Overview   Governance and Citizenship

​Cities and regions reflect Europe's cultural diversity and are best placed to turn Europe's cultural heritage into a strategic asset, local and regional leaders highlighted in a debate with Tibor Navracsics, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport. The Commissioner, who took the floor at the European Committee of the Regions' plenary session, recalled that strengthening a common European identity and promoting social and economic cohesion are among the objectives of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018 and conditions to build the Europe of tomorrow.

The European Committee of the Regions has given its support to the new legislative proposal for a revised drinking water directive presented by the European Commission on 1 February 2018. Yet, the Committee reports shortfalls in key aspects. Members request a single EU-wide assessment scheme for materials and products that come into contact with drinking water.

On 4 May, the historical city of Burgos in Northern Spain gathered together local and regional representatives from EU Member States in the framework of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018. The seminar was organised jointly by the Government of Castilla y León and the SEDEC Commission of the European Committee of the Regions with the aim to highlight and boost the role of culture as an important resource for for the future of Europe. The discussion on the importance of cultural heritage and its financing in the future of Europe comes timely as the new budget proposal for the EU after 2

EuroPCom series 2018 The European Conference on Public Communication (EuroPCom) has been the annual meeting point for public communication experts

Since March 2016, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) has been listening to citizens from across Europe. At the heart of the exercise have been the active members of the CoR, who initiated dialogues with citizens in town halls, regional parliaments, local councils, schools and universities. In parallel, the CoR also asked “citizens to have their say on Europe” via an online survey and a mobile app, which was made available in the 24 official languages of the EU. Preliminary results of the exercise are presented in this report, which covers the period from March 2016 to March 2018.

Strong anti-discrimination laws boost trust, schooling and health, think-tank says, while EU's rights agency finds that local government is particularly trusted by immigrants and minority groups.

The European Committee of the Regions has shared the preliminary results of its " Reflecting on Europe " campaign, in the presence of Valérie Gomez-Bassac, member of the French National Assembly and supporter of the citizens’ consultations initiative launched by the French President. Results from the 150 citizens dialogues and 15 000 replies to the online survey collected by the Committee so far have shown that political issues, whether global, European or national, are always seen through a local frame of view. A majority of respondents also call for more solidary between EU co

This week the first preliminary report on the Reflecting on Europe initiative has been released, providing some interesting insights into the ways citizens want to see the EU developing in the future.

EU policy-makers have recently come up with policy proposals and scenarios on the way forward for Europe. Yet many of these proposals remain silent about the role of regions and cities - even if their follow-up might significantly impact local governments' leverage in a renewed Union. Regions will however have to be granted more influence in the EU architecture to facilitate policy-making and ownership of policy decision on the ground. This was one of the key messages expressed by politicians and academics at a conference organised yesterday by the European Committee of the Regions' Commission

The City of Cork hosted a citizen’s dialogue in St. Peters Church Tuesday 27 March under the title ‘Innovative Minds and Real Capitals – European Regional Cities and the future Europe’.

The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) welcomes the European Commission's reform proposal to improve the European Citizens Initiative (ECI), which it sees as "a step in the right direction" to make it more accessible and user-friendly. The EU's Assembly of local and regional representatives however regrets that the proposal falls short of achieving the ECI potential as a transnational tool of participative democracy at European level. In an opinion led by Luc Van den Brande (BE/EPP), Member of the Management Board of the Flanders-Europe Liaison Agency and Special Adviser to the European C

Reflecting on Europe is a listening exercise created together with the European Committee of the Regions and its members. CoR members propose the time and the place; and citizens put the questions to CoR members and others on topics of their interest or importance. This brochure is a summary of some key figures and events held since the beginning of this listening exercise.

Roadmap of activities for the period of 2018 to 2020 of the European Committee of the Regions presented in a visual timeline.

This brochure sets out the main thematic priorities for each one of the European Committee of Regions' (CoR) policy commissions. It shows that locally the impact of EU policy matters but it needs the wealth of knowledge by local and regional governments to direct it. Includes foreword from CoR President Karl-Heinz Lambertz, the four "chantiers" as identified by the President to guide the CoR, the communication priorities 2018 and quotes from the chairs of each commission.

"Why Europe Matters" is a call for action: asking young people, business people and policy makers to come together in a common effort to demonstrate the positive impact Europe has on everyone's lives and give the future of Europe a voice.

Working Group in Subsidiarity of CALRE, Conference of European Regional Legislative Assembies

On 8 March, the European Commission and the European Committee of the Regions are jointly organising the EU Mayors' Conference on "Building Urban Defences Against Terrorism: Lessons Learned From Recent Attacks". The conference will focus on lessons learned from recent terrorist attacks and the sharing of best practices and useful solutions to enhance the protection of public spaces, including the implementation of "security by design" solutions.

You are warmly invited to join the debate: BREXIT and beyond: what futures for European Citizens? Date: Wednesday 28 February 2018 Time: 12:30-13:30 Place: European Committee of the Regions' Library Registration: documentationCdR@cor.europa.eu The debate will be moderated by Justus Schönlau. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to consult the PDF version of the book: http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10041784/1/Brexit-and-Beyond.pdf Enjoy the reading and come to the debate this Wednesday 28 February.

Quality of Government in EU Regions: Patterns across Space and Time