'Bring regions and cities into EU enlargement process more'

​​​Local and regional leaders celebrate anniversary of 2004 accession and call for deeper role for regions and cities in future enlargements. 

Adequate funding and administrative capacity will be critical to the success of future European Union enlargement, local and regional leaders said on 30 April, on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the EU's 'big bang' expansion into eastern-central Europe and to Cyprus and Malta.

The Enlargement Day event – organised annually by the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) – also underscored the value of cities and regions sharing their experiences, with a range of speakers saying that reforms necessitated by the accession process – such as democratic safeguards and anti-corruption efforts – need to be implemented at the local level if reforms are to have transformative effects. Ukraine's deputy minister for community development, territories and infrastructure – Oleksandra Azarkhina – highlighted that peer-to-peer partnerships would help both Ukraine's reconstruction and its accession into the EU.

The president of the European Committee of the Regions, Vasco Alves Cordeiro, confirmed the support of the CoR to candidate countries' local and regional authorities, highlighting that the renewed impetus for enlargement is both a great opportunity and immense responsibility. He also underlined the concrete measures undertaken by the CoR to support cities and regions in candidate countries to prepare for accession, such as the work of its Joint Consultative Committees and enlargement Working Groups, and the enlargement of the successful Young Elected Politicians programme to candidate countries.

In a video message, Olivér Várhelyi, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, also drew lessons from previous expansions of the EU, adding: "We are taking considerable steps towards making enlargement happen. Instead of waiting for our enlargement partners to move closer to the EU, we are taking responsibility for bringing them closer, even before full accession."

The event, on 29-30 April, brought together local and regional politicians from Türkiye, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Georgia and the Western Balkan countries to discuss enlargement reforms with national and European politicians and officials. Members of the CoR's Young Elected Politician (YEP) network also took part. Apart from discussions in a plenary session, the following bodies met: the Working Group on Türkiye, the Working Group on the Western Balkans, the Working Group on Ukraine and the Joint Consultative Committee with Montenegro.

The meetings came days after the European Parliament on 24 April endorsed the EU's Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans, worth €6 billion. In February, the EU also approved a Ukraine Facility with €50 billion to support Ukraine's recovery from the devastation caused by the Russian invasion. The participants praised the creation of both facilities and stressed the importance of local and regional administrations being actively involved in their implementation. Proper and inclusive monitoring of EU financial assistance would provide quality assurance and visibility.

The event focused primarily on public-administration reform and on the fiscal decentralisation needed to ensure that local and regional authorities have money to match their responsibilities. At the same time, economic recovery was central to discussions in the working groups on Ukraine and Türkiye. In February 2024, the World Bank estimated that the cost of reconstruction and recovery in Ukraine will be around €453 billion, while the World Bank's initial estimate of the damage caused by the February 2023 earthquake in Türkiye was about €32 billion.

The meeting of the Working Group on Ukraine dealt with capacity-building through peer-to-peer learning, in preparation for the 2024 Ukraine Recovery Conference, which will take place in June in Berlin. The European Committee of the Regions and Ukrainian local and regional authorities have – as part of the European Alliance of Cities and Regions for the Reconstruction of Ukraine – drawn up a set of recommendations, which they handed in March 2024 to the governments of Ukraine and Germany, the co-organisers of the Ukraine Recovery Conference. The CoR is a co-founder of the Alliance and serves as its secretariat.

The discussion on reform of Bosnia and Herzegovina's cantonal administrations was attended by two cantonal leaders: Nihad Uk of Sarajevo Canton and Marija Buhač of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton.

At its most recent plenary, on 17-18 April, the CoR adopted opinions on the progress of reforms in enlargement in which local and regional members urged the EU to be ready to provide additional funding to support Ukraine's recovery and set out a range of recommendations on how to sharpen the EU's focus on local and regional levels of government in the Western Balkans. 

Quotes:

