Any European or national leader who fails to recognize the crucial role of regions and cities in this complex crisis is lacking political vision and is unaware of the facts on the ground. Olgierd Geblewicz, President of West Pomerania (Poland) and President of the EPP-CoR Group made these remarks during the CoR plenary session held in Brussels discussing the state of cities and regions. Geblewicz said that it was the local and regional authorities across Europe, who are on the frontline trying to protect vulnerable families that are struggling to make ends meet because of the rising energy prices. He called for European measures to protect vulnerable people and economies, particularly those affected by the rising costs of energy but emphasized the need of close coordination with the regional and local level, so that measures reach the households and businesses that really need support, while avoiding the danger of accelerating inflation.
Apostolos Tzitzikostas, President of Central Macedonia (Greece) said "Cohesion policy must not turn into a 'passe-partout' fund to be used to tackle all sort of emergency. This is simply not possible, because many regions and cities are still lagging behind and need these funds, for modernizing their infrastructure."
Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla, President of the Region of Andalusia (Spain) said "Citizens, SMEs and families are facing the impact of crises such as climate change and its consequence, COVID-19 and the disruption with trade due to Russian aggression in Ukraine. This generates pressure on citizens and increases territorial divide. We need multi-level governance where citizens and regions can play the role they can play."
Adam Struzik, President of Mazovia Region (Poland) said "We are going through the biggest energy crisis that is leaving consequences on consumers, industries, businesses and public administration. We have record level of inflation at 17% and energy prices have increased with 40% since last year. He said that while authorities were reducing consumption, they were struggling financially. We need European action to stop the increase of prices."
Uwe Conradt, Mayor of Saarbrücke (Germany) said "It is clearer with every crisis that the role of local and regional authorities is crucial in reacting and addressing crisis. We must therefore work together to overcome crises and engage municipalities in decision making. A strong Europe is a Europe with strong regions and cities."
Željko Turk, Mayor of the City of Zaprešić (Croatia) said "The development of cities and region is of utmost importance. The hardship of the crises that we were faced with in these last two years have had a big impact on our communities. The state of any nation is better the better the local and regional development. Their development is the precondition of other development."
Local and regional leaders adopted a resolution on the 2022 State of Cities and Regions highlighting the impact of the war and the rising energy prices on Europe's regions, cities and families. The text calls for considering regional and local authorities as partners in the energy saving campaigns, in new renewable energy generating projects, as well as in climate action. The resolution promotes the engagement of LRAs in the rebuilding of Ukraine while supporting local democracy. Members voted in support of the consolidation of cohesion policy. With the resolution the CoR reconfirms it commitment to play an active role when it comes to the implementation of the conclusions of the Conference on the Future of Europe.