Commission announces winners of Megalizzi – Niedzielski prize for aspiring journalists and launches new call for proposals (14/10/2020)
The European Commission has announced the winners of the 2020 Megalizzi – Niedzielski prize for aspiring journalists: Anastasia Lopez from Austria and Francisco Sezinando from Portugal. Anastasia and Francisco received the prize for their dedication to quality journalism and attachment to EU values.
Coronavirus Dashboard: EU Cohesion Policy response to the coronavirus crisis (14/10/2020)
The Commission has announced the first provisional results of the implementation of the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative (CRII) and Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative Plus (CRII+).
Commission’s report on quality of life in European cities says 9 out of 10 people are satisfied with living in their city (14/10/2020)
During the 18th European Week of Regions and Cities, the European Commission has released a report on the quality of life in European cities. The results of 58,100 interviews conducted in 83 cities show that 9 out of 10 people were satisfied with living in their city in 2019.
REGIOSTARS: The winners of the 2020 edition will be announced tonight! (14/10/2020)
Join us tonight at 19:00 to watch the live of the REGIOSTARS awards ceremony.
Together we will discover who is the winner in the five REGIOSTARS Award categories of this 2020 edition.
Check out the EU Datathon finalists...and vote! (07/10/2020)
EU Datathon is an annual open data competition organised by the Publications Office of the EU since 2017.
They are organised to create new value for citizens through innovation, and promoting the use of open data produced by the EU institutions and available on the EU Open Data Portal, the single point of access of open data in the EU institutions, agencies and bodies.
Now you can see and vote on this year's entries as part of the European Week of Regions and Cities 2020.
Rediscover and restart Europe TOGETHER: Rendez-vous online each day at 18:30 (07/10/2020)
DG REGIO has produced 7 videos illustrating 70 years of European integration and the key role of Cohesion Policy (with several colleagues acting!). The series begins today at 18:30 with the 1950s and continues until next Sunday.
Each release of the series will be followed by a short debate between a VIP and a young European.
Citizens' dialogue with Commissioner Ferreira (07/10/2020)
Mark 12 October in your calendar and come share your voice on the EU!
On the occasion of the #EURegionsWeek 2020, Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms Elisa Ferreira will engage in a unique live public debate!
Discover Europe on 4 different routes and share the journey with your friends! (07/10/2020)
These digital routes were made possible thanks to the contributions of dozens of Managing Authorities and Project Beneficiaries to the EU in My Region campaign.
Smart Regions: rapid coronavirus tests thanks to CoNVat project (30/09/2020)
CoNVat is an EU project that is about direct, fast and specific identification of coronavirus to improve its early diagnosis and the clinical management of patients. The approach employs an already developed technology based on nanophotonic bimodal waveguide (BiMW) interferometers capable of providing real time, highly sensitive detections assays in short sample turnaround times. Final prototype validation will demonstrate the potential of this approach for the management of future infectious outbreaks. Watch this Smart Regions episode on Monday 28 September at 21h50 (CET+1) to find out more about this project.
EU Cohesion policy: study calls for a strategic focus on quality projects and on removing administrative barriers to investments (30/09/2020)
The Commission has published a study that aims to enhance the understanding of the planned and implemented use of Technical Assistance (TA) at the initiative of Member States during the 2014-2020 period. The report assesses the capacity of the administrations of Member States and regions to prepare, manage and implement Cohesion policy projects as well as to remove important barriers to investment.
The Commission adopts the third report on the implementation of EU macro-regional strategies (30/09/2020)
On 23 September 2020, the European Commission adopted the third biennial report [COM(2020)578], covering the period from mid-2018 to mid-2020, on the implementation of the four EU macro-regional strategies (MRS): the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR), the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR), the EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (EUSAIR) and the EU Strategy for the Alpine Region (EUSALP).
Registrations are now open for the 2020 fully online EU Datathon! (23/09/2020)
12 finalists have been shortlisted for the final competition; join us and discover them!
