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OKKALI AKTAS Ayben
In Impact community Society, Latest, Local democracy

Policy Committee Meeting

Policy committee in Turkey - News 2022

Young local leaders: time “to go beyond the simple notion of ‘youth'”

Empowerment and representation: these are the keywords defining the work of the Committee of Young European Elected Officials run by CEMR and PLATFORMA. Cemal Baş, Councillor of the Municipality of Keçiören (Turkey), spoke on behalf of this network, which is currently being rebuilt, at CEMR’s Policy Committee in Bologna (4-5 July 2022).

The network’s aspirations go “beyond the simple notion of ‘youth’, since it is above all about supporting young leaders in their becoming familiar with the major European issues and opportunities for the local and sustainable development of territories while enabling them to bring the voice of CEMR, PLATFORMA and their own local authority to international discussion forums.“

Gathered in Italy for two days, CEMR’s members were able to take stock of the association’s main orientations and thematic projects. It was an opportunity to highlight for the first time the development of the Young Elected Officials Committee. Cemal Baş stressed that this “network is growing and is today giving the possibility to strengthen the voice of European local and regional governments.“

After a break of several months, this group of young European leaders has been reviving since the spring 2022, in a context marked by the European Year of Youth. So much so that today, it brings together more than fifteen elected representatives under the age of 40, from the four corners of Europe: Austria, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania and Turkey.

Beyond their nationality, the diversity of the members of this network is embodied in their different areas of expertise. As was pointed out to the members of the CEMR Policy Committee, “each young leader has his or her own field experience and expertise in relation to the public policies implemented in his or her area.” This is a real strength for pursuing the objectives of the Committee of Young Elected Representatives and promoting the interests of Europe’s local and regional governments at the European and global levels.

In concrete terms, recent weeks have seen João Fortes, Mayor of the Portuguese municipality of Mourão, bring the voice of European local and regional governments on youth and sustainable development to the Africities Summit organised by UCLG Africa in Kenya. Hannah-Lea Braun, elected member of Maichingen Local Council in Germany, will also participate in the UN High Level Political Forum on the Sustainable Development Goals (HLPF) in New York.

All the perspectives raised during this presentation will be at the heart of the first meeting of the Committee of Young European Elected Representatives in autumn 2022, while a spokesperson will be appointed to CEMR’s Policy Committee by the end of the year. In the meantime, the next few weeks will allow us to enlarge this network of young European local leaders, as CEMR members are invited to nominate two local elected representatives.

TONHAUSER Boris
In Impact community Climate, Impact community Climate, Impact community Society, Impact community Society, Latest, PLATFORMA, PLATFORMA, Publications

Annual report on SDGs goes digital

PLATFORMA - banner 3

Our annual report on the SDGs goes digital at the UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF)

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Available for the first time in an online format, PLATFORMA and CEMR have just published their fifth annual study on the localisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Released on the occasion of the UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) in New York, discover this innovative publication today on local-sdgs.eu

This study gathers the most recent information on how and to what extent associations and networks of local and regional governments have been involved in the localisation of the SDGs, both in Europe and with their global peers, and in particular during the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s survey therefore, included questions on the SDGs’ implementation since 2015 and the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. In the last two sections, there were also additional questions regarding Voluntary Subnational Reviews (VSR) and decentralised cooperation.

It gathers 63 answers from 28 European countries, 37 associations of local and regional governments and 18 municipalities and regions.

Main recommendations

Six main recommendations came out of this study, targeting EU institutions, national governments and local and regional governments and their national associations:

  1. The European Commission should report regularly on any progress made in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the EU level and indicate how the different levels of governance have contributed to this process.
  2. We encourage associations of local and regional governments to actively take part in the Voluntary Subnational Reviews (VSR) process.
  3. Local and regional governments (LRGs) are calling for the firm recognition and inclusion by national governments of the role of LRGs and their associations in the monitoring and reporting of progress in the implementation of SDGs at the national level.
  4. European states and the EU need to strengthen their dialogue with the subnational levels and include them in any relevant high-level delegation meetings.
  5. Strengthen international cooperation to achieve the 2030 Agenda at the local and regional levels
  6. There is still a need to localise and territorialise the SDGs, through the deployment of appropriate funds and resources

This study will be presented by a PLATFORMA-CEMR delegation at different events during the second week of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) taking place in New York between 5 and 15 July 2022.

