Overview   Single market: digital, energy and capital

On 16-17 May members of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) will voice their concerns about the European Commission's far-reaching proposals to direct EU funding away from regional development after 2020, and will adopt a position on the UK's withdrawal from the EU after a year of consultations, surveys and studies with local and regional authorities. The CoR's members will also consider ways in which cultural policies can contribute to reinforcing European identity.

The European Commission's proposal for the new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) – which sets out the annual expenditure ceilings for all EU policies for 2021-2027 – responds to Europe's regions and cities call for stronger investment in education, research, youth and migration, but fails to address the increasing need to reduce disparities across the Union, according to the European Committee of the Regions' President.

The members of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) reject the European Commission's proposal to divert money from cohesion policy to finance top-down structural reforms in the Member States. The opinion , drawn up by Olga Zrihen (BE/PES), Member of the Walloon Parliament and adopted during the CoR plenary session, further highlights the importance of adopting a mixed bottom-up and top-down approach involving local and regional authorities in the design and implementation of reform processes.

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.

The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) published a report today in Brussels detailing the consequences of Brexit on trade and the economy in the EU27 regions and cities. Based heavily on data gathered from a joint survey with EUROCHAMBRES, the report reveals a lack of awareness, information and preparation and recommends greater flexibility in state aid rules and inter-regional cooperation.

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.

Providing education for European diasporas – a joint challenge for EU and its Member States: How to preserve one's roots, recognise learning outcomes, support mobility of students without losing talents?

The elaboration of the EU's next R&I framework programme succeeding Horizon 2020 is currently under way against the backdrop of negotiations for the post-2020 EU budget. In a conference organised by the European Committee of the Regions on 20 February, local and regional representatives called for research and innovation funds to be oriented towards connecting regional innovation ecosystems in close synergy with cohesion policy instruments.

Preparations for this year's edition of the European Week of Regions and Cities (8-11 October 2018, Brussels) are already ongoing. On 25 January, the two co-organisers, the European Committee of the Regions and the European Commission's Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy, launched their call for partners to join the organisation of the 16 th edition of the event.

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

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The conference aims to provide new perspectives to the development of public services in the European societies.

On 23 January the members of the Commission for Economic Policy (ECON) of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) presented their local and regional viewpoints on the EU strategy for industry, the EU Defence Fund, and the EU Trade Package.

Considering the crucial role structural forms play in the European Union, the Committee of the Regions (CoR) organized a workshop on the 14th of December in order to look at two questions: How do local and regional authorities rate the European Semester implementation in the EU Member States, and how could a stronger involvement of local and regional authorities help to implement structural reforms.

With the 8-9 January conference on the next MFF , the European Commission intensifies the work on its proposal for the EU budget after 2020, due to be presented next May. The President of the European Committee of the Regions, Karl-Heinz Lambertz, contributes to the debate voicing regions' and cities' concerns about possible cuts to cohesion policy, Europe's main investment tool, and warns of the dangers of a centralised, divided and territorially blind European Union.

The aim of the study is to explore, from Local and Regional Authorities (LRAs)’ perspectives, the need and potential for greater transparency and democratic governance in the EU trade negotiations processes. The pivotal role of LRAs in terms of bridging the legitimacy gap between citizens, national and European authorities is central to this study. Indeed, bringing up citizens’ concerns and underlining the territorial specificities of regions impacted by EU trade negotiations is of outmost importance to ensure the comprehensiveness, coherence and acceptance of trade agreements, notably when ra

The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) shares the objectives of improving stability and convergence in the Eurozone, making it resilient in managing shocks and increasing flexibility in fiscal rules. But the EMU package unveiled on 6 December by the European Commission has worrying implications for EU regional policy. In particular, changing the Common Provisions Regulations governing the current European Structural and Investment Funds could undermine cohesion policy.