The Committee of the Regions (CoR) and local and regional elected representatives from the six Eastern Partnership non-Member States (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine) encouraged the European Union and its Eastern partners to deepen their relationship through more local and focused engagement on Thursday 12 September in Turku, Finland, at the Ninth Conference of Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership (CORLEAP).
“Inclusiveness [for local and regional authorities in the Partnership] must be our key word”, said Karl-Heinz Lambertz, President of the CoR, during his opening speech.
According to him, cities and regions, as agents of change, will play a major role in promoting sustainable development goals and good governance in the EU's eastern partner countries.
In concrete terms, in order to strengthen the implementation of the Partnership at the local level, local and regional politicians have adopted two opinions.
The first advises the EU to increase its support for small cross-border projects aimed at developing interpersonal contacts. The second encourages the creation of a public administration academy for local and regional officials from the six Eastern Partnership countries, so that they can receive appropriate training.
The recommendations adopted at this ninth edition of CORLEAP will be sent to national leaders ahead of the Eastern Partnership and EU countries' summit in Zagreb in May 2020 (see EUROPE 12321/16).
In addition, since May, an online consultation on the future of the Partnership has been open. Launched by the European Commission and the European External Action Service, it will end on 31 October (see EUROPE 12321/16).
See the first opinion: https://bit.ly/2lKtoz1 and the second opinion: https://bit.ly/2mbIoG9 (Damien Genicot - internship)