This delegation is composed of:

  • Fabrizio Rossi, CEMR Secretary General
  • José Hila, Mayor of Palma de Mallorca (Spain, FEMP)
  • Hannah-Lea Braun, Member of Maichingen Council (Sindelfingen, Germany) and the CEMR Young Elected Officials Committee
  • Luis Salaya, Mayor of Cáceres (Spain, FEMP)
  • Valérie Dumontet, Vice-President of Aude Region, (France, Cités Unies France)
  • Pilar Díaz, Mayor of Espluges de Llobregat, Deputy to the Presidency, Delegate for International Relations at the Diputació de Barcelona (Spain, Barcelona Provincial Council – DIBA)
  • Jan van Zanen, Mayor of The Hague (Netherlands, VNG International)

Directors, advisers and technicians from CEMR, the City of Paris, DIBA, FEMP, the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS), UCLG and VNG International are also attending HLPF this year.

More

For more information, contact:

TSKHELISHVILI Bella
In EU enlargement and Eastern Partnership, Impact community Society, Latest, Local democracy, Twinning

EU accession

European Union - News

How can we support Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia’s joining the European Union?

It was a few days after the outbreak of war by Russia: Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia each submitted an official application to join the EU. Since then, Ukraine and Moldova have been granted official candidate status to join the Union, while for Georgia, EU leaders recognised its “European perspective,” a sort of prelude to formal candidacy.

But how can these countries that are betting on a European future prepare themselves? CEMR’s members adopt a declaration on the subject at their Policy Committee meeting, on 5 July 2022.

While it is undeniable that the enlargements of 2004, 2007 and 2013 have mechanically led the EU to play a greater role in Ukrainian, Georgian and Moldovan politics, the road to membership for these countries is still long and perilous.

In this context, local and regional governments and their representative associations can contribute to bringing them closer to the EU. As affirmed in the declaration, CEMR “commits to defending a Trio holistic approach and is ready to accompany the EU accession process of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia from a local perspective.”

For almost 25 years, CEMR, later supported by PLATFORMA, has been providing unstinting support to local governments in the EU’s eastern neighbours. As the declaration explains, CEMR’s network works continuously “to strengthen local autonomy and institutional capacity and foster multi-level governance reforms.”

In order to accompany the necessary institutional reforms and to ensure a sustainable integration process, CEMR’s members recommend “decentralised cooperation (…) to ensure a sustainable integration process.” And they specify that “peer exchanges, municipal partnerships, mentorship, study visits, twinning, seminars and training” are all levers to bring these three countries closer to the European Union.

While CEMR is ready to “continue to underpin its member associations in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine in their contribution to the EU accession process”, let’s hope that the European institutions and the relevant authorities fully involve local and regional governments in this process in due time.

As the European Commission points out, “the reform of public administration and the decentralisation process in these three countries are essential components of the EU accession criteria.” Europe is not built from the top down. In order to create a common base, it is necessary to start from the bottom.

BORDELOT Federica
In Gender equality, Gender equality, Impact community Society, Impact community Society, Latest, Migration and inclusion, Migration and inclusion, Publications

EU directive on gender and domestic violence 

Gender Violence - News 2023

CEMR urges multi-level coordination, victim support, and recognition of women politicians’ safety 

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Violence against women and domestic violence remain among the most widespread violations of fundamental rights in Europe. In response to the European Commission’s proposed Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence, the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) has published a position paper calling for a unified and multi-level approach to ensure effective implementation across the EU. 

CEMR welcomes key elements of the Directive, including provisions on safeguarding victims, training professionals, tackling harmful gender stereotypes, and addressing sexual harassment at work. However, the organisation stresses that the Directive must go further to recognise the central role of local and regional governments (LRGs), who are on the frontline of prevention, victim support, and access to justice. 

Among its recommendations, CEMR calls for: 

  • Formal consultation with LRGs in policy design and coordination, ensuring that Article 39 on multi-level response explicitly requires their involvement. 
  • Targeted EU funding for local authorities through programmes such as CERV, ERDF and ESF+, to strengthen prevention, awareness-raising and victim services. 
  • Better data collection, disaggregated by sex, age and region (NUTS 2, NUTS 3, and local level), to tailor policies effectively. 
  • Improved victim support systems, combining both “one-stop” online access and physical centres, with minimum geographic coverage standards. 

