Members of the EPP-CoR held a debate on the European Commission 2023 priorities focusing on the EU energy platform, the critical raw material act and EU-UK Relations.

EPP-CoR 1st Vice-President Jelena Drenjanin requested that the Commissions' State of the Union grants the deserved recognition for the work of regions and cities, which are on the frontline on a daily basis to address multiple crises. She also invited European Commission Vice-President Sefcovic to consider the adaptation of the cooperation agreement  between the European Commission and the European Committee of the Regions, in order to better plan ahead coordinated actions between Brussels and European cities and regions.   

Michael Murphy, member of Tipperary County Council, Head of the Irish delegation to the CoR, and Rapporteur on 'Strengthening the EU-UK relationship at sub-national level and remedying the territorial impact of the UK's withdrawal from the EU' said "Cities and regions will continue to find new ways of maintaining and developing pragmatic, tangible and mutually beneficial EU-UK relationships. The narrative is clearly different at the level of the UK devolved administrations, and local government on both sides of the Channel, than the UK national government's narrative. I was happy to attend the most recent meetings of the Parliamentary Partnership Assembly and I know there is untapped potential at the subnational area, such as in low carbon technologies, environment and resource efficiency, climate mitigation practices and EU-UK subnational cooperation in relevant international fora."

Mark Speich, State Secretary for Federal, European and International Affairs and Media of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia said “Let us intensify our cooperation in the sense of active subsidiarity! Just as we have done in the context of the Fit for Future platform. Let us – as regions and cities – actively participate in the fields of legislation with strong territorial impact.”

Rastislav Trnka, Chairman of Košice Self – Governing Region said "My region started activities in the field of hydrogen long before the crisis. We were the first region in Slovakia to bring in our own hydrogen strategy. The Košice region, which borders directly on Ukraine, is ready to be a natural, strong pillar of the bridge that will connect and promote cooperation on renewable energy between the EU and Ukraine." He also called for Local and Regional Authorities to be engaged in the development of the policies that are implement on the ground and to participate in the fight against the energy crisis and other challenges that the European Union is facing as cities and regions know the realities on the ground.

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