 Dear members Please take your seats Okay, good evening to all. This is our plenary session that's starting now We need to move to our agenda because we have our debate with our minister who is here First note is the adoption of the document of the new 2025 term of office strategic planning and remits of COR commissions at the meeting on December 2019 members of the outgoing bureau discussed the COR strategic recommendations for the new term These proposals were presented for approval at the first meeting of the new bureau this morning and The bureau recommended that the plenary assembly adopt them The new commissions remits must provide COR members with the most Effective political bodies to enable them to implement the resolution on the COR's political priorities For the new mandate to be adopted by the plenary session on March 2020 as well as the COR resolution on the new EC working programs With regard to the responsibilities of the COR commissions for the new term of office 2025 The bureau proposes to maintain the six commissions that we had in our previous mandate whilst providing an equitable political and workload balance and ensuring greater synergies for the committee of the regions platforms and networks I ask you now to approve this strategic planning and the remits of the COR commissions as Set out in the document and its appendices along with any amendments made by the bureau please note the Luxembourg and Cyprus will have two seats in each commission and Estonia will have two seats in four commissions and Three seats in two commissions so I would like for you to Adopt and accept this note. Thank you Sorry Mr. McCarthy Okay Here in the front. Mr. President. I rise to support the strategic planning report I think it's one of the most important Documents that we'll probably agree upon in the next five years It contains a strategic roadmap Which well will help us to think out about think where we're going over the next five years And it is important That we limit as much as the as possible the silo ization within the organization And that commissions actually work more together I do reckon that there probably is a need for a kind of copper policy group where the commission chairs meet Every two to three months and discuss with yourself president of work actually ongoing and within the commissions Mr. President. I'm also a big supporter of our communications unit And I think there's a larger role for this unit to play and going forward And I'd also like to see the local dialogues Revisited and re-established for the new mandate and it has been the COR's influence And which did lead the European Parliament and the European Commission To make more of a connection to the ground in the last two years and we can be very very proud of such influence Thank you. Thank you very much So do we agree on that? Okay Now I would like to communicate to communicate you two Points first of all, I would like to inform you that the COR Interim president has decided to appoint Voico Oversnel as Rapporteur general for the opinion on proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the council establishing the Just transition fund The opinion will be tabled for the March plenary session Secondly, I would like to inform you that similarly Mr. Dobro Slavich was appointed as Rapporteur general for the opinion on local democracy challenges in the Western Balkans Which is a referral by the creation presidency of the council and which will be Tabled for the March plenary session as well Now following the political agreement between the six political groups yesterday I understood that there is an agreement to create an ad hoc commission on the revision of the rules of procedure Therefore, I propose to postpone This point to the March plenary if you agree. We have any different opinions Okay So we postpone it And now we are moving for the adoption of our first Resolution for this mandate It's a draft resolution on the 2020 annual sustainable growth strategy Is there any general statement from the floor or should we pass to the vote directly? We can pass to the vote directly Amen Number one who is in favor who is against it's adopted Amendment number two who is in favor who is against Adopted Amendment number three who's in favor who is against adopted Amendment number four who is in favor who is against Adopted Amendment number five who is in favor who is against Adopted amendment number six who's in favor who is against adopted Do you agree then to adopt the whole of the resolution who is in favor who is against Adopted abstentions. Do we have any abstentions adopted? Thank you We will be moving now to the adoption of our first opinion For this mandate It's strengthening the rule of law within the union a blueprint for action own initiative opinion Mr. Young, please take your seat here In the absence of the rapporteur mr. Christophe Ruyong will present mr. Lashop's opinion We regret it deeply, in any case, I regret that he could not be again reconditioned in his functions within the committee of the regions because it was a particularly active member and a very great political intelligence so in his name I will report on this file and I would also like to thank his expert the professor Spitalereli who can not for administrative reasons I think it's a little exaggerated to be present here today So the elaboration of the life has been preceded by a consultation that allowed to involve in particular the president of the Court of Justice of the European Union the Italian judge of the European Court of Human Rights the representatives of the Commission of Venice but also the service of the Commission the general secretary of the council certainly members of the European Parliament as for example madam Interveld All and all are witnesses of their great interest in dialogue with the European Committee of the Regions on this subject Our contributions could take place on a concrete participation of local and regional authorities and of our committee on the debate and the realization of the reinforcement of the state of law in the European Union This opinion insists on the principle of equality of the member states in view of the union and above all on the conviction that the principles of the state of law are not limitations imposed on member states by the European Union but on the contrary these principles of the state of law are common values serving as a common source to the constitutional system of all member states of the European Union It is in this spirit that the text brings its support to the implementation of a monitoring system or verification in French for all member states Its objective is to defend common values and not question the institutional model of one state or another Moreover, this monitoring mechanism must not be understood as interfering with procedures foreseen by article 7 of the treaty on the European Union which no one or even the Commission suggests the modification for the moment The monitoring verification mechanism proposed to avoid violations of the state of law thanks to a preventive dialogue system This monitoring system is complementary to the Commission's skills to engage in infraction procedures against member states which do not respect the obligations inscribed in the treaties For example, the appeal to the independence of the judicial system is a serious lack of treaty in the measure where it puts the mutual trust base between the states of the European Union on which the European integration is based Life also underlines the threats that can weigh on the freedom of the press in the context of the digital economy In order to stop these threats, it is necessary to support the independent press, especially at the local level In view of a more important application of local and regional collectivities and the Committee of the Regions in the strengthening of the state of law, life forms some concrete proposals such as the proposal of decentralized meetings aimed at promoting the culture of the state of law that these meetings precede the annual event proposed by the Commission and it also proposes the involvement of lawyers, mediators, research centers and civil society organized in this monitoring system As far as the amendments are concerned, we have tried to take into consideration all the proposals that are in place with the common mind of the project to reinforce the protection of the state of law The state of law is not only a NATO of the European Union but it is an essential condition of its operation We cannot, consequently, accept the amendments that are due to weaken new monitoring mechanisms and that pretend that the member states, not their cultural differences, are incapable of having common standards in terms of the state of law In conclusion, allow me to emphasize that the adoption of this life constitutes a starting point The participation of local and regional collectivities of the Committee of the Regions and the promotion of the state of law goes through a permanent dialogue with the other institutions of the European Union Relations with the bodies of the Council of Europe which have been working for a long time on the issues of the state of law including the local power congress and the Commission of Venice should be maintained and reinforced The adoption of life marks the commitment of the Committee of the Regions to develop this dialogue and to coordinate the efforts of local and regional authorities on this sensitive but essential issue I thank you for your attention and I thank you for your observations So the floor is now open, does anyone want to take the floor? Okay Ah okay Dear colleague I can't see the name Mr. Godet If the issue of the state of law is raised, it touches us quite a bit as citizens of the Polish society because it indicates that, among other things, our country that some actions of the Polish authorities violate the state of law Personally, I think that there is no such place However, I would like to draw your attention to the main principle which the Committee of the Regions should be taking into account We are looking at the European Union, at all European countries paying attention to its diversity resulting from great history from very detailed, very interesting European cultural realities in various places of our continent And as we say, our wealth of whole Europe and European culture is taken from this diversity Therefore, such a look at particular countries, larger or smaller, in such a way unifying seems to me quite dangerous both for the behavior of this tradition, this wealth as well as has such a very good, I think, practical consequences Therefore, I would also like to present to you all the arguments that we reported as a group of European conservatists and reformers in order to very carefully approach these measures, unification and assessment of particular solutions in the countries of the European Union It is enough to say that we have organized countries in Europe such as here in Belgium, around the people of the ruling party, we have the republics We have large countries, small countries And it is difficult to use one standard and assess which one of these devices is better and more proper Similarly, when it comes to the organization of courts, we have very different traditions of creating this system historical conditions that result from them Therefore, also such categorical deviations from the level of European, relating to particular solutions taken in particular countries, seems to me very dangerous and very ingrained in the wealth of this diversity that we have in Europe Therefore, I encourage you to take care of these considerations Thank you very much Thank you, I will finish In this case, I would like to ask you to respect the diversity and variety of particular traditions of particular countries Thank you Thank you, dear colleague. Let's move now to the vote on amendments Yes, Mr. Ruyant I would like to respond to our colleague I do not think that our colleague made the promotion of the non-respectful state of law I would like to say that among the conditions that exist to enter the European Union, there is the respect of the state of law So we cannot, once we enter the European Union, in the European institutions, say that no, we do not respect the rules that were committed to respect And I do not believe that