The paper also highlights violence against women in politics, noting that harassment and threats against elected representatives undermine democracy itself. CEMR urges the addition of a specific clause under Article 13 on aggravating circumstances for violence against women in public office. 

Finally, CEMR emphasises the importance of prevention, beginning with early education to challenge gender stereotypes, and extending to workplaces where women in public-facing professions are disproportionately exposed to third-party violence. The organisation recommends a dedicated article on cooperation between LRGs and social partners to strengthen workplace protections. 

By adopting a truly coordinated, multi-level approach, the Directive could transform Europe’s fragmented response into a coherent framework that empowers governments at every level to protect women’s rights and safety. 

Read the policy paper here 

For more information, contact: 

BORDELOT Federica
In About CEMR, Impact community Climate, Impact community Climate, Impact community Cohesion, Impact community Cohesion, Impact community Labour, Impact community Labour, Impact community Society, Impact community Society, Latest, Publications

CEMR report of 2021 

Meet Local Leaders - News

Report on the publications, knowledge-sharing, advocacy and communications in 2021 

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The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) is pleased to present its 2021 Activity Report, which provides an overview of the organisation’s main actions and achievements over the year. Guided by the 2021–2030 multiannual strategy and the 2021–2022 work programme, CEMR focused its work on four objectives: 

  1. Policies and advocacy 
  1. Knowledge sharing and capacity-building 
  1. Pan-European campaigns and visibility 
  1. Internal organisation and sustainability 

All actions were aligned with the aim of advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) across Europe’s territories. 

Shaping European and Global Agendas 

Throughout 2021, CEMR actively influenced European initiatives and alerted members to upcoming developments affecting local and regional governments. Activities included: 

  • Monitoring EU initiatives on recovery, resilience, and international cooperation. 
  • Engaging in structured dialogues on cohesion policy, rural development, disability rights, and urban development. 
  • Providing input that shaped OECD analyses, Council Conclusions, and the European long-term vision for rural areas. 
  • Publishing position papers and resolutions on gender equality, migration, the Fit for 55 energy package, water, and digitalisation. 

At the international level, CEMR deepened cooperation with UCLG, the Global Taskforce, OECD, and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. 

Building Knowledge and Capacity 

To strengthen understanding of EU policies and empower members to act, CEMR: 

  • Produced publications and webinars, including a new edition of the TERRI Report on decentralisation reforms. 
  • Organised workshops on member participation in national and European processes. 
  • Delivered capacity-building through externally funded projects in areas such as EU funding, climate adaptation, gender equality, migration, and SDG implementation. 

Raising Visibility and Engaging Citizens 

2021 was also a year of celebrations: 

  • 70th anniversary of CEMR and the 15th anniversary of the Equality Charter brought together 500 participants online. 
  • Pan-European campaigns were launched for Europe Day, SDG Day, and equality, highlighting the voices of local leaders and women in politics. 
  • CEMR ensured visibility for its spokespersons through social media, interviews, videos, and participation in international events. 

In numbers: 

  • Over 120 articles published in English and French. 
  • More than 650 tweets reaching 1 million views. 
  • 14 newsletters delivered to the network. 

Strengthening Internal Organisation 

CEMR took concrete steps to become a more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient organisation: 

  • Two online Policy Committee meetings gathered 170 elected representatives to adopt policy positions and validate the strategy. 
  • A new Secretary General selection process was launched. 
  • Internal processes were modernised with digital templates, e-signatures, and reduced paper use. 
  • Staff received training on project management, budget monitoring, public speaking, and team collaboration. 

Milestones and Campaign Highlights 

  • Advocated for local governments to be included in post-COVID recovery plans (#CohesionAlliance). 
  • Shared local leaders’ visions for the Conference on the Future of Europe. 
  • Continued the #Power2Her and #LocalEquality campaigns on gender equality. 
  • Helped secure recognition of the multilevel cooperative model in the Glasgow COP26 agreement. 

