April 29, 2022

The following is a press release:

Dear members,

I would like to thank all citizens and delegates

for their committed work.

We have built a peaceful European Union

after centuries of war and destruction.

But today, war is again threatening Europe.

Right from the start of the attack on Ukraine

our cities and regions have been the first

to send humanitarian aid and welcome refugees.

This week, President Zelensky has asked

EU regions and cities to twin

with their Ukrainian counterparts,

supported by the Committee of the Regions,

in order to provide expertise and know-how for

the reconstruction of cities

such as Mariupol that is destroyed up to 90%.

We believe that this form

of local and regional concrete help and diplomacy

could be better reflected in the final Conference report.

Dear colleagues,

we see this Conference as a message of hope

and it is in our powers to make this hope a reality.

Our Union can only survive

if our citizens care about it and believe in it.

And this is possible only

if the EU represents a bottom-up construction

and not a top-down one.

EU citizenship is founded on

our common European identity,

not as a uniform one,

but as result of our vibrant diversity

with local and regional traditions

that fill people with pride about their European belonging.

At the same time,

EU citizenship also means rights and responsibilities.

One of them is to elect and be elected.

I therefore, encourage all of us to reflect in the final report,

the Treaty Article 20 that states:

"Citizens of the Union

have the right to vote and to stand as candidates

in elections to the European Parliament

and in municipal elections

in their Member State of residence,

under the same conditions as nationals of that State.”

This treaty provision represents

a yet untapped opportunity

that citizens would expect the EU to better invest in,

in particular,

in between EU elections

via hundreds of local and regional elections

where we can address important European matters

given that 70% of EU legislation

is implemented by regional and local authorities.

I further welcome

the existing proposal by the citizens to simplify

the EU decision making-process

based on subsidiarity and multilevel governance.

This means not less Europe,

but a more effective Europe

that decides only when and where it is needed.

To make EU institutions more understandable to citizens

we therefore support the idea to adapt

the names of EU institutions to national settings.

In this sense we also suggest adapting

the name of the Committee of the Regions

into a more adequate one, for instance

Assembly of regions and municipalities of the EU –

in line with our directly elected members from regions, but also islands, cities, villages

Dear friends,

this Conference cannot fail.

Let’s commit to its follow-up and let’s find ways

to deliver results on the ground

in line with our citizens’ expectations.

Let’s make the next 2024 European elections,

a sign of European renewal based on this Conference’s results

in order to bring the EU closer to our citizens.

Thank you.

Contact:

pressecdr@cor.europa.eu