The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) has urged the European Union to focus more sharply on the local and regional level of government in the Western Balkans as the prospects of countries in the region becoming members of the EU rise.
The European Committee of the Regions has welcomed the European Council's decision to open membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova, and to grant candidate status to Georgia and, subject to further reforms, to Bosnia and Herzegovin
The European Union and any country wishing to join the EU need to do more to address the concerns of young people and secure their participation in politics, local and regional politicians from the EU, the western Balkans, Turkey, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia at a two-day conference focused on EU enlargement.
This year's Enlargement Day faces a changed political reality with a major war and huge geopolitical shifts in Europe. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the ensuing EU membership applications of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova have changed the landscape of the enlargement policy. For the first time, delegates from those countries will attend the event.
The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) on 29 June welcomed the increasing attention paid to local and regional government in the European Union's enlargement process, but added that the European Commission should now go further by focusing on encouraging national governments to cooperate more with regional and local governments. The recommendations are contained in the Committee's response to the European Commission's 2021 reports on reforms made by countries wishing to join the European Union.
On 13 July 2021, the CoR, in cooperation with the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU, will hold the Enlargement Day. After June's meetings of the CoR's Working Groups and Joint Consultative Committees with candidate countries and potential candidates, this unique annual event, organized online this year, will discuss the role of regions and cities in the EU accession process and sustainable recovery pathways in the region.
The Chair of the CoR's Working Group on the Western Balkans, Mr Nikola Dobroslavić welcomes the end of the Mostar conflict which will lead to the first local elections in Mostar since 2008. The agreement reached between the party leaders to divide political power in the city of Bosnia-Herzegovina is a historic one.
