The Committee of the Regions shares our views on enlargement
Two amendments submitted by the Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments (LALRG) in close cooperation with PLATFORMA were included in the European Committee of the Regions’ opinion on the “Enlargement package 2024 – Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia” adopted on 2nd April in Brussels.
These two policy recommendations included in the opinion on the eastern trio drafted by Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, President of the City of Gdańsk (PL/EPP), concern:
- A more coordinated approach to EU enlargement policy concerning the involvement of local and regional governments: EU financial support should encourage the active participation of local and regional governments’ representatives at the national level in preparing for the accession process. Furthermore, this involvement of local leaders should be enforced at the EU level (paragraph 55).
- The inclusion of decentralised cooperation as a way to strengthen capacity building and exchange knowledge (paragraph 56).
These recommendations by the Committee of the Regions emphasise the value of international partnerships between cities and between regions. “We need bilateral cooperation, city to city, village to village, region to region, » stated the rapporteur Aleksandra Dulkiewicz during a Plenary debate with the European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos.
This opinion will be sent to the European Commission, the Council and the European Parliament.
A milestone
Moreover, PLATFORMA partner NALAS is mentioned in the 2nd report on the Enlargement package concerning the Western Balkans and Türkiye. Paragraph 4 of this opinion drafted by Jean-Luc Vanraes, Alderman of Uccle (BE/Renew Europe), says that the CoR “recommends that the Commission strengthens direct engagement and collaboration with existing regional networks, such as NALAS”.
This is the second timethe Network of associations of local authorities of South-East Europe is mentioned expressis verbis in an official opinion addressed to the 3 EU institutions.
Context
The European Commission formally opened accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova in June 2024. In 2023, the EU recognised Georgia as a candidate for EU membership, but conditioned the start of talks on further reforms.
The Enlargement package reports were adopted by the European Commission on 30 October 2024.
© European Union / Christophe Licoppe