The European People's Party Group in the Committee of the Regions (EPP/CoR) held a seminar entitled "City Diplomacy: A Tool for Building Measures of Confidence" on 6 October 2009, under the auspices of the Open Days: European Week of Regions and Cities.
City diplomacy has an important role to play, especially in times of major challenges. It offers a dynamic instrument, with which local authorities and their bodies can promote social cohesion, environmental sustainability and conflict prevention amongst others, creating a stable environment for citizens.
This seminar aimed to analyse the role and context of city diplomacy as a promoter of cross-border cooperation and to provide an opportunity to exchange experience, in order to increase the involvement of local and regional authorities in this initiative.