The main aim of the contract is the preparation of a file note exploring the role of local and regional authorities in the Mediterranean region in the development of the blue economy. This includes a survey of coastal tourism; food, health, and ecosystem services; energy at sea and raw materials...
The main aim of the contract is the preparation of a file note exploring the role of local and regional authorities in the Mediterranean region in the development of the blue economy. This includes a survey of coastal tourism; food, health, and ecosystem services; energy at sea and raw materials; maritime transport activities; and environmental monitoring and protection of maritime areas.
This study examines how the 2014 Directives on public procurement are being implemented by regional and local authorities. The Directives introduced several changes to the European public procurement framework. These include thresholds, grounds for exclusion and award criteria, new and simplifie...
This study examines how the 2014 Directives on public procurement are being implemented by regional and local authorities. The Directives introduced several changes to the European public procurement framework. These include thresholds, grounds for exclusion and award criteria, new and simplified procedures, stronger provisions on integrity and transparency targeting corruption and fraud, special attention on e-procurement and a focus on strategic procurement to achieve policy goals in innovation, the environment and social inclusion.
This study identifies the main current vulnerabilities of local and regional authorities (LRAs) in Southern Mediterranean countries regarding public procurement and public services, and provides a systematic assessment of priority avenues of intervention. In a context of a moderately low institu...
This study identifies the main current vulnerabilities of local and regional authorities (LRAs) in Southern Mediterranean countries regarding public procurement and public services, and provides a systematic assessment of priority avenues of intervention. In a context of a moderately low institutional capacity, and of a yet incipient process of decentralisation, corruption can severely impede the delivering good quality public goods and services at subnational level.
In 2016 the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, asked the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) - as the voice of cities and regions - to submit its recommendations on the future of Europe. Subsequently, the CoR launched its “Reflecting on Europe” campaign whereby members held loca...
In 2016 the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, asked the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) - as the voice of cities and regions - to submit its recommendations on the future of Europe. Subsequently, the CoR launched its “Reflecting on Europe” campaign whereby members held local events with citizens in their regions and cities to hear their views. This brochure gives an overview of what citizens said they want in the future of Europe. Complemented by an EU-wide online survey and consultation of local and regional authorities, the feedback formed the basis of an opinion led by the CoR’s President, Karl-Heinz Lambertz, and its First Vice- President, Markku Markkula, which was adopted during its plenary on 9 October 2018. The opinion “Reflecting on Europe: the voice of regional and local authorities to rebuild trust in the European Union” was adopted shortly after the President Lambertz gave his second “State of the Union: view of regions and cities” speech during a debate with the European Parliament’s President, Antonio Tajani. The opinion and speech form the basis of the CoR’s efforts to contribute to the debate on the Future of Europe ahead of the meeting of the EU leaders in Sibiu on 9 May and the European elections on 23-26 May 2019. The CoR is committed to ensuring that the voice of regional and local authorities and their citizens is heard within the EU in an effort to make the European project more transparent, democratically accountable and develop new forms of participative democracy.
This brochure gathers information on the European Union (EU) financial assistance available in the form of programmes, instruments, and other financing opportunities to local and regional authorities (LRAs) in candidate and potential candidate countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina [BiH], Fo...
This brochure gathers information on the European Union (EU) financial assistance available in the form of programmes, instruments, and other financing opportunities to local and regional authorities (LRAs) in candidate and potential candidate countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina [BiH], Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, and Turkey). Importantly, it provides a comprehensive update on the 2014 publication on ‘The efficient use of funds for local and regional authorities under the IPA II [The Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance II] regulation’ in the context of the IPA II mid-term review.
The political backdrop of the present analysis is provided by the Committee of the Regions (CoR) proposal of a Code of conduct for the involvement of the local and regional authorities in the European Semester and by the territorial analyses of the 2018 Country Reports based on Country-specific ...
The political backdrop of the present analysis is provided by the Committee of the Regions (CoR) proposal of a Code of conduct for the involvement of the local and regional authorities in the European Semester and by the territorial analyses of the 2018 Country Reports based on Country-specific Recommendations (CSR). As a word of caution, it is important to note that the following analysis describes how the National Reform Programme (NRP) reports on the role and involvement of the Local and Regional Authorities (LRAs). It might be the case that the actual involvement of the LRAs in the preparation and implementation of NRP is not stated in the documents. The analysis followed a comparative approach between the current situation and the preceding years (from 2011 onwards, with a special focus on 2015 onwards). A major point is evident: political administrative systems do not change quickly - these systems rather evolve than change all of a sudden. Given this ‘inertia’ of the systems, one can expect that major findings in many analytical dimensions do not change or vary much over time.
In recent years, governments and parliaments at all levels have involved citizens more frequently in participatory decision-making to improve quality, transparency and ownership of policies at local, national and European level. EU member states and institutions as well as cities and regions hav...
In recent years, governments and parliaments at all levels have involved citizens more frequently in participatory decision-making to improve quality, transparency and ownership of policies at local, national and European level. EU member states and institutions as well as cities and regions have held thousands of citizens’ dialogues and consultations on the future of Europe and are ready to continue this exercise to make the European Union more democratic and transparent. This publication brings together reflections on how this could happen in the years to come. The “Leaders Agenda” adopted by the informal European Council in Sibiu on 9 May 2019 and the “Political Guidelines” of the European Commission President-elect, Ursula von der Leyen, presented on 16 July 2019 in the European Parliament put citizens’ involvement in EU policy-making at centre stage. Ms. von der Leyen suggested a two-years’ “Conference on the Future of Europe” to begin in 2020, which would “bring together citizens (…), young people, civil society and EU institutions as equal partners” with a “clear objective, agreed between the Parliament, the Council and the Commission” and the possibility to suggest “legislative action if appropriate”.
The main aim of the study ‘Mobility of Young Volunteers across Europe’ was to review the conceptual and practical issues hindering the mobility of young volunteers across Europe. The study was initiated as a result of the Opinion of the Committee of the Regions concerning the proposal for a Coun...
The main aim of the study ‘Mobility of Young Volunteers across Europe’ was to review the conceptual and practical issues hindering the mobility of young volunteers across Europe. The study was initiated as a result of the Opinion of the Committee of the Regions concerning the proposal for a Council Recommendation on the mobility of young volunteers across Europe’. The Committee highlighted that there was a lack of thorough research on volunteering that could supply the information needed to generate a new policy that would fit in well with the reality of youth volunteering in Europe. Such research would have to examine the different systems and laws and regulations which exist in various Member States with regard to volunteering, the wishes of (potential) young volunteers and the obstacles they encounter, and the benefit of volunteering for the young volunteers as well as the region of origin and the host region. We have covered all of these themes in the study. Volunteering is a relatively under-researched topic, although interest in this area has grown in the last decades. Cross-border mobility of volunteers is especially difficult to analyse because of the lack of suitable data. The existing data is difficult to compare as the methods of defining voluntary activities and techniques used for collecting data on them differ greatly across the countries. This study is one of the few attempts to tackle this challenge.
