EU regional leaders will meet in Brussels on 6 – 7 May to set out their response to proposed reforms of the bloc’s long-term budget for 2028 – 2034, according to a statement from the European Committee of the Regions (CoR).
The assembly, which represents local and regional authorities in the EU, said on Monday it will adopt a series of formal opinions on reforms that would shape investment in areas including regional development, research, innovation and infrastructure.
A central issue will be the European Commission’s proposal to create a single National and Regional Partnership Plan for each member state, pooling support for cohesion funding, agriculture, rural areas, fisheries, migration and security, and social policies.
The CoR said it had already raised objections in an opinion adopted in March, including opposition to what it described as centralising and nationalising the budget.
During the plenary, CoR members are due to debate the budget and related reforms with Marilena Raouna, Cyprus’s Deputy Minister for European Affairs, and European Commission figures including Glenn Micallef, responsible for intergenerational fairness, youth, culture and sport, and Raffaele Fitto, Executive Vice-President for Cohesion and Reforms.
Ukraine update and crisis preparedness
Ukraine’s Deputy Minister for Development of Communities and Territories, Oleksii Riabykin, is scheduled to speak on 7 May about the needs of Ukrainian cities and regions in the fourth year of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the CoR said.
The CoR noted it co-founded the European Alliance of Cities and Regions for the Reconstruction of Ukraine and will participate on behalf of the Alliance at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdańsk, Poland, on 25 – 26 June.
The agenda also includes opinions on simplifying environmental legislation and streamlining EU data rules, as well as proposals on crisis preparedness including stockpiling essential goods such as medicine, oil, fuel, food and water.
Nominations are also set to open for the Mayor Paweł Adamowicz Award, whose current laureate is Ekrem İmamoğlu, the Mayor of Istanbul, who is in his second year of pre-trial detention.