On 15 October 2020, 12 shortlisted teams will compete in the online final of the EU Datathon – the open data competition. The preselection jury had to make this selection from among 121 submitted proposals, the highest number of entries since the first EU Datathon took place in 2017.
These 12 finalists are expected to present up-and-running apps that use open data made available by the EU institutions, agencies and bodies. Each app should address one of four key challenges set by the European Commission.
SAVE THE DATE AND REGISTER SOON: the 11th Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Region (EUSBSR) is going online on 20 October 2020 (23/09/2020)
Do not miss the 11th Annual Forum of the EUSBSR, the agenda of the day is now available. One more time this year, the actors of the Baltic Sea Region will e-meet, in order to discuss Innovation and Sustainability, the two topics of the year. It will also be the occasion for the EUSBSR community to look at the 10 years of achievement.
Register now to take part in the European Week of Regions and Cities! (16/09/2020)
Let’s build the future together
The first week out of three of this year's #EURegionsWeek is dedicated to the thematic cluster Empowering Citizens. Check out the online programme and discover interesting working sessions on topics ranging from e-democracy, co-creation in public services, entrepreneurship and many more.
Smart Regions: Central European countries tackle plastic dilemma (16/09/2020)
The latest episode of the “Smart Regions” series in partnership with Euronews was about tackling plastic dilemma in Central Europe.
How to manage cities in the post Covid-19 period? (16/09/2020)
The International Urban Cooperation Programme for Latin America and the Caribbean (IUC-LAC), funded by the European Union, presents IUC-LAC Open Dialogues, the first publication on lessons learned and recommendations to help cities face the 'new normality', the post-COVID 19 deconfinement period.
Places still available for NEW Live online training sessions on Public procurement for ESIF authorities (16/09/2020)
The interactive sessions will be spread over four half-days and will be delivered via a videoconferencing platform. The training sessions are designed for participants from ESIF managing authorities/ intermediate bodies/ audit authorities and are provided free of charge.
Cohesion policy plays a key role in Europe’s future. It is a first responder in the COVID crisis and a linchpin of the recovery package. In the longer term, it will be a cornerstone of the Green Deal for all regions, with no one left behind. Over the years, regional policy has constantly offered expertise in transition, structural transformation and policy implementation. In this respect, our budget helps to turn the Union’s priorities into results that make a difference to people’s lives.
Cohesion policy invested EUR 23 billion during the first semester of 2020 (04/09/2020)
The Commission has released financial data on cohesion policy implementation in the first half of 2020 on the ESIF Open Data Platform (https://cohesiondata.ec.europa.eu/overview ). More than EUR 23 billion was invested across the Union under the 4 cohesion policy funds. This represents a 5% point increase in investment spending since the end of 2019 – with a total of EUR 204 billion (43%) of the planned EUR 480 billion for 2014-2020 now invested. The modest increase in spending compares to the first half of 2019 when an overall 5% increase was also reported. This suggests that the rate of investment implementation did not slow down particularly in the exceptional climate during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.
European Week of Regions and Cities registration is now open (04/09/2020)
Despite the difficulties generated by the COVID 19 pandemic, the #EURegionsWeek 2020 will offer to participants more than 500 digital working sessions to discover over three consecutive weeks in October, from 5-22 October, covering various topics along the thematic priorities Empowering Citizens; Cohesion and Cooperation; and Green Europe.
Youth4Regions 2020: record number of applications received (23/07/2020)
A new year, a new record for DG REGIO’s programme for aspiring journalists: 542 applicants sent us their thoughts on an EU-funded project. This represents a 21% increase when compared with the previous edition. The high number confirms an increasing interest for the programme among the target audience and for EU action in the regions.
Public Consultation on overcoming obstacles in border regions (2020) (23/07/2020)
The Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) launched a new online “Public consultation on overcoming obstacles in border regions”.
We would like to invite you, as citizen and/or border stakeholder to participate and share your opinion and feedback with us!