it is cultural differences There is only to have its culture, by the way, there are cultural particularities that certainly do not exist in your region On the other hand, the common standards of the respect of the person, the freedom of the press, the independence of justice are principles that are not of the cultural domain, they are legal principles which must be respected by an independent justice court that applies the same standards and that must be accepted by cultural differences so that the rules of the state of law can be accepted I do not think that we are in the same field at all And I would like to say, in relation to the remark, I am a bit of a lawyer but we cannot say that there are monarchies and republics Of course there are monarchies and republics, but in my opinion, they are constitutional monarchies And we do not have in Europe a monarchic system as we could hear it in France in 1789 So we have political systems that are democratic in the whole of the European Union which apply to the state of law, and in my opinion, we must respect these rules because they are our common heritage And I repeat, it was still among the conditions of entry into the European Union Thank you very much Now let's... Mr. Speich asks for the floor Please I would like to support the execution of the report and with an easy proof I quote from the beginning of the Treaty of Lisbon The Treaty and that of the Union on the basis of the Treaty of Law have precedence before the right of the member states This rather basic principle of the precedence of European law is exacerbated and relativized by the proof of cultural traditions and that is why I would like to point out this point Okay, Ms. Dulkiewicz, please Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman I am the second day in the Committee of Regions I come from Gdańsk, the city of Solidarity and Freedom and I would like to thank the Committee of Regions and the Commission of CIVEX which I have also written that I took up this topic For many Poles today, the issue of law enforcement of the basic rules of the rule of law of independence and independence of the court is a great humiliation Thank you very much that we are in the European Union which is also the one who does not always observe the law and indicates the right path For us, the government, representatives of the city and regions are the light of the law The certainty that the courts will act as independent courts is the basic element of the legal action of each democratic state This year in Poland in May 27th we will have the 30th anniversary of the first elections for local governments This is an important date for us because local governments in Poland are today selected as the biggest success of the last 30th Therefore, the indication of the basic rules that the European Union controls which we have been members of for 16 years is extremely important for us Thank you Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman I also want to make sure that we live in a democratic country We will indeed go through important dates related to the relatives of the government which has indeed proven to defend itself We are very happy that we can also be here with you in this representation of the European Committee of Regions I think that this democratic government which was elected in democratic elections does not question this It makes changes that are necessary for the right to function and this democracy and our law in our country There are numerous examples There are numerous cases which confirm the fact that the courts in Poland should be reformed I think that this reform will be useful for, of course, the courts because they also directly suffer but also for the entrepreneurs who accept a lot of harm simply during the functioning and conducting economic activities Many reforms have been made I think that this is also necessary and will really lead our country and lead it to countries about the right and democratically functioning system as well as the legal system Thank you very much Mr Wozniak, please Thank you, Mr President Colleagues representing Poland in the framework of the ECR Unfortunately, they are provoking the election of the vote because they present the line of our government which, unfortunately, explains all these actions which are taken against the courts and in our opinion they are hiding under European rules and lead a simple way to promote democracy and to create a system which is more authoritarian So please take into account that this Polish voice flows from the side close to the government Not everyone here is the same opinion Many of us here representing Poland and other groups are critical to these actions and it is difficult to explain them in a simple way Thank you very much Ok So this was the last intervention We are now moving to the votes on amendments but before that the reporter would like to say something No, I didn't want to give the impression that we are doing the process of one country or another It is an opinion that concerns the whole of the European Union It is a transversal view and it is not at all a question of targeting such or such a country in this opinion Let's move on to the votes on the amendments We have amendment number one Who is in favor Who is against Abstentions Rejected Amendment two Who is in favor Who is against Abstentions Rejected Amendment three We have a normal compromise It's on the screen So who is in favor Who is against Abstentions It passes Amendment number four Who is in favor Who is against Abstentions Rejected Amendment number five Who is in favor Who is against Abstentions Adopted Amendment number six Who is in favor Who is against Vote electronic The vote is closed It's rejected Amendment number seven Who is in favor Who is against Abstentions Approved Amendment number eight Who is in favor Who is against Abstentions Rejected Amendment number nine Who is in favor Who is against Vote electronic The vote is closed It passes Amendment number ten Who is in favor Who is against Abstentions Amendment number eleven Who is in favor Who is against Abstentions Rejected Amendment number twelve Who is in favor Who is against Abstentions Rejected Amendment thirteen Who is against Electronic vote please The vote is closed Approved Amendment fourteen Who is in favor Who is against Abstentions Rejected Amendment fifteen Who is in favor Who is against Abstentions Rejected Final vote please Who is in favor Who is against Abstentions It's adopted Congratulations We now invite The minister Ivan Malenicha Minister of Public Administration Of Croatia To have a debate With our members The way it's going to go We will have a statement A brief statement from me Statement from the minister And then we will have representatives Of the political groups The first vice president And interventions From the floor From all our members Welcome Dear minister Malenicha It is a pleasure to welcome you To our plenary session The Croatian EU presidency Comes at a time when Critically important decisions Directly affect the future And the shape of our union Agreements on the next Multi-financial framework Green Deal Our ongoing response to migration As well as our future relations With the United Kingdom And the Western Balkans Will have a profound impact On all of us We therefore welcome Your request for two opinions By our committee On the demographic challenges And on local democracy In the Western Balkans Let me also stress that a strong And modern cohesion policy Is needed today more than ever before To tackle disparities Support the digital and climate Transitions As well as support the integration Of migrants Depriving regions and cities Of EU funds Is a threat to a balanced Sustainable development We will stress this again During the high level conference That will take place A conference of ministers Responsible for cohesion policy In Zagreb on the 30th of March Regional and local authorities Are also ready to contribute To the success of the summit Of the Western Balkans in Zagreb in May Like you I live in a border region With the Western Balkans Only a European perspective Of this region can offer stability Economic growth and ultimately A better future for its citizens In March In March our institution Will adopt its contribution Towards the Zagreb summit And I call on your presidency To invite Our institution to present Its recommendations During this Very important summit Finally We will continue contributing To the exercise of rebuilding Trust of the European Union In particular In the context of the conference Of the future of Europe We will do so by building on Active subsidiarity and local democracy And multiplying our efforts To build A union Which acts Closer to citizens And we will insist Here I hope we can do that Starting in Rijeka in April Where we will hold our external Bureau meeting And in May in Zagreb When we will organize a seminar Focusing on the sustainable development goals We therefore Count on your support minister To raise the importance Of actively involving The cities And the regions in the conference For the future of Europe Within the European Council This As we discussed earlier Together in our bilateral meeting Is the only way To move forward If Europe wants to have a future It needs to have Democracy And if it needs to have democracy Then it's certain That there is a major role For the cities and the regions To play. So you have the floor I welcome you again To the COR And I'm really positive And optimistic That you will be of great help To the One million elected Regional and local politicians Who are asking to play A major role In forming Europe's future Thank you very much Minister. Thank you, dear president Of the committee of regions Dear members, ladies and gentlemen I would like to thank you President Citi Costos For inviting me today To present the priorities Of creation presidency In my capacity As minister of public administration Of Croatia. It's an honor for me and a pleasure To be with you on this special day During this important moment For all of you, the first day Of your new term of office For the period of the 2020 To the 2025. Let me congratulate you On your constitutional plenary And wish you a fruitful mandate Of European citizens. My sincere congratulations Also go out to you President Citi Costos And vice president Cordeiro For your election As well as to bureau members. Let me also commend President Lambertz And vice president Marquela On their successful mandate During which several outstanding Initiatives took place. I would mention The reflecting on Europe Process with over 200 citizen debates And local events Organized in the member states As well as the president's Address on the state of the union From the perspective of regions And cities. Which was delivered for the first time In 2017. The committee of region Is a respected European body And an important link To local and regional levels. The committee's opinions Are integral part of the EU legislative process. The committee's action Is particularly important For retaining citizens trust. Your work, dear members Helps to keep European Decision making rooted in Reality. For instance, your action With regard to citizens dialogues Contributed substantially In Europe closer to citizens. I agree with your analysis That some of the main challenges Facing Europe Social justice, regional Inequalities, migration Sustainability, climate And increasing the engagement Of the citizen in the EU Need to be addressed Using a multi-level approach. Addressing these challenges Is impossible with the local And regional authorities. The Croatian presidency Counts on your support And participation. I believe in the mission Of your institution. We as presidency Are ready to cooperate closely With you during this semester. The Republic of Croatia Is presiding for the first time Over the Council of the EU. From the 1st of January 2020. A remarkable moment for us Since our country is the youngest Member state of the EU. Croatia will focus on a motto A strong Europe in a world Of challenges. And on Positioning Europe as a global leader. More Europe And a strong European voice Are needed in order to tackle the challenges. This can only Be achieved if we are together And work for the benefit Of our member states, Its regions and citizens. The success Of the European