Towards Formal Representation of Cities & Regions: Lessons from the EU
BY
March 15, 2021
C
ities, organized collectively around transnational municipal networks, have sought for decades to carve out a formal role for themselves within global and regional governance structures. Early municipalist visionaries, such as Emile Vinck, the first secretary general of the International Union of Local Authorities (forebear of UCLG), attempted a century ago to forge an organic bond with the League of Nations. Today, the slogan listen to cities resonates loudly in most United Nations conferences and pervades the campaigns around which the international municipalism movement has coalesced.
In a moment when the multilateral order is crying for a branch-and-root reform, it seems timely to ask how a formal role for subnational governments within the current global and regional governance architecture could be established. And there is no lack of proposals here. Among the most prominent propo
Forests burning, floods destroying, droughts killing: so many people have been caught by climate disasters, which are becoming more frequent and intense. The climate crisis has extreme consequences and we must act now, as this is already our new normal. It is a global emergency, for which we need local solutions. The new climate adaptation strategy can help local and regional authorities to prepare and adapt to these extreme conditions and to strengthen our climate resilience. We welcome the proposal of European Commission Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans and are grateful for his recognition of the importance of local climate action.
During the debate on the working group s priorities,
Isabelle Boudineau (FR/PES), vice-president of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region and chair of the CoR s Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and the EU Budget (
The European Commission s future Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy must reflect the ambitions expressed by the territories to implement the Green Deal. The importance of cross-border links, the internalisation of external costs and more particularly the polluter pays principle, the place of public transport in our cities and countryside, the importance of everyday mobility and the modal shift from road and air transport to rail are all subjects on which we need to be heard. The European Commission will not achieve its objectives without us! . The Mayor of Seville Juan Espadas, will present the progresses of the Green Deal Going Local working group at the next COTER meeting on 26 February 2021.
CoR members and EU Portuguese Presidency discuss health, social and economic recovery priorities
The members of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) and Ana Paula Zacarias, Portuguese Secretary of State for European Affairs, discussed the political priorities of the EU presidency and their impact on a local and regional level. The debate took place during the CoR s February plenary session and highlighted the importance of involving local and regional authorities in the implementation of the next EU Budget and of the EU plans to recover from the COVID-19 crisis.
The representatives of the EU s regional and local authorities emphasized the integral role that local and regional governments are playing in managing the COVID emergency, highlighting that they will be key to facilitate a successful health, social and economic recovery from the pandemic. They expressed concerns on the level of involvement of regional and local authorities, as highlighted by a recent