COVID-19

The Committee of the Regions has released its first Annual Regional and Local Barometer, with a focus on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 142-page report provides a wealth of information broken down wherever possible at the local or regional level.

The analysis, maps and charts cover a wide range of issues including the socio-economic impact of COVID, local finances, the digital transition and much more. Never before has the coronavirus’ impact in Europe been mapped at such a granular level.

On local finances, in line with CEMR’s own report, the Committee of the Regions highlights the ‘scissors effect’ of the COVID crisis: falling revenue and increased expenditure are putting towns and regions’ budgets in the red. Local and regional governments in France, Germany and Italy are expected to lose 30 billion euros in 2020 alone. More generally, over 90% of EU regions and municipalities expect their revenues to plummet.

The report provides examples of towns and regions’ responses to coronavirus and analyses the local and regional impact of EU measures. Drawing from an original poll of 26,000 people in all EU countries, the report also shows that local and regional governments enjoy greater trust on the part of the citizens than do other levels of government. All the more reason to closely involve towns, regions and their associations in designing the recovery!