project Also depends on the vitality Of our cities and regions. And this is also reflected In the committee's work. The program of Croatian presidency Consists of four Priority areas. A Europe that develops. A Europe that connects. A Europe that protects. Europe. When it comes to our first priority. A Europe that develops. It should be recalled that the European Union, its economy And labour market face New global challenges and Demographic changes. In order for the EU to stay Competitive, the Croatian Presidency will continue Deepening the single market Encouraging the digitalization Agenda, investment in Innovation. As well as lifelong learning. Developing new skills Adjusted to jobs of the future Is also essential. Our main objective Is to ensure a balanced Sustainable and inclusive Growth of the Union That takes into account the Specificities of all member States and their regions. The cohesion policy Is crucial for reducing Territorial differences And for strengthening the Competiveness of the EU And all its regions. Cohesion contributes to the Creation of new jobs Investment and economic growth And to the smooth and Efficient functioning of the Single market. At the same time, it directly Affects the quality of life Of EU citizens and Helps them face new challenges Such as demographic changes, Industrial transition and Climate change. I'm aware that the cohesion policy Is dear to your heart. And your committee is also Actively working on it. You're a strong defender Of its development, often Expressing the concerns Of the regions and cities Regarding its funding. Let me assure you that the Creation presidency will contribute To finalizing the negotiations On the legislative package For the cohesion policy 2021-2027. Rules enabling effective Implementation of projects will Play an important role in further Implementation of the cohesion policy. The time agreement On the next multi-annual Financial framework for the next Seven years is our priority. Together with the president of The European Council, Mr. Michel, who is continuing the MFF talks at the highest Political level, we will Work together that the next MFF should meet the expectation Of all our citizens In all our member states And creates added value At the same time talking Into consideration the principle Of sound financial Management. In particular, it must continue To finance cohesion and Implementation of policies but Also be able to address many New challenges the EU is Facing. Croatia will pay special Attention to promoting the Initiatives that encourage Reform process and Convergence among member States. The presidency will continue To implement initiatives that Support deepening of the Single market and it will Be strengthening the EU's International economic and Financial role. In that respect, emphasis will Be placed on strengthening the International role of the Euro. Inclusion of citizens, dialogues With the civil society, organizations And transparency of the Institution of the European Union are crucial components in Strengthening its democracy Legitimacy. And in strengthening citizens trust In the union and in shaping The policies focused on The improvement of their quality Of life. All of this is important for fighting Growing populism in many EU member states. The presidency will promote Efficient, responsible And digitalized European public Administration that will be Able to provide a timely And high quality Of life. We will be committed to Moving forward with the main Initiatives contained in the European Green Deal. Bearing in mind its Importance as one of the main Building blocks of the new Commission. And need for a clear political Deal. We will be committed to Moving forward with the main Initiatives contained in The European Green Deal. And need for a clear political Signal related to EU transition to climate Neutrality until 2050. The new commission also Recognized the need to address The demographic challenges. Today the EU is facing Problems of the aging Population and the loss Of young and educated Workers to more developed Governments. We should all work together And look for the solution to Support the member states and Its regions. The presidency will be Dedicated to building a close Future relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom. Based on partnership in the Areas of common interest in Line with the political Declaration. And by following the European Council guidelines as well As other statements and Declarations. Under the second priority, a Europe that connects, we will Promote initiatives contributing To digital connectivity, Transport and energy For the benefit of our citizens. As you know, Connectivity is one of the Most important prerequisites For achieving social, Economic and territorial cohesion Among member states and Regions. During our presidency, we will Place a strong emphasis on Bringing citizens together Through education, culture and Sport. Only safe Europe can provide Peaceful environment for its Citizens under the third Priority, a Europe that Protects. We will work on the Union's In the areas of freedom, security And justice based on Shared values, democracy And rule of law. The creation presidency Has recognized the importance Of promoting a comprehensive Approach to the rule of law. The aim is to strengthen And protect the fundamental Values of the Union. The rule of law Is embedded In the founding And functioning the Union As community of values In which democracy, Human rights, and the Rule of law are respected And protected. This is a shared responsibility Of the Union and The member states individually. Efficient protection of the EU's external borders As well as increased resilience To external threats And hybrid and cyber threats Are of vital importance. Achieving a comprehensive Solution For a sustainable and effective Migration and asylum Policies is our joint objective. Under the fourth priority An influential Europe We will highlight The Union's role on a global Scale and in its Neighborhood. We will focus on Development of Overall political and social Resilience in a partner's Countries as long As a long-term answer To preventing crisis caused By human or natural factors. The presidency will continue To encourage stronger Connections between Short-term, humanitarian aid And long-term international Development cooperation. Croatia will focus on Further reducing inequality To the implementation of Economic measures for Encouraging investment and Creating sustainable jobs In particular through strengthening Cooperation with the middle income Countries and Less developed Countries. To achieve more efficient results Special attention will be paid To youth and to women and girls The key drivers of sustainable Development. We will continue to support Credible and merit-based EU enlargement policy. Dear President, Dear members The Croatian presidency Will be pleased to cooperate With you during this semester. We believe that European, local And regional actors Can contribute to promoting A more competitive, connected And secure Europe. In that regard We have identified several Areas where we would Appreciate the input of The European Committee of the Regents, notably Working together With you on implementing the European Green Deal. Promoting digitalization at Regional and local level. Promoting macro-original Strategies. Tackling brain drain And demographic challenges in the EU. Enlargement package. Contribution to the development Of middle income countries. Strengthening the rule Of law within the Union. We must get closer to our Citizens, listen and provide Appropriate answers To their concerns. As a part of The efforts to bring The Union closer to its citizens Croatia will also Engage in the Conference on the future Of Europe, jointly with Other institutions and member states. The conference Should be inclusive in nature And foresee a broad consultation Of citizens in the course Of the process. We should build on Successful holding Of the citizens dialogues over The past two years. I'm aware that You had already called for a Follow-up to the citizens Consultations exercise in the Form of a permanent EU mechanism for structured Consultations and dialogues with The citizens. Work on defining A console position is in Progress on the basis Of indications from the Council meeting in December 2019. The committee of the region's Expertise at local level And its experience In the organization of Citizens dialogues will make A valuable contribution to these Initiatives. I would be happy to have your Input and hear your views Including on how you see the Specific role of the committee Of the regions in the conference. Looking forward to co-operating With you in achieving the EU's future objective. Thank you for your attention. Thank you, Minister. Let's open The floor to discussions. The floor goes to Mr. Dobroslavic Kola. Thank you, President. Minister Valenica. In the name of the European The European Union. I greet the Engagement of the Croatian Presidency of the European Union And especially I honor the Croatian Presidency On the program and election Priorities of that program For these 16 months Of the Presidency of the European Union. The selected motto Strong Europe In the world full of challenges Really The political moment Every other moment But goes in step The conditions of the European Union For the future. For us, the election of the region Strong Europe Everything means Strong regions, cities And the citizens of the European Union. And in that we see the synergy The conditions Croatian Presidency And our mission Which we have in the election of the region And that is the further development Local regional self-control Priority Europe Which is developing Confirms That we do not just have to develop But ensure the competitiveness European Union On the active open world market Inside of that Very important consideration The fastest development of the More than a year financial cycle That is the 7th year of the bill But the bill in which Will not come to reduce Cohesive policies To reduce the unification Public policies Because we insisted As the European Parliament That they will remain On the bar of the current regime Because of that As the European Parliament That the exception For the transfer of the European Union Will be 1.3% Of the gross national income EU 27 Europe that also Is an important priority Because we think that Is connected to Social, economic And territorial cohesion Which is important to us all Especially on the regional local In that way We expect a quality TNT network And The instrument for connecting Europe In which there will be less funds Than what it was until now Europe that is protecting Also says That we are going in a step With time The protection of the protection of the military border Solving illegal migrations Are challenges that we Must And the fourth priority In Europe In which it is good That the Croatian presidency Was carefully expanded As the expansion of the European Union On the Western Balkans It is not good That it was already blocked The opening of negotiations With northern Macedonia And Albania But how We have realized That all these countries have to fulfill the criteria For entry into the European Union But that it is good for them And that it is good for the European Union That they will not be members of this Union We expect further The same engagement of the Croatian presidency We hope That I will agree More than a year of financial care And how Conference In Zagreb Let's have fun Good cooperation from the region And the Croatian presidency Thank you very much On behalf of The EPP Now let's move To the PES And The floor is for Mr. Rodriguez Mrs. Rodriguez, I'm sorry Dear members of the committee Minister I want to take this opportunity To recognize the effort That the European Union Has to make For the first time Without a doubt it should not be An easy task But I give my sincere congratulations A strong European In a world full of challenges Is perfect for the dynamic Change and radicalized In occasions in which we live now I greatly appreciate your presentation An exhibition With clear priorities With a convergence between them And what the members of the committee Defend At the edge of this I wanted to highlight Two points The first one has to do with The future plurian financial framework The committee