: Gillian Coughlan (IE/RE), member of Cork County Council.
• 'Enlargement package 2025 – Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia.' Rapporteur: Patrick Molinoz (FR/PES), vice-president of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region.
• 'Child Welbeing and Child Benefits - mapping child benefit systems across EU Member States.' Rapporteur: Fauzaya Talhaoui (BE/PES), member of the Council of the Province of Antwerp.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION:

Location: Paul Henri Spaak building – Hemicycle, European Parliament, Brussels

Date: Wednesday, 4 March – Thursday, 5 March 2026.

Background material: The plenary agenda, and opinions and amendments.

Webstreaming: On the website of the CoR.

Contact: 

PresseCdr@cor.europa.eu