Overview   Climate change and environment

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.

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.

Members of the ENVE commission visited the Lodzkie Region on 14-15 March to get acquainted with best practices in the area of the circular economy.

For the first time, the European Commission will grant an EU city with a Fair and Ethical Trade Award. The aim of the Award is to highlight the important role of cities in providing platforms for fair and ethical trade schemes. The contest was officially launched in Brussels on 7 December 2017 and applications will be accepted until 13 April 2018.

This photo exhibition celebrates 25 years of LIFE by featuring relevant examples of the outstanding results LIFE projects have achieved since then.

The workshop on the scope and criteria of the environmental governance assessment framework in the EU Member States is the first of a series of three workshops. It is organized under a project initiated by the European Commission (DG Environment) and carried out by the Institute for European Environmental Policy and its partners.

The European Committee of the Regions is drafting an opinion on the European Commission's recent legislative proposal for a Directive on the quality of water intended for human consumption (recast), which can be found here.

​The European Commission's first-ever Europe-wide strategy on plastics, adopted as a part of the broader Circular Economy Package, establishes an ambitious path to rethink plastics in a circular mode and aims to transform the way plastic products are designed, produced, used and recycled in the EU.

The European Union needs to maintain a strong regional policy in order to fulfil its international commitments to reduce carbon emissions, the leader of the EU's local and regional politicians said on 22 February.

How can we maximise the potential of aerospace technologies to boost regional economies? What common rules should frame EU's natural gas internal market? What shape is the transatlantic dialogue on climate taking? These were some of the questions answered during the first meeting of the year of the members of the Commission for Environment, Climate Change and Energy (ENVE) held in Brussels Thursday 8 January. ENVE presented its impact report for 2017.

The European Committee of the Regions has adopted an opinion on Promoting coexistence with conflict species within the framework of the EU Nature Directives . Conflict species compete with human activities for common resources and space. The opinion mostly refers to large predators. The EU is home to five: the brown bear, the wolf, the wolverine and the Eurasian and Iberian lynxes. At least one of these species is currently found in 21 EU countries. The CoR supports more preventive measures and the creation of new platforms and cooperation mechanisms to tackle shared concerns and best practice

During a debate with the Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister, Tomislav Donchev, local and regional leaders called on EU member states to increase their contributions into the EU purse to overcome the main challenges facing the block. Jobs, growth, migrant integration, sustainable economic and rural development are all priorities for local and regional governments who demanded that Brexit should not undermine funding of the main pillars of the European Union – namely EU cohesion and agricultural policy. The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) therefore called for the next Multiannual Financial

In an opinion adopted during its plenary session on 31 January, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) agreed on the need for a territorial vision for the western Mediterranean that goes beyond borders, as part of the development of a “global approach”. The EU's assembly of local and regional leaders broadly welcomed the European Commission’s communication on the same theme and the measures the Commission proposed to ensure a better governance of the sea and sustainably managed oceans. The communication outlines the major goals, the challenges, and attributes specific priorities to each o

The opinion contributes to the new strategy presented by the European Commission in November 2017 and includes recommendations on economic growth, competitiveness and jobs. The Committee supports the protection of sensitive products and greater investment in strategic sectors such as renewable energies and the blue economy. The assembly backs the system of subsidies rather than financial tools, and warns of the impact of Brexit on the outermost regions given the high level of interlinkage with the United Kingdom. At a time when the next multiannual financial framework is under negotiation, the

Delivering environmental and social benefits from agriculture and forestry in a changing policy context

11.00-17.30

In meeting with the European Committee of the Regions, Montenegro's mayors focus on efforts to spread benefits of economic growth and to prepare for EU membership.

Hans Janssen speaks at first EU-Africa summit to include a forum for local and regional governments.