together With the European Parliament Defends a budget Of 1.3% Of the gross national income Of the European Union Of the 27 The recent euro barometers And the European elections Show that the Europeans Want more and more Europe A more ecological Europe More innovative More united More coordinated More collaborative However Less budget We understand the present circumstances The structural changes of the union That force us to be more Careful with the resources But minister I ask that you Dialogue with your colleagues And convince them Especially those who are more Reliable in the council Convince them That they invest more in our common future To be defined According to the project Of a proportional Equitative and fair The second point Would be the policy of coercion The policy of coercion Is not a past policy of fashion We have to put it in fashion To reduce regional disparities In Europe And take the benefits Of European construction To all citizens Without imposing The place where they live The policy of coercion Is the main European policy To combat climate change To manage migration Or finance research And innovation Among other big issues And it is also the correct method To achieve the objectives That the European Union has set Because it involves all levels Of government It is ultimately the policy Of the European Union With the expectations of the citizens But it would be unfair To focus only on the policy of coercion Or the financial framework For me it has been a great satisfaction To know among other priorities The promotion of equality Between men and women We also do it in my region In Rioja Where we have included this In the government plan And I share with you A need to establish measures To break the Negative demographic trends Minister I started my intervention Recognizing that leading Europe Must be a complex task But for our luck We are millions of people Pursuing and working For a common goal Prosperity and common good You can count on the regions To carry out your plan To defend these ideas Within the Council of the European Union And that is placed in the budget Because among all We can achieve a stronger Europe No matter The challenges that we face Thank you very much Dear colleague Now we will move To the Renew Europe Representative Carla Foll Langevin For Renew Europe Welcome The free Prioritization We can see that you understand What are the most important challenges And we know Very well to them Under this Commission Many of the most important Initiatives For the coming years And let me assure you That we will have Detailated points From both the cities And the regions For the first We want an ambitious foundation For a fair change That not only builds On the existing Sustainability system Our main task Is to reduce the carbon dioxide We must do that In a way that is both fair And inclusive But more And competitive European economy A fair change But not only the coal regions The surroundings In our economies Will be wider It will affect the transport The production of goods To the management of services A fair change Must be understood by all European regions We see industry Strategy One of the most important In the role of a coal Dioxide Neutral Economy We strongly predict A place-based strategy A strategy where the EU Works as a driving force A strategy where the EU See which regions And places that mark And help them To connect this ecosystem With others And get them to grow We want an industry Strategy that builds On geographical advantages And sees our economy With an extensive network Of healthy and innovative Development centers That work with And not against each other If the conditions Happen everywhere We are talking about the traditional Or tourism And we need a reliable Strategy that works Well down from And up I will stop there With a question for you Is the Croatian entrepreneurship In the right way And how will they contribute To the development of the EU Industry strategy So that it will not be Up from and down It will work Thank you We now move to the ECR Mr Ortil Ladies and gentlemen Ladies and gentlemen Greetings to you in the name Of European Conservatives And reformers For today's session Thank you for your presence Our group wants The European Union And the Croatian president To take part in the areas Which bring citizens Clear benefits Our members believe that With every decision taken By the European Union There should be recognition If the decision is not In itself added value In the lives of every citizen And also In our economy As a member of our political group Which is leading That we will have a lower budget In exchange for such areas Is the cooperation of scientific research And the transformation of energy The best example Of the Union's added value Is the community's policy In the community's policy They have the fundamental values For many countries Which rebuild their economy After communism They are not, of course, good intentions The research shows that the funds In all European countries Every euro Invested in the policy of cooperation In 2007-2013 In the whole European Union Generated About 2.75 euros of PKB Such countries Like Austria, Germany, Netherlands Or Belgium, have brought A big benefit to the surprise Of course, they too I urge Mr. President To make a clear indication Of everyone Of everyone who uses The policy of cooperation During negotiations With the summer financial framework I also count on the support Of Mr. President In respect of the sovereignty Of national governments Our group sees that the means For the policy of cooperation Can't be used to rule For a change of approach To such issues as migration The important thing is the agenda For digitalization Mr. clearly showed the pressure In the president But it is also important Energy transformation We also appreciate it And we go in this direction We have to remember that it was Rightful and it was with Realistic goals We have to work together Over these issues In order to build a stronger With Ms. Haapanen Mr. President Honorable minister This winter was special Perhaps the most curious Of my life My city is located On the shore of the sea And on a big river And normally They are covered by the class But not this year When I was a child It was usual That the temperature Was below minus 24 months And sometimes even below 40 Minus 40 We built snow castles and snowmen Skied and skated all over Finland Even throw a car On the ice But this winter we have had To cancel skating events Even in the north And children have missed their skiing lessons At school because of lack of snow The farmers on their part Are afraid of losing Their crops because there's no Necessary frost on the soil To make the soil crannilose And thus good and fertile For farming There's also a thread That harmful pests won't die When the weather is so mild I'll continue in Finnish now Even though For example From a local village You can see the change of the weather With everything Before we could quickly reduce The warming of the weather We would like to thank many of us For their support As for the local farmers In the winter The winter season Has been celebrated By the Croatian media And by the end of the winter season In the winter All of them Are concerned With the fact that The green deal of Europe Will be available And Croatia will be able To continue The path of the European Union The path of the European Union The path of the European Union Is also present In the winter season And as a positive goal The warming of the weather The cooperation and the half-term And the reduction of the weather With 65% In the year 2030 In the year 2030 The warming of the climate Will be able to quickly To ensure The sustainable life Of the European Union The continuation of the life It ensures that The future is also in force And that The land will be able to The journey of knowledge of the year Once again The Prime Minister Good luck and good luck Through the leadership Thank you very much We moved to the EA And I would like to ask For Miss Montpetius Take the floor Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you I would like to give the floor now To our first Vice President Mr. Cordero Thank you, Mr. President Minister It's a pleasure and the honor To have you here Today with us Your presidency takes place at a very Decisive moment For the EU MFF negotiations, preparation of the conference On the future of Europe Just to mention some Following His meeting with Charles Michel Last Saturday Your Prime Minister said that he would And I quote, do everything so that In the European Union's Next seven year budget Croatia was given appropriate Cohesion funds, which he added Were the driver of Development and investment We could not agree more Cohesion is a key driver For regional development For Croatia And your country as presidency Of the EU took part to the meeting Of the Friends of Cohesion Gathered by my Prime Minister Antonio Costa on February 1 The participating countries Reminded that, and I quote Any cuts in the investment capacity Of cohesion regions Would be unacceptable Acknowledging that existing disparities In the level of development Among regions and member states Are still substantial And that the impact of the crisis Is still present Europe must strengthen efforts To increase investments That ensure economic, social And territorial convergence With special focus on the last Favourite regions We could not end of quote We could not agree more Very shortly The European Council will send A new proposal to the member states To the head of the next week EU Council I hope we can count on you To take on board our request For the centralized budget Which really supports regional development Notably through a strong EU cohesion policy The next topic Is the preparation Of the conference on the future Of Europe You know that our committee Has been very active to support The conference But also To ask to be part Not only to the Plenary meetings of that conference Not only to the citizens Dialogues But also to the preparation Of the conference And to the steering committee The EU Council president Has informed us That he had transmitted Our requests To the European presidency So for the sake of clarity My question is very clear Are you ready To include The committee of the regions As full member With equal status As the other Institutions In the preparation of the conference What do you need Us to do To help you Help us To get on board Thank you very much Vasco We will move now To the members And I would like to stress out that every Member That has asked for the floor Has one Minute So Thank you Very good afternoon First of all, I would like to congratulate The president And wish him a good presidency As well as the president Croat The presidency Is simply not enough The presence of more women In the office of this committee Of the regions The absence of more women Is not legitimate And it is not possible That we send a signal to the world To want more Europe With less budget That is something that is not supported Under no point of view And we have to put this In the next weeks and next months The world needs more Europe And more Europe needs more budget And it needs an agrarian policy That gives an adequate response To the needs that the field has today In Spain, farmers and farmers In the streets because of what they receive For the sale of their products They cannot live Because of the supply chain Of food production The one who has less money Is the one who has more work That is precisely the primary producer And the response we can give Is to do an agrarian policy To the defense That defends the interests Of the farmers in the European Union Thank you Prime Minister I am happy to see That the struggle for power In the world of challenges With the 2011 Hungarian struggle I am not against it I believe in such a Europe Which is based on strong sovereign nations And strong regions For you Our identity is based on history And our culture And our traditions What is here We can build our own nation And our regional identity In the future This is the result Of the challenges of success The EU will be stronger If you, according to Sandéka Are defending the EU As a citizen of Hungary As a citizen of Hungary I am looking forward That the Soviet Union Can be united I am sure that you Are supporting the EU And