2021 was a year of adaptation, resilience, and influence for CEMR. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, the network succeeded in shaping European debates, amplifying the voice of local and regional governments, and strengthening internal capacities. With a stronger foundation and renewed strategy, CEMR continues its mission to empower Europe’s municipalities and regions to lead sustainable change. 

Read the study here

For more information, contact:

TARAN Stanislav
In Bridges of Trust, Impact community Society, Latest, Projects and Programmes, Twinning

Twinning in Ukraine

Mayors in Ukraine - News 2023

Twinning has to be a part of Ukraine’s reconstruction

In a letter to the president of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, CEMR calls on the European institutions to set up an initiative to strengthen twinning for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

The letter is signed by the Mayor of Kyiv and President of the Association of Ukrainian Cities (AUC), Vitaliy Klitschko, its Executive Director, Oleksandr Slobozhan, but also by CEMR’s President, Stefano Bonaccini, and its Secretary General, Fabrizio Rossi.

It stresses the willingness of local and regional governments across Europe to contribute to the reconstruction of Ukrainian municipalities and cities. It also invites the institutions to define, in collaboration with CEMR and its Ukrainian association, “strategic and operational aspects of a twinning initiative to launch and implement the reconstruction of Ukrainian cities and towns »

Letter to the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.
Letter to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. 
Letter to the President of the European, Charles Michel.

THOMAS Carol
In Impact community Society, Latest

Recovery plan

Pandemic - News Section

What happened to subsidiarity? Local governments have little say in post-COVID recovery plans

The Committee of the Regions and CEMR have teamed up again to explore the involvement of local and regional governments in the implementation of the European Union’s 724-billion-euro post-COVID recovery plan, the Recover and Resilience Facility (RRF).

The results of the survey, based predominantly on the responses of CEMR members, give important insights to the extent of local and regional governments’ ability to influence and contribute to the national recovery plans.

One year after the earlier CoR-CEMR study, the results remain largely discouraging: too often national recovery plans have been implemented as top-down processes with little input from municipalities and regions.

While respondents were broadly positive about the recovery plans’ ability to support the green and digital transitions, they were more ambivalent regarding other policy objectives, such as territorial cohesion.

The study will be a valuable tool as CEMR continues its advocacy work on the RRF, especially in view of the European Parliament’s upcoming vote on its position on the plan’s implementation.

THOMAS Carol
In Impact community Society, International cooperation, Latest, Local democracy, Twinning

Europe Day 2022

European Parliament - News

Conference on the future of Europe: What direction should Europe take?

Every 9 May, Europeans celebrate Europe Day. But this year, the celebrations take on a new meaning. Today, one year after it officially began, the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) comes to a close with 49 proposals being delivered to the presidents of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission.

This a good time for the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) to provide an update on this exercise in participatory democracy and to highlight certain proposals which should define the European Union’s agenda in the coming years.

“People need to take ownership of Europe”, said Manuela Bora, regional councillor for Marche (Italy) and a member of the CoFoE plenary, on 5 May at a meeting organised by our French Association (AFCCRE) and the Strasbourg Eurométropole.

“The most sensible choice, in my opinion, is to make the Conference on the Future of Europe a permanent body within which it is possible to continue to share ideas, especially the most controversial ones”, Ms Bora said. “A participatory debate between local authorities, citizens and the European institutions is the best guarantee for concrete and far-sighted results. And this is why CEMR has developed its six proposals to bring Europe closer to citizens.”

Among these, CEMR called for holding every year on 9 May “a debate on the European project, its benefits and challenges, such as how to build a decarbonised society, in every school and in every municipality and region in Europe.”

Twinning is also a powerful way to bring Europe closer to its citizens. In line with the CoFoE’s proposal of “reinforcing existing EU exchange programme”, CEMR argues for setting up a genuine Erasmus programme for local civil servants through exchanges between municipalities and regions, twinned if possible.

Another proposal promoted by CEMR: the development of European universities beyond the two Colleges of Europe and the teaching of languages such that by 2050 every European speaks at least English and two other European languages, in addition to his own mother tongue.

While ideas are not lacking, these still need to be formalised and consultation with civil society organisations and local governments needs to be made systematic. As Manuela Bora stressed: “If so much has been done in just a year, imagine what could be done in a permanent structured system! And that’s exactly the direction we need to go in.”

