Day 2 - Wednesday 28 May 2025
Enlargement Day Plenary Session
Address: Building Jacques Delors (JDE), Rue Belliard 99-101, 1040 Brussels, Belgium
Room: JDE62
- Interpretation (passive – languages spoken): FR/DE/EN/IT/EL/HU/PL/RO/HR/TR/SQ/MK/UK/BS/SR
- Interpretation (active – languages that can be listened to): FR/DE/EN/IT/EL/HU/PL/RO/HR/TR/SQ/MK/UK
09:00-09:30 - Welcome and Opening Session
- Nikola Dobroslavić (HR/EPP), CoR Vice-President and Chair of the JCC Montenegro
- Adam Szłapka, Minister for the European Union, Republic of Poland (video message)
- Michał Mazur, Chair of Ad hoc Working Party on Reconstruction and Support for Ukraine (RESUA WP) of the Council of the EU, representing the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU
- Marta Kos, European Commissioner for Enlargement (video message)
09:30-10:50 - Session 1: Decentralisation as Key to Success of the Enlargement Process
Discussion moderated by Dr Bojana Zorić, Research Analyst, European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS)
Institutional and fiscal decentralisation is crucial for the health of democratic societies, as it cultivates effective local leadership and enables the resolution of local issues by empowering decision-makers at the level closest to the citizens. Furthermore, functioning local and regional governance structures are a necessary pre-condition for a successful EU integration, given the significant amount of EU legislation to be implemented at that level. Contributing to the enlargement perspective of aspiring members and its partner countries, the CoR supports the research offering extensive insights into the levels of decentralisation in the ten enlargement countries in the context of its ongoing work on the Division of Powers online resource.
Initial contributions (max 4 mins each) by
- Anna Magyar (HU/ECR), Member of the County Council of Csongrád-Csanád Vármegye, Co-Chair of the CoR Joint Consultative Committee with Serbia
- Gledjan Llatja, Mayor of Elbasan (Albania), Co-Chair of the CoR Joint Consultative Committee with Albania
- Murat Orhan, Mayor of Mut Municipality, Mersin (Türkiye)
- Daniel Popescu, Head of Department for Promoting Local Democracy, Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe
Presentation of the CoR's Division of Powers project (Dr Martyna Gliniecka, CASE - Center for Social and Economic Research).
Discussion with the panel and audience, focusing on examples of peer-to-peer cooperation and exchange of experience.
10:50–11:20 - Coffee Break
Family photo in JDE62
11:20-12:45 - Session 2: Energy Transition and Local Climate Action in the Context of EU Accession
Discussion moderated by Jelena Janevska, Programme Director, the Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South-East Europe (NALAS)
The European Union is committed to support countries in South-East Europe, the Black Sea region and beyond in their energy system development in the light of climate protection. This includes the establishment of a stable regulatory and market framework, the creation of an integrated energy market, the enhancement of the security of energy supply, the improvement of the environmental situation in the region as well as fostering the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency. The importance of the 'acquis', the pre-existing EU legislation, will also be addressed in this session, which doubles as the final event of the "EU4 Energy Transition: Covenant of Mayors in the Western Balkans and Türkiye", a project (2021-2025) funded by the EU and the German government, implemented in co-operation with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and NALAS.
Initial contributions (max 3 mins each) by
- Joško Klisović (HR/PES), CoR Rapporteur on "State of the Energy Union", Commission for the Environment, Climate Change and Energy (ENVE)
- Gillian Coughlan (IE/Renew E.), Councillor, Cork County Council; Chair of the CoR Working Group on Kosovo*
- Dubravko Bilić, President of the Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South-East Europe (NALAS), Mayor of Ludbreg (Croatia)
- Marion Fleuth-Leferink, Deputy Head of Division, South-Eastern and Eastern Europe, South Caucasus at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
- Dubravka Bošnjak, Head of the Open Regional Fund for South-East Europe - Energy, Transport and Climate Protection, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)
- Dr Claudio Belis, Project Leader and Senior Scientist, European Commission Joint Research Centre
Discussion with the panel and audience, focusing on examples of peer-to-peer cooperation and exchange of experience.
12:40–13:00 - Closing Session
- Nikola Dobroslavić (HR/EPP), CoR Vice-President and Chair of JCC Montenegro