the EU And the EU And the EU Thank you Thank you Let's move now to Mr. Budino Mr. President I will add to the concern About the policy Of the coalition And the criteria of allocation Of the funds Of the coalition And of the transition fund But we also defend A concept in some way Universalist of this coalition policy It must generate a lever effect For each of our territories Whatever it is And will allow all project holders To feel part of A common European destiny This is why we plead For the new definition of the transition categories As proposed by the Commission That is between 75% and 100% Of the average of the European country To go down the platform to 90% As the proposal would seem Mr. Charles Michel Would have serious consequences For many regions In France, for example, a very vast country Where territorial inequalities are increasing It is by a strong mobilisation Of structural funds Which support policies adapted to local specifications That we can act as efficiently as possible Against these inequalities We therefore count on the vigilance Of the Croatian president, Mr. Minister For the proposal of the Commission On the regions in transition Stay in the state and do not be modified And we thank you Thank you very much The floor now goes to Mr. Kovar Thank you Mr. Kovar Mr. Kovar Mr. Kovar Mr. Kovar Mr. Kovar Mr. Hem Guy Mr. Kovaro Mr. Kovaro Honourable Thank you very much, Mr. Sausberger. Yes, Mr. President, Mr. Minister, I would like to briefly go into the question of expansion, because this is also a difficult point of the Croatian presidency. I must say that we all put great hope into the Croatian presidency, to end the permanent silence or the blockade in the expansion process. Croatia knows the situation at the West Balkan, probably the best among all EU member states. We have promised on the desalonic summit in 2003 the Western Balkans the option of expansion. So it is also about the question of credibility of the EU against these countries, which are all surrounded by EU member states. But what has happened in the meantime? Serbian and Montenegro are running the negotiations very slowly. North Macedonia has solved the question of name in the biggest internal political problems. And Albania has done a lot in the reform in the justice sector. And yet it is not about the recording of negotiations. It is not about the question of contribution, but about the recording of negotiations. And I am also very happy that the Commission has now provided necessary reforms for the process of contribution, but it should also prevent the recording of negotiations. If the EU continues to be back, then others will take care of this part of Europe, and we certainly don't want to do that with each other. I hope that at the Sonderkonferenz of the Croatian presidency in May there is really a progress to be made. I would also very much like to invite the representatives of the region to join in there. And I wish a lot of success in the Croatian presidency. Thank you. Mr. Marusic. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We're doing now to Mr. Horvath. Excuse me, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, dear colleague. I said Mr. Horvath, who is... Oh, I'm sorry. Sorry, sir. Sorry, sir. Okay, sorry. It's okay, no problem. May I? Thank you. Dear Minister. As Mr. Horvath, a member of the Hungarian Horvath Association, I would like to congratulate Mr. Horvath for his outstanding achievements. We are all waiting for him in the future. We ask that in the coming months, Mr. Horvath, a member of the European Commission on the Necessary Policy, in 2021-2027, and turn to a large number of energy to meet the compromises. The good compromise is more important than the quick compromise. The goals and ambitions that I will achieve with the help of Mr. Horvath are the number of our commitments. We have to turn to a large number of social European institutions, first of all, to see the European minimum and also to see the right attitude in the future. We have to win back the power of European citizens, the solidarity of the six countries in Europe, and in this case, the opportunity for the future of Mr. Horvath will be achieved. Thank you. Mr. Horvath. Yes, Mr. President, to wish you the best of luck in your presidency, as well as the best of luck in the presence of Mr. Horvath, I would like to thank Mr. Minister for allowing me to address my compatriotic friend, Mr. Vasco Cordeiro, to tell him how we are honored with his election, and as we wish you the best of luck in your presidency. I would like to see this with an obvious impact on the political importance of our committee. Bigger solidarity, because democracy without solidarity is a concept that is largely empty of content. Bigger solidarity means giving to the policy of cohesion the importance of the fundamental license in the European constitution, with the obvious reflections that it must have for this option. Fundamentally, with respect to the essential structural funds for the development of many regions of our Europe. Thank you. Mr. Karagiannis, please. Thank you very much, Mr. President. I wish you a good success in the difficult work you have to do, both for you and for your team. As for the development of the European Parliament with the participation of the Committee on Democracy, I would now like to say that this was conducted with the abandonment of the united kingdom from the European Union. I would like to know, Mr. President, what is your energy for the successful development of the European Union with its partnership with the deviant Balkans in the European Union, with the receipt of the decision about the European Parliament Thank you, Mr. President. Can I once again highlight the important role that cities and regions, the Committee of the Regions, can play in promoting the benefits, the opportunities that free trade agreements present for our regions and more importantly for our SMEs in this context and indeed the wider context of global trade. Can I welcome the fact that the Croatian presidency puts reform of the World Trade Organization at the heart of its programme. The EU must play a leading role in the WTO modernisation process. Global trade, just like trade within the single market, must remain fair and open based on effective and enforceable rules that provide a level playing for our SMEs. Finally, can I press upon the Croatian presidency to support our call for the reevaluation of existing programmes in line with EU competition rules to support cities and regions that are adversely affected by trade wars? Thank you very much, Mr. Polk. Thank you very much, Mr. President. Thank you very much, Mr. President. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Mr. President. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Mr. President. I would like now to give the floor to the minister so that he can make his conclusion. Thank you. Dear members of the European Committee of the Regents, thank you for all these important questions. I hope I will answer anyone's questions. Starting with the question of the conference of the future of Europe. As you saw from the December European Council conclusions, we believe that priority should be given to implementing the strategic agenda agreed in June last year and to delivering concrete results for the benefit of our citizens. The presidency is aware of letter Mr. Lambert sent on this subject in December 2019 to our Prime Minister and he will study the resolution that the Committee of the Regents is adopting today. On our side, we are advancing in our work on a console position as a basis for negotiations between the institutions. We should build on the successful holding of citizens' dialogues and include a broad consultation of citizens, including at local and regional level as part of the process. We think that the conference should focus up some stands. For instance, globalization, sustainability and the green transition, innovation and digital transformation, fundamental values, rights and freedoms and the EU's international role. Its governance should reflect the inter-institutional balance and the structures should be lean and efficient. Regarding the strategic long-term vision for a climate neutral economy, we welcome the European Council conclusions of 20 December, endorsing the objective of reaching climate neutrality in the EU by 2050. In regards to the European Green Deal, the Green Deal sets out a roadmap for key policies and measures aiming at addressing the urgent climate and environmental challenges facing our planet. The presidency shares the view of the commissions that the European Green Deal represents a new growth strategy for transforming the EU into just a prosperous society with a modern climate, natural, resource-efficient and competitive economy, where economic growth is a couple from the resource use. Meeting Green Deal objectives will require a significant increase in investments both private and public. In that regard, we took note of sustainable Europe investment plan and just transition mechanism. We are aware of the horizontal nature and the broad scope of policy areas within this dossier. Therefore, we intend to engage all relevant Council formations for discussion. In relation to gender and development, the rights of women and girls as well as gender equality is a priority of the Croatian presidency. Significant process has been made globally towards achieving gender equality. Nonetheless, achievement remains uneven across regions and within countries. In many parts of the world, girls and women continue to be systematically left behind and discriminated again. During our term, we will focus on the evaluation of the EU Gender Action Plan 2016-2020 and on the continued implementation of the joint UN spotlight initiative to eliminate violence against women and girls. When we talk about enlargement and western bank, enlargement is one of our key priorities. It remains a strategic investment in peace, stability and development in Europe. The European Council in October agreed to revert to the issue of enlargement before the Western Balkan Summit, which will be hosted in Zagreb in May. The presidency will continue to work on commission's recommendations to open accession negotiations with Albania and the Republic of North Macedonia, paving the way forward. In this context, I would like to reiterate how important it is that the both candidate countries continue to make concrete progress on the reforms. I am convinced that the soon enough these efforts, which first and foremost are to improve the lives of the citizens, will result in the well-deserved opening of accession negotiations. And lastly, the question of neighborhood, development and international cooperation instrument. The MFF is top priority for our presidency. Following the discussion at the December European Council, the president of the European Council has carried out extensive consultation with the counterparts. On this basis, he will submit in view of the General Affairs Council of 70 February his proposal for a deal at the level of European Council. The creation presidency fully supports the view that the deal must be found swiftly. This will not be easy, as we all know, because there is still in many parts an expectation gap between what we want to achieve at EU level. But postponing the effort to reach this deal would not make these things easier, quite the contrary. A balanced agreement reflecting ambitious objectives of the strategic agenda at the level of the European Council in February is necessary to open the way for concluding the negotiations on the many pending sectoral co-decision files, so as to be ready for the beginning of the new cycle in January 2021. I very much hope that we will achieve that objective and the creation presidency will do all it can do to respect that. To conclude, I will repeat that I have already said we are looking forward to cooperating with you in achieving the EU's future objectives. And thank you once again for your attention. So Minister, thank you very much for being here today with us. It's a great honor. I think that the discussion was very fruitful. We are going to have a very close cooperation with the Committee of the Regions, with the Council and of course with you on the conference on the future of Europe, the Green Deal, the MFF