On the event

This event, entitled “The Future of Europe: The Vision of Local Governments”,  gathered representatives of local governments and civil society, among which were Antoine Chabal, President of the French section of the European Federalists, Philippe Laurent, the Mayor of Sceaux and the President of AFCCRE, and Jeanne Barseghian, the Mayor of Strasbourg.

TARAN Stanislav
In Bridges of Trust, Impact community Society, Latest, Projects and Programmes, Twinning

Twinning for Rebuilding

European mayors eye long-term partnerships with counterparts to rebuild Ukraine

Leaders of European cities and towns are moving to support Ukrainian local and regional authorities through peer to peer schemes as sub-national leaders look to rebuild the war-torn country.

Mayors of European cities have been some of the most ardent supporters of placing more pressure on Russia as it continues its devastating war in Ukraine.

By Wednesday, 28 April, 300 mayors, among them leaders of 15 European capitals, joined the call for an immediate full embargo on Russian energy exports.

“Not at the end of this year but immediately”, the mayors said in a joint video message.

In the meantime, European towns are helping their Ukrainian partners with donations. Lithuania’s Šiauliai district was one of the European municipalities that sent humanitarian and material aid worth around €100,000 to Dolyna in western Ukraine. However, they do not plan to stop there.

“I think not long from now, the war will be over, and even after, various forms of support will be necessary,” Mayor Antanas Bezaras told EURACTIV.

Bezaras is now planning to exchange visits with Dolyna to map local forms of self-governance and develop a long-term partnership with the city that his administration met in November 2021 through a project meant to increase cooperation and exchange of best practices, knowledge and skills between municipalities in Ukraine and the EU.

The municipalities met in the framework of the “Bridges of Trust” Initiative, implemented by the Council of European Municipalities and Regions and PLATFORMA with the support of the U-LEAD with Europe programme.

This article was first published by EurActiv. Real the whole text.

THOMAS Carol
In EU budget, EU budget, Governance, Governance, Impact community Society, Impact community Society, Latest, Publications

Recovery & Resilience Facility funds 

RRF Consultation - News

Local and regional governments warn of weak involvement, risks of fund misallocation, and limited ownership of recovery plans 

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The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) is the EU’s largest ever economic support plan, launched in response to the COVID-19 crisis. While national governments designed National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRPs) to guide investments and reforms until 2026, a new consultation by the Committee of the Regions (CoR) and the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) highlights a persistent problem: local and regional authorities (LRAs) remain sidelined in the process. 

Weak involvement in preparation and governance 

The survey, conducted in early 2022 among 26 associations across 19 EU member states, shows that most LRAs had little to no influence on defining objectives, reforms, or investments. Compared with 2021, dialogue with national governments slightly improved, but respondents stress that these consultations had minimal impact on final plans. Governance of the process remains largely top-down. 

Mixed views on the plans’ content 

Respondents were broadly positive about the NRRP’s contribution to the green (37% earmark) and digital transitions (20% earmark). However, they expressed doubts about the plans’ ability to advance territorial cohesion, one of the RRF’s six pillars. The interplay between NRRPs and other EU funds such as the ERDF or Cohesion Fund also remains unclear and inconsistent, raising fears of overlaps and inefficient spending. 

Implementation: low ownership, high risks 

When it comes to implementation, optimism is scarce. Only a handful of LRAs reported having a meaningful role in monitoring, adapting, or co-managing projects. Ownership is strikingly low, despite LRAs’ frontline role in pandemic response and recovery. The main barriers identified were a lack of political will at the national level and tight or unsuitable formats and timelines, rather than a lack of local capacity. 

These shortcomings translate into serious risks: 

  • Failure to meet milestones and targets 
  • Misallocation of funds 
  • Increased territorial disparities 
  • Public distrust in the EU and national institutions 

Calls for stronger EU-level monitoring 

To improve outcomes, respondents strongly supported enhanced dialogue between the EU and local/regional representatives and the creation of an early warning mechanism to flag delays or problems in implementation. 

Conclusion 

Two years after the pandemic outbreak, Europe’s recovery is underway, but its governance remains overly centralised. The CoR-CEMR consultation warns that without meaningful involvement of local and regional governments, the RRF risks missing its objectives, weakening both recovery efforts and citizens’ trust in the European project. 

Read the study here 

For more information, contact: 

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