"The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) should use the Conference on the Future of Europe to become a more active decision-maker in EU policies. We need to create ways to systematically include cities and regions in the evaluation and design of EU policies. The CoR's network of regional hubs for EU policy evaluation (RegHub) and its input in the European Commission's Fit for Future Platform can play an important role to put active subsidiarity into practice." Olgierd Geblewicz, President of the Westpomeranian Region and President of the EPP Group in the European Committee of the Regions (EPP-CoR Group) made these remarks during the online CoR Bureau meeting.
During the debate, Michael Murphy, Chair of the ECON commission and member of the Tipperary County Council stressed that the CoR's Network of Regional hubs is an excellent tool for policy review allowing feedback to find its way to Brussels in a bottom up approach. Speaking on subsidiarity, Murphy said that cutting red tape remains crucial for a business friendly environment especially for small family businesses. He stressed "We need to help SMEs to boost recovery, they are the first to suffer when rules are too complicated, hard or contradictory".
CIVEX Chair Mark Speich moderated the discussion of the Future of Europe in the context of the pandemic. Speich who serves as Secretary of State for Federal, European and International Affairs for the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia said that the conference on the Future of Europe is an opportunity for the CoR. He added "We need to reflect on our structure and procedures to bring about change." Franck Proust, President of Nîmes Metropolis said that the Conference on the Future of Europe must be about concrete actions. He reiterated the EPP-CoR's call on the need to provide direct funding for projects of cities and regions.
Armin Laschet, Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia spoke about the need to cooperate more at European level and across borders especially in the health sectors. He added that Europe must have more independence from non-European markets in terms of research.
During the Bureau meeting members of the CoR also discussed the deeply worrying situation in Belarus. The EPP-CoR Group supports all efforts intended to benefit the democratic and civil rights of the people of Belarus, who have a right to live in a functioning democracy and be able to determine their own future. Ellen Nauta-van Moorsel, Mayor of the Municipality of Hof van Twente said that the CoR must reach out to cities and regions in Belarus and support the democratic process by reinforcing capacities of local and regional authorities.