and of course the cohesion policy and other policies that are affecting everyday lives of citizens in our citizen regions. And I will close this point of our agenda by thanking the Minister for his time and by repeating once more that we are ready to support and to play a key role for the good of Europe on the future of the Union. So just use us. Thank you very much. Thank you Minister for your time. On the basis of a few points on this topic, in May 2019, the European Commission agreed on the policy of expanding the European Union in 2019 along with the rights of individual candidates and future candidates of the country. The European Commission also agreed on the personal status of the majority of Bosnia and Herzegovina members of the European Union. After the inauguration of the CVEX Commission in November 2019, I propose the choice of the Regions on the top of the list to this point and I would like to present to the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council the recommendation in this area from the position of the local and regional self-righteous EU states. The goal of my position on the top of the list was to focus on specific questions that are subject to personal interest of the local and regional self-righteous and on the basic values and principles that the regional choice traditionally deals with. That is the principle of subsidiarity, the principle of equal rights and the principle of management in partnership. That is why I propose the position, which in the sense of the mandate of the choice of the regions, the specific recommendation of the European Commission, the Parliament and the Council, but also the political recommendation addressed by the self-right of the candidates and future candidates of the country. The European Union must be both reasonable and sustainable with love. The Council of the European Union would then have to start criminal negotiations with the North Macedonian and Albanian, as it has been said in the previous session. Just as the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European European Parliament, the European Parliament and the European Union would also need to liberalise the visa for the citizens of Kosovo, as the European Commission, the Parliament and the European Parliament would recommend. However, the goodwill would also need to make a specific step that would help the candidates and future candidates of the country to In the countries of Western Balkans, it is necessary to stop the political pressure on local politicians, on the public society and on independent media. We must invest more in sustainable development of local societies from the bottom up, and to build their basic building blocks, that is, the public society is independent of media and local society. Otherwise, the local democracy in Europe will be weakened. Without the active connection of the city and region of the Western Balkans, we will not be able to achieve the goal of the OSN, the area of sustainable development in 2030, but not even the real success in the process of building and expanding the European Union. I would like to react very briefly and to the development of the situation from the last edition of my article. The Congress of the local and regional self-rights, the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, sent to Bosnia-Herzegovina the monitoring and observation of the Commission, and in October 2019, the decision to build the local and regional democracy in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which also reacts to the absence of communal wills in the bridge. The European Court of Justice for Human Rights in Strasbourg, in the court of October 29, 2019, in the case of the Baralia vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina, confirmed that the absence of communal wills in 10 years is a violation of the 1.12 protocol of the European Court of Human Rights. The political parties in Bosnia-Herzegovina were subsequently tied up to organize the communal wills in the bridge in October 2020 in the context of the current communal wills. We will keep their fingers crossed so that this conclusion can finally be fulfilled. I must understand that this thing is an important obstacle for the Bosnia-Herzegovina to continue to the European Union. At the end, I would like to thank all the teams that helped me, who were able to consult these topics. With Mrs. Velby Slankinov, the director of the Bosnia-Herzegovina mission for the European Union, Mrs. Eminov-Merdan, and then with Mr. Petrom-Szeligov, the president of the United Nations of Local Loneliness of South-East Europe, and the prime minister of the city Skopje, Goronan-Milevskiy, the minister of the local government of the North Macedonian region, Mrs. Katarinov-Maternov, deputy general manager of the European Commission for Expansion and Resolution, and, of course, my expert, Boris Tonhauser. Thank you. Thank you very much. Mr. Glatur, the debate is open. Does anyone want to intervene? No, let's move on to voting. We have six alternative proposals. Let's move on to voting for the first alternative proposal, which is a proposal presented by the rapporteur. Does anyone want to intervene? No, let's move on to voting. Who votes in favour of the first alternative proposal? Who votes against? Who votes against? The majority is approved. He approves of proposal number one and then frays of proposal number one, we move on to proposal number two. Anyone want to intervene? We move on to voting. Who votes in favour of the proposal number two? Thanks? Admit. Thanks? Abstentions. The proposal number two has been approved. We move on to proposal number three. No interventions, who votes in favor? Thank you, who votes against? Thank you, who votes in favor? Thank you, approved by Prop. 3, we move to Prop. 4. No interventions, we move to vote. Who votes in favor? Thank you, who votes against? Thank you, who votes in favor? Prop. 4 was approved. We move to Prop. 5, presented by the reporter. No interventions, who votes in favor? Thank you, who votes against? Thank you, who votes in favor? Approved. Approved by Prop. 5 of the reporter, falls to another Prop. 5. We move to Prop. 6. No interventions, we move to vote. Who votes in favor? Thank you, who votes against? Who votes in favor? Approved by Prop. 6, we move to vote now of the remaining document with the incorporated proposals. Who votes in favor? Thank you, who votes in favor? Who votes in favor? Approved by Prop. 6, we move to vote in favor? Thank you, who votes in favor? We move to Prop. 17, about the role of the regions and cities for the development of Africa. I ask the reporter, Robert Zeman, to take his place, so that we can pass. Robert Zeman is on his way. Your word. Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. I will speak Czech because it's a better. I'd like to... Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to briefly introduce the decision of the region, the replacement of the region and the city for the development of Africa. I would like to say that this decision is faster than about the development of the region and the development and development of the city and the first step in the political level, later on the social and economic level between the European regions and the cities and in order to follow the principle of subsidiarity, this means working from the bottom and, according to the needs of the people at the bottom of our cities, but above all in Africa, we were able to work together as a partnership. This decision was made by the working class in order to enable a long-term view of the connection between the people in the city, in the work, in the construction of projects that are possible in Africa with the improvement of the living conditions and, for example, give people much more faith in their own future at home and, at the same time, a long-term view of the connection between the network of migration to Europe. I would be very happy to make this decision a tool or a subject that will be in great interest to our current representatives. This means the European Council of the European Commission of the National Government, that our future work can of course use, for example, in various strategic political meetings that will lead with their efforts from Africa to all possible levels. Of course, there is one thing that would be useful if it were to be led to us and it will be led in this state, which is the most important, to set up some pilot projects that could be, I called it, it's just a work thing, a personal, for example, a group of people from the city and the region who are also involved in the selection of regions. And thanks to this group that would set up pilot projects that could be, and again it's just attention, and under the protection of the direct European Council, so to start filling up this state of practice and to try, the theoretical output that is led there is possible to fill up. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a previous material on which we worked together more than a year. The material got to know in the process of various changes, and we have a previous material that is a lot of compromises, so that it was possible to work with it in the region. I would like to thank everyone who worked on it. They shared a lot of views, it was a very open work and I am sure that we will be told what is most important through these pilot projects in life. Thank you very much for your expertise and for all the support that you have helped and that's all for now. Thank you. Thank you very much, Robert. Let's move on to the debate. Does anyone want to intervene? Do you have a word? Horta. Thank you very much, Mr. President, very briefly to say that this is a very stimulating theme for all of us. Just one advice, that many have worked on this matter and always meet the need for two parameters. First, political stability in these countries, which is always the result of tranquility for those who invest and secondly, the role of the Chinese institutions namely the Bank of Africa in developing and financing these projects. If that is the case, I think there is a very interesting field to explore in this matter. Thank you very much. Mr. DeCoster, do you have a word? Yes, Mr. President, my dear colleagues, I will address the reporter to thank him for the work that we have tried to do together. I know that there was a certain number of themes that he had in mind to be able to express through his report. We have exchanged because we have considered that the themes especially migratory had already been widely covered by a few that I have written by myself. And I thank the reporter for having heard this message because it allows us to have a much clearer line, much more direct on what we want as an engagement of the local and regional authorities for the development of Africa and so I would like to highlight this good collaboration. Thank you very much. Any further intervention? We have voted. We have about 20 changes and we have the number one change proposal. We have no interventions. We have voted. Who votes in favor of the number one change proposal? Thank you very much. Who votes against? Thank you very much. Who is in favor? The number one is approved. We have the number two proposal. There are no interventions. Who votes in favor? Thank you very much. Who votes against? Who abstains? The number two proposal is approved. We have passed the number three proposal. Who votes against? Who votes in favor of the number three change proposal? Thank you very much. Who votes against? Thank you very much. It is better to pass the electronic vote. The vote is open. Thank you very much. The electronic vote is closed. The proposal was approved. We have passed the proposal number four. Who votes in favor of the proposal number four? Thank you very much. Who votes against? We have the electronic vote. The vote is open. The vote is closed. It was approved. The change proposal number four. I suggest that there is a draw from the bridges 5, 6 and 7. Anyone Action Appoint? you want me to propose we have a A block vote for amendments 5, 6 and 7. Anyone Opposes? Let's proceed for the voting. Who votes in favor of the changes proposals? Vota contra. Muito obrigado. Quem se apostém, propostas foram aprovadas. Proposta de alteração número sete, a parte do voto em bloco, passamos à