• Vasco Alves Cordeiro, President of the European Committee of the Regions: "Enlargement Day is a proof of our commitment and our will to promote relevant dialogue and exchange with candidate and potential candidate countries. Enlargement is a great opportunity, but also an immense responsibility. This is the time to continue undertaking the necessary steps and meaningful reforms towards fulfilling all accession criteria. The European Committee of the Regions stands firmly by you and your local and regional authorities in this path. Your place is in the EU."  
• Olivér Várhelyi, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement (video message): "By now it is clear that the enlargement policy has picked up speed and it is back on the top of the European Union's political agenda. Instead of waiting for our enlargement partners to move closer to the EU, we are taking responsibility for bringing them closer, even before full accession. We have learned from the previous enlargements how crucial it is to integrate the countries already before they join the European Union. The growth plan for the Western Balkans is a prime example of this."
• Ambassador Hendrik Van de Velde, for the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU: "Over the past 20 years, the EU has grown stronger and more resilient, thanks in large part to the contributions of our new member states. Our work, however, is far from over. We celebrate that milestone, the Russia of Putin reminds us that peace and stability are not a given."
• Željana Zovko, vice-chair of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET):  "The imperative of assuring the candidate countries remain firmly on their path towards European Union that has never been clearer. Our approach to enlargement must be inclusive, and requires involvement at all levels – local, regional and national – in candidate countries. We have to really focus on building administrative capacities and helping people to build their future, because without young people, without people returning to their homes, we will not have a stable future and stable borders."
• Oleksandra Azarkhina, Deputy Minister of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine: "We believe that, with our approach, we will not just provide finances to the communities, but, more importantly, we will allow to strengthen the tools of the regional policy in Ukraine, which is one of the requirements to Ukraine under the enlargement report. Our job is to make sure that the communities are not just receiving the money or assets, but are also using those finances to strengthen their programme documents, to strengthen their ability to plan by themselves and implement these plans in according with the European Union cohesion policy principles."
• Bernd Vöhringer, president of the Chamber of Local Authorities of the Congress of Local and Regional authorities, Council of Europe, speaking about Ukraine: "It's necessary to have a real decentralisation and implementation of these principles. We need capacity building. We have to support partnerships, and perhaps to convince colleagues to be active. And it is important to communicate, to raise awareness, and get more people involved."
• Patrick Molinoz (FR/PES), vice-president of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region and chair of CoR's Commission for Citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External Affairs: "As the pre-enlargement strategy will be an integral part of the review of the EU's policies and programmes in view of the next Multiannual Financial Framework, it is essential that the pre-accession instruments are adapted and configured accordingly. This will be particularly important for structural policies and the governance of their programmes."
• Aleksandra Dulkiewicz (PL/EPP), mayor of Gdańsk and chair of the CoR's Working Group on Ukraine: "Pressure from local and regional authorities has brought results like the Ukrainian Facility financial instrument, which requires that 20% of the money must go through local and regional authorities. It is extremely important that local and regional authorities have this role."
• Antje Grotheer (DE/PES), president of Bremen City Parliament and rapporteur on the "Enlargement package 2023 – Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia": "We can certainly draw a generally very positive assessment of the “great enlargement to the East" in 2004, in particular against the background of the horror scenarios that were predicted at that time! Today, the experience of the 2004 enlargement makes future enlargements appear feasible. But the principles of 2004 are still valid: enlargements need to build on the candidate countries' own merits and take place gradually. At the same time, enlargement processes are not a one-way street, the EU needs to reform itself too!"
• Nikola Dobroslavić (HR/EPP), prefect of Dubrovnik-Neretva County and chair of the CoR Working Group on the Western Balkans: "Enlargement is a matter of great importance for the EU and it is good to both the EU and the enlargement countries, if it is carried out according to the established criteria. The CoR supports all candidate countries on their accession path, but they must show commitment and political will to implement the necessary reforms and finally meet all the criteria for membership. Local and regional authorities in enlargement countries should be engaged in all processes in those countries, and the CoR's commissions and working groups are available to provide all assistance to partners in candidate countries in implementing the necessary reforms."
• Roberto Ciambetti (IT/ECR), president of Veneto Regional Council and co-chair of the Joint Consultative Committee CoR-Montenegro: "Whether in EU Member States such as Italy, in my own region of Veneto, or in candidate countries such as Montenegro, we are well aware of the importance of decentralised fiscal systems. The powers and competences granted to local and regional authorities must go hand in hand with an adequate level of autonomous financial resources in order to deliver the results expected by our citizens."

More information:

• Event webpage and programme, including video in demand of the plenary session, working groups, and joint consultative committees.
• Photos available on Flickr or on request.
• Recommendations to the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2024 for a decentralised recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine: Full text of the declaration by the European Alliance of Cities and Regions for the Reconstruction of Ukraine in English, Ukrainian, German, and French.
• European Committee of the Regions opinion, "Enlargement package 2023 – Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia" (rapporteur: Antje Grotheer (DE/PES), president of Bremen City Parliament).
• European Committee of the Regions opinion, "Enlargement package 2023 – Western Balkans and Türkiye" (rapporteur: Nikola Dobroslavić (HR/EPP), prefect of Dubrovnik-Neretva County).
• The CoR engages with enlargement countries through Working Groups and Joint Consultative Committees (JCCs). Working Group are bodies comprising of CoR members. JCCs are bilateral bodies set up by the EU and candidate countries comprising of members both from the CoR and the candidate country concerned. The JCCs are an important tool in involving local and regional level decision-makers in the enlargement process. To date, JCCs have been established with Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. The CoR looks forward to establishing a JCC with Albania very soon and supports the formation of JCCs with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Türkiye and Ukraine.