Successful start for the pilot action on #engagingcitizens for #cohesionpolicy (23/07/2020)
On 15 July, the European Commission and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) successfully launched the first pilot action aimed at promoting genuine and meaningful citizen engagement in implementing cohesion projects on the ground. As part of this collaboration, institutions involved in managing five programmes from Italy, Poland, Spain and two Interreg programmes – Romania-Bulgaria and Flanders-The Netherlands - will receive top class expertise and tailored assistance in setting up new initiatives to involve citizens and promote transparency and accountability. The OECD has proven in several projects its expertise in the matter and is looking forward to working with the selected authorities.
Urban Innovative Actions: 11 new projects will receive EU funding (16/07/2020)
The Commission and the French Regional Council of Hauts-de-France, as entrusted entity managing the Urban Innovative Actions (UIA), have finalised the evaluation of the 5th and last call for proposals. The winning projects coming from Brussels, Ghent and Leiedal (Belgium), Sofia (Bulgaria), Halandri (Greece), Budapest (Hungary), Ferrara and Verona (Italy), Tilburg (the Netherlands), Košice (Slovakia), and Almería (Spain) will channel more than €45 million from the European Regional and Development Fund. They will experiment new ideas to foster culture and cultural heritage, improve air quality, develop the circular economy and tackle demographic change across Europe.
Stories from the regions: Bucharest Metro Line 5, Romania (16/07/2020)
Stories from the Regions goes to Bucharest, Romania, where a brand new section of Metro Line 5, co-financed by the EU, will be gradually opened to the public starting from 2020. Even despite the fact that the construction has faced several difficulties and lengthy delays over the past years, the impressively designed ten new stations are set to benefit 20 million passengers on an annual basis, approximately 65 thousand per day.
Once again, EU delivers in the regions! (16/07/2020)
The ever popular “EU delivers in the regions” communication campaign, highlighting emblematic places in the regions that are co-funded by the EU, is back!
15 regions within 5 Member States (FR, EL, IE, IT, NL) will be subject to a one-month ultra-local campaign, as of 1st July until the end of the year.
New working paper: Convergence of EU regions redux - Recent trends in regional disparities (16/07/2020)
Before the economic crisis which started in 2008, the EU was nicknamed a "convergence machine" as disparities among EU regions were significantly decreasing. The crisis had a deep impact on economic and social cohesion in the EU and the surge in disparities is now frequently cited as one of the main causes for the current lack of popular support for the project of constructing the European Union.
Panorama 73: Emilia-Romagna in line for a smarter future (08/07/2020)
The summer issue of Panorama magazine is now available to download, with a main article featuring the EU’s response to the COVID-19 crisis. We examine the Coronavirus Investment Initiative Plus, as well as other financial instruments, and profile projects tackling the issues head on on the ground. Data Point shows in a more general way how Cohesion Policy helps regions invest in healthcare.
COVID-19: cohesion policy exceptional measures for Poland approved in record time (08/07/2020)
Today, the European Commission has approved in record time the modification of the Regional Operational Programme for Warmińsko-Mazurskie region in Poland to allow for further investments in health services and to compensate for enterprise financial loss related to the outbreak of COVID-19.
The Commission and OECD join forces to boost citizen engagement for a sustainable and inclusive recovery (09/07/2020)
Today the European Commission announced its support to five national and regional programmes to pilot innovative ways of engaging citizens in decisions about cohesion policy investments. The managing authorities from Spain, Poland, Italy and two Interreg programmes (Belgium-the Netherlands and Bulgaria-Romania) will benefit from targeted support from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The objective of the pilots will be to promote active citizen and civil society participation in designing, implementing and evaluating cohesion policy projects, as well as boosting the culture of transparency and accountability of the public institutions involved.
RegioStars 2020: 25 finalists announced and Public Choice Award now open (09/07/2020)
The European Commission has announced the 25 finalists of the 2020 RegioStars competition for the best EU Cohesion policy projects.
They competed in 5 categories:
“Industrial transition for a smart Europe”
“Circular economy for a green Europe”
“Skills & education for a digital Europe”
“Citizen engagement for cohesive European cities”
and the specific for 2020 “Youth empowerment for cooperation across border - 30 years of Interreg”.