proposta de alteração número oito, apresentada pelo relator, quem vota a favor da proposta de alteração número oito, apresentada pelo relator. Muito obrigado. Quem vota contra. Muito obrigado. Quem se apostém, a proposta está aprovada, cai à proposta número oito, que não tinha sido apresentada pelo relator. Proponho uma votação em bloco para as propostas de alteração número 9, 10, 11, 12, 3 e 14. Alguém se opõe? Se não passamos à votação em bloco, quem vota à favor. Muito obrigado. Quem vota contra. Muito obrigado. Quem se apostém, foram aprovadas as propostas de alteração referidas 9 a 14. Proposta de alteração número 15, quem vota à favor, quem vota contra. Vamos à uma votação eletrônica, está fechada a votação, a proposta foi aceite, passamos à proposta número 16. E esta proposta foi aprovada, cai à 17. Proposta 16, quem vota à favor. Muito obrigado. Quem vota contra. A votação eletrônica está aberta, está fechada a votação, a proposta foi aceite. Proponho uma votação em bloco dos pontos das alterações 18, 19 e 20. Alguém se opõe? No, no 17, 16 was approved, so 17 falls. Block vote for amendments 18, 19, 20. Anyone opposes? Let's vote. Who votes for, against, abstention? It was approved. Passamos agora à votação final do parcer. Quem vota à favor, quem vota contra. Quem se abstém. O parcer está aprovado os meus parabéns ao relatore. Muito obrigado. Passamos agora ao relatório towards sustainable neighborhoods and small communities in foreign policy below municipal level. Eu peço a relatore gaitano-armal, tomo seu lugar. Muito obrigado. Té a palavra. Grazie Presidente. Tanto vorrei ringraziare chi ha collaborato a traduzione di questa proposta di parere, i dottori Panozzo, dottoresa Garzillo e Agnès Cabidisca che ha dato un grande contributo per l'elaborazione in questi mesi. Mi permetto di dedicare l'illustrazione di questo parere oggi alla figura di Vittorio Bachelet, il vicepresidente del Consiglio della Magistratura Italiana 40 anni fa ucciso da mano terrorista all'università di Roma. Pertanto, nel suo ricordo, dedico queste riflessioni sulla politica ambientale di livello infracumunale verso quartieri e piccole comunità sostenibili. Le politiche ambientali europei, come voi sapete, sono orientata a una nuova centralità del tema dell'ambiente, soprattutto nella prospettiva del Green New Deal. E' una proposta verde d'inclusiva per un'Europa che, entro il 2030, batta del 50 per cento le emissioni CO2 e nel 2050 addirittura raggiunga la carbon neutrality. In questo contesto svolgono appunto le iniziative del nostro Comitato delle Regioni che hanno puntato a un coinvolgimento delle autonomie locali e regionali in una strategia di mutamento profonda del modello di sviluppo e di crescita, che è appunto l'economia circolare alla tutela dell'ambiente. Come noto nei Paesi membri dell'Unione Europea non vi è un'organizzazione omogenea dei livelli di governo. Noto che vi sono Regioni stati che hanno un livello di governo inferiore con comuni e province, altri stati che non hanno alcuni livelli di governo o quello provincialo addirittura quello subcomunale. Il tema è proprio della entità subcomunale che, ad esempio, in Italia, nel mio Paese è individuata nelle circoscrizioni e nei quartieri. Le politiche ambientali, negli ultimi anni nella delineata prospettiva del Green New Deal, hanno imposto all'Unione di ritrovare una nuova ambizione, una capacità di guardare al futuro, di pensare al superamento di quello che l'Agenzia Europea dell'ambiente ha definito un deficit ecologico europeo. Il Paere si sforza per l'appunto di orientare l'azione delle istituzioni europee nella prospettiva delle piccole comunità infracumunali, quelle insulari, quelle zone montane che, pocanzi, la consigliere, a me per tui, richiamava nella richiesta di applicazione dell'articolo 174, del Tattato sul funzionamento dell'Unione Europea. E quindi necessario promuovere un concetto di comunità sostenibile in modo da coinvolgere tutti i territori proprio partendo dai livelli di governo più piccoli, quelli più prossimi ai nostri cittadini, quelli che ci possono far riconquistare, come diceva il Presidente del Comitato Regioni nel suo discorso di insediamento, di farci riavvicinare i nostri cittadini, rendendo la politica ambientale, una politica che coinvolge le frazioni, le parrocchie, i quartieri, i distretti, le circoscrizioni, le diverse entità che l'Unione Europea conosce come livello subcomunale. E quindi il parere è rivolto proprio a introdurre meccanismi che consentano di rafforzare questa politica di coinvolgimento delle comunità infracommunali a partire da rafforzamento dell'informazione, da cui l'esigenza di orientare una azione sulla web e quindi sulla rete per dare più informazioni e coinvolgere di più le comunità locali, ma anche quella di introdurre un premio per il quartiere sostenibile che in qualche modo consenta annualmente di valorizzare le esperienze dei territori che di più si sono contradistinti della capacità di guardare all'ambiente, di guardare all'ajugimento dell'obiettivo, quindi una giornata europea dei villaggi e dei quartieri sostenibili, è un dialogo con la Commissione Europea che ha fatto del Grinodil una politica centrale, ma che deve attraverso comuni, province, ma soprattutto il livello subcomunale quelle piccole entità, raggiungere l'obiettivo nel più breve tempo possibile. Grazie. Thank you, Mr Vice President, can I thank the rapporteur for this very insightful opinion? It is very true to say that smaller cities and municipalities and communes are an important voice in the debate on all aspects environmental. Within smaller municipalities, cooperation and capacity building can be stronger and the buy-in by citizens can be stronger. For us and in this particular debate I think it is very important to reflect on the work being pursued and being showcased by Envy. I picked up this brochure, Mr Vice President, within the member's village outside and it has got a fantastic array of best practices in it. I think it is also very important to reflect on the work of EU projects such as RBAC, Interreg, the EU sustainability award, the European Greenleaf award, the covalent of mayors, the EU urban agenda, environmental partnerships and also projects that are being financed by the EIB through their Airbus advisory services. And also I see Mr Vice President this afternoon that three of these brochures were created by our trainees and it actually contains really, really valuable information on rethinking our waste. And I'd like to thank them and thank the rapporteur for this opinion. Thank you. Thank you very much, but anyone who wants to intervene? There are no interventions. We have passed the vote of the changes proposals. We have a change proposal that I now put the vote. Who votes in favour of the change proposal presented by the rapporteur? Who votes in favour? Thank you very much. Who votes against? Who always has? The change proposal is approved, presented by the rapporteur, falls to the other change proposal that had been presented and now we move on to the final vote of the document. Who votes in favour? Who votes against? Who always has? The report seems to be approved. Thank you very much and congratulations. Thank you very much, Mr Vice President. Our next report was about the brain drain in the EU addressing the challenge at all levels. Unfortunately, the rapporteur Emil Boc is not present at this moment in the room. I ask if anyone opposes that we move on to the point 20. To appear on culture in a union that strives for more the role of regions and cities. Anyone opposes? If there is no opposition, I ask the rapporteur to move on to the point 20. Who votes in favour? You have the floor. Thank you, Mr President. From the moment we were entrusted with the relation of this rapporteur, we obtained one of the important results that the rapporteur predicted. It was about concentrating the attention of the European Union and its organisms on the issue of culture and cultural goods. The first exhibition of the programme of the President of the Commission Ursula von der Leyen did not predict the culture and cultural goods between the priorities of the Commission. Even following the debate that our opinion has been raised and the consensus that has been recorded, we have seen that there has been a turning point. Today, cultural goods and culture are considered a priority, precisely, in the programme of the European Commission. And we have also recorded that the President of the Commission has entrusted a charge in a delegate to a commissioner exactly on the subject of culture and cultural goods. What do we expect from this opinion? The main objective is to not consider cultural goods only from the point of view of their conservation, of their restoration. Our project of opinion asks for attention to Europe in the face of cultural goods, even under the profile of their use, of the ability to create cultural tourism, especially among the young people, and to promote culture as an element of integration and creation of a European culture. We have the duty to do this. Do you think that more than 400, on a total of 1,120 sites declared World Heritage of humanity by the UN, fall into our countries? From Malta to Finland, from Portugal to Cyprus, each of our countries expresses a great cultural tradition. But we must not live only from the past. We must make sure that cultural goods and culture can be a factor of development and also economic, of knowledge, of access to European finance. We must make sure that we can significantly increase investments in culture and also promote digital opportunities. The meaning of our country, of our opinion, is exactly this. And with this spirit, we will pay attention to the Committee of the Regions to make this also an important element that has been carried forward in a united way and in a convincing way. This opinion was born from an Italian initiative in the city of Agricento which this year has celebrated 2,600 years since its founding, 2,600 years. It has been voted and supported by all Italian communities, regardless of their policies, and by all Italian regions. And I think it is a common feeling, under the care of a great continent like that of Europe. Thank you very much, President. Thank you very much, Vicenzo. We will now open the debate. The floor is for Makarty and Seggs Rausel. Makarty, you have the floor. Thank you very much, Dr. Rahn. How well in Europe has our culture come to this? It is a very important part of our culture and it is a very important part of our culture. It is very important to the culture and to the region, the temple, the temple and the church of Agricento, and the people of the country, who have come to this. We are very much in the heart of this culture and it is a very important part of our culture. We are very much in the heart of this culture and it is a very important part of our culture and it is a very important part of our region. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Mr. Rausel. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. President, it is great to be here with you. The introduction of the culture at such a time is very important. I come from the old culture town, from Hämeliina, from Finland. And at such a time, culture allows us to understand each other, allows us to find the common things, the common values, which today, in this discussion, has been heard by many speakers. I would like to add, first of all, the importance of children's culture. In the future, in Europe, we have a different importance. We need the opportunity to introduce our culture to European children, to European culture. And through this, we can learn to live together and create better future. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you for the report, for the work you have done. Culture has a great importance for the development of Europe. It has become particularly visible in the European cultural heritage two years ago. I would like to emphasize that the cultural investments that have been announced here must be strengthened and secured in the next few years, and that the program Creative Europe will continue. I would like to make an example. The theatre, which is interested in exchange with other artists in other European states, we know that there are also interests there, there are networks. And with this exchange, we are dealing with issues that are being dealt with politically on stage in a different artistic form. We are also dealing with the citizens of Europe and their reflections. Of course, these are critical reflections. of the European thought for the future in the future. Thank you very much. At the moment there are no more requests for the word. We move on to voting. There is a proposal of exchange that was presented to this report, but, nevertheless, there is a commitment that was achieved, an oral commitment that was achieved in the context of this proposal of exchange. Vincenzo, I ask you to explain. Yes, we have basically received the request that, instead of talking about a significant increase, it speaks of an adequate location of resources. So, basically, it is always a priority, an intervention on the culture for the regions with which it is. We do it with this precision. Thank you very much. There is a request for the word of Mr. de Coster. Yes, Mr. President, my dear colleagues, simply to explain the reason that brought us to engage in this discussion with your colleague to find the right measure. It is an old vice-president who is in charge of the culture of his region who speaks. The culture is absolutely priority in our society and it is the whole object of the report. But it seemed to us that it was important to be coherent with ourselves in our positions on the annual financial framework where we have chosen to give a certain number of priorities and therefore to be coherent with our interests and our attention to a cultural policy at the local level ambitious. It is the reason for which it did not seem possible to call our views to a significant increase and that we indeed prefer the proposition that has just been presented to us and that we reach this one. Thank you very much. We go on not having more interventions. We go on to the vote of this change proposal of the contract version that was presented. Who will vote in favour? Very妳, who will vote against? Very much, who will be absent? Very much, the change proposal was approved. We now go to the global vote of the partner Who will vote in favour? Very much, who will vote against? Very much, who will be absent? Very much, who will be absent? Very much, the partner was approved So, dear colleagues, we are continuing our debate and our discussions. We will move now to the next topic of our agenda, which is a debate on the conference on the future of Europe. We have today with us, and it's a great honor and a privilege. One of us, former mayor, today Vice President of the European Commission, Ms. Dubranca Suica. And it's a real privilege because, as I said earlier, she's a former mayor, twice elected mayor of Dubrovnik. And so it's a discussion, since she will be responsible for the conference on the future of Europe, it will be a discussion with someone who understands what we have been discussing throughout these last days and today. The fact that if we want to speak of a future of Europe, then we need more democracy. And more democracy means more involvement for the regions and the cities. So I'm really happy we had a very fruitful meeting earlier together, and let me thank you for addressing our institution today, Vice President, during this first mandate, first meeting in our mandate. And only a few days after the Commission adopted the communication on the conference of the future of Europe. We welcome your call to engage with the representatives of the regional and local authorities and with the European Committee of the Regions. Europe must change to be closer to its citizens, capable of listening to them, addressing the real needs and act to make their lives better. This is why we exist, and this is why the European Union exists. We have to rebuild trust, though. We have to rebuild trust and faith to the people, and this can only be done through representativeness and inclusiveness. And of course, regions and cities can pray better than anyone else this role. Let me send a warning signal in today's meeting. If it is not to be another disappointment, the conference on the future of Europe must be open and inclusive, must avoid being top down, centralized in Brussels. This would only generate more mistrust and increase the gap between the European institutions and the citizens. Fifty-three main institutions are serious about turning the conference from an institutional debate into a tool to put citizens first. They need to take on board local and regional elected politicians. We, 329 of us, represent one million directly elected politicians. We will assure that the conference can build on the work done by the task force on subsidiarity in which we were very active. EU's legitimacy must be based on the representativeness ensured by all its elected European politicians from local, regional, national and EU levels. If the Union fails to count on all its elected representatives, it will fail in rebuilding trust and the discussion about the future will fail as well. So I'm really happy because after our meeting today, I see a woman, a politician that is determined to do the exact opposite of what we are afraid that might happen in the discussion on the future of Europe. So I give you the floor and I welcome you warmly again and I'm certain that we will have a great collaboration together in the months and the years to come. Thank you. Dear President Tizi Kostas, dear members, before I start, let me thank you on being elected to this very, very important role and looking forward to our cooperation in the future. Let me thank you for inviting me here today to talk to address this constitutive plenary session of the Committee of Regions. As you already heard, as a former mayor myself, it is a particular pleasure to meet with you, all of you regional and local representatives. As I said, I'm looking forward to work with you during your presidency of the Committee of the Regions and I wish you best of luck. As you know, you mentioned that we adopted a few weeks ago. It was 22nd of January when the college adopted a communication on the conference on the future of Europe. As you know, the communication is based on the President's underlying political guidelines and the European Council's strategic agenda. We have to put the question, why are we doing this at all? Why are we starting this conference? This is a key question. The answer is important. The impetus behind the conference on the future of Europe is that citizens are asking to have a greater say in policymaking beyond elections. Not only once in four years, not only once in five years, but we must respond to this call and to be in constant dialogue with citizens. As part of that response, I'm committed to visiting regions in my role as Vice President and I want to hear from citizens from all corners of the European Union, not just the capitals. So we are not going only to capitals. We will visit regions. We will visit Peripheria. We will visit mountains, islands. So my first message to you today is clear. We want to make a success of the conference on the future of Europe. Don't doubt in it. We can only do this with the full support of the committee of the regions. We need you as our partner. This is my key message today. We have the capacity to mobilize one million local politicians. One million politicians are elected. Let me say that figure again. One million local and regional politicians. We are talking about about our 70 regional legislative assemblies, 240 regions, 80,000 local authorities. These people are key in reaching out to all citizens. I see them all as our partners. The resolution you have adopted today provides us with a solid basis for our partnership. I welcome your commitment to promote debates on EU issues in regional parliaments and municipal councils. I like your idea of being decentralized and going beyond the national capitals. I agree with your view that a particular focus on young people is necessary. However, let's not treat them as a separate entity. They are an integral part of the process. I support your call for a bottom-up debate you mentioned in your introductory statement. I will also support your call to be an integral part of any governance structure relating to the conference. Most of all, I note your intention to sign the joint declaration. This is the good news I was waiting for. It shows true commitment on your side, as well as courage. To all, this is a new and innovative process. We haven't done anything similar before at this level. I also look forward, in March, on local and regional authorities in the permanent dialogue with citizens. I am looking for your opinion. Thank you to the members of the CIVEX Commission for your work on this. Where are we now? What are our next steps? As I said, the Commission has presented a communication on the conference in the future of Europe. The European Parliament has adopted its resolution. The Council is advancing in its work. There is no time to waste, no time to lose. Although we have already started consulting and listening, there is broad agreement to officially launch the conference on 9th of May. We would like to launch it in Dubrovnik under the Croatian presidency. The next step must focus on the joint declaration. Why? Joint declaration among three institutions, Council, Commission and the Parliament. Because this declaration will formalize the details on the conference. It will bring together these three institutions, all focused on a common goal. Members can also commit to its guiding principles. I believe that we can already agree that the process must be guided by non-negotiable principles such as inclusiveness, openness. It must be interactive and structured in order to make it a legitimate success in the end. Most of all, I believe that predetermining the outcome would cause more damage to democracy than if it did nothing at all. So of course, some guidelines or some guidance is necessary in order to structure the debate and facilitate the feedback. Let us not underestimate the task ahead. It is a real challenge, but we are not starting from scratch. We can build on 1,850 citizens' dialogues held over the last five years. The only problem with these dialogues was that there was not feedback mechanism. So now we are establishing the feedback mechanism of the process, which is very important. And it was a missing element in the citizens' dialogues. We must ensure that citizens can see the impact they have had on policymaking. This will be our benchmark for the success. President von der Leyen has committed to ensuring follow-up, and I intend to see it through. Another essential element is the new multilingual digital platform. We see this multilingual digital platform as the one-stop shop for all information on the conference and related events. It should ensure maximum transparency and openness for all citizens. What do we discuss? What are we going to discuss? So when these details are in place, what do we talk about? How we decide this? These are important questions, too. We must provide structure to enable discussion and feedback, as I already said. This is not preempting the debate or results. So we don't want to preempt. We don't know to know the results. We agree on two clear categories. One is policy, and the other is institutional. Why institutional? If we want to approach 2024 elections with clear rules, we have to know as soon as possible what are the rules relating to transnational lists and to the Spitz and Kandidat process or lead candidate process. This is the reason why we have to have two strengths. One is institutional, which is maybe less important, and another one, which is policy regarding daily issues. Dear ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, we have started a deliberative democracy process at European level. We have not done this before, but we have some experience to build on. The deliberative democracy train is leaving the station, and the European Union must be on it. That is one topic not contested. The citizens are clear on that. There are other details that need to be ironed out. This includes how we communicate on the conference to the citizens. A unique common identity will make it instantly recognizable for all citizens and partners. It is vital that each and every one of us takes ownership of the conference. So the ownership of the conference