The Council of European Municipalities and Regions

LOCAL INSIGHT
Local and regional governments'
view of European Affairs

Europe Day

Christiane Overmans: “We need to take Europe beyond the town halls and into the streets of our cities”

The debate launched by the European Commission on the future of Europe is a critical initiative to reconnect European institutions and citizens. But this debate must be conducted with towns and regions: they can play a fundamental role in demonstrating to citizens the day-to-day benefits of European cooperation.

To mark Europe Day, we are presenting the views* of Christiane Overmans, Bonn city councillor and vice-president of CEMR, to know what expectations a local leader has for Europe by 2030.

“Our debate in the next 15 years should be headlined: How can we [Europeans] master our challenges and which role should local and regional governments have to this end?” she told CEMR.

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Highlight

Local finances

Open letter to the EU: towns and regions need more flexibility for long-term public investments

It is no secret: EU fiscal rules prevent local and regional governments from making the investments they need to create real and sustained growth, jobs and services.

This needs to change, and it can change. For this reason, we are sending an open letter to EU institutions to call for more flexibility for long-term public investments at local level.

We are confident the EU is ready to listen to the voice of local governments. Here is the open letter we sent to EU institutions to call on the EU to support long-term investments.

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Interview with...

Energy Union

MEP Claude Turmes: "It is in the Commission and the member states’ interest to give broader responsibilities to towns and regions"

The Energy Union has a great potential for local sustainable economy, the creation of jobs and while protecting the environment. Europe’s local and regional governments are committed to become more energy efficient, achieve more sustainable societies and fight climate change, as proved by hundreds of mayors worldwide that signed the Paris Declaration (COP21).

But how they will be involved in the Commission’s project to transform the EU into a low carbon economy by 2030? To know more on this issue as well as on the state of play on the “Clean energy for all Europeans” package, we spoke with MEP Claude Turmes, rapporteur of the Governance Regulation of the Clean Energy Package.

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Interview with...

Transparency Register

MEP Sven Giegold: “Local governments are part of the EU’s multi-level system of governance, not lobbyists”

For several years, the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) has shown its concern about the scope of the transparency register, the so-called “lobby register”. According to CEMR, governments of towns and cities are democratic bodies, and should not be confused with corporate lobbies. Therefore, they should be exempt from the transparency register, as stated by MEP Sven Giegold’s report on transparency, responsibility and integrity in European institutions.

Now that the European Commission, the Parliament and the Council are currently working on a common transparency register, we have interviewed Mr Giegold on the state of play of the negotiations as well as on the benefits of a transparency register for a more open and transparent decision-making process.

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