For the President of the Committee of the Regions (CoR), Karl Heinz-Lambertz, EU leaders must take cities and regions into account in their approach to the future of the EU, he said in a statement given at the Sibiu summit on Thursday 9 May.
“The European Union needs its regions and cities as much as regions and cities need more European integration.”, he emphasised, recalling that local authorities are often much more ambitious than Member States and the European Union, citing the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy.
The last stone to building a more integrated and effective Europe is to set up a "new way of working" giving regions and cities a stronger role throughout the decision-making process, according to the President. He again mentioned his proposal to set up a permanent system of dialogue between the Union and European citizens (see EUROPE 12215/23).
The President reiterated the Committee's positions regarding the next European budget, which would represent 1.3% of gross national income (see EUROPE 12111/20). In March, the regions and cities held a summit in Bucharest, ahead of the Sibiu summit, in which they called for a series of measures to further European integration (see EUROPE 12188/15).
Read the full statement here: https://bit.ly/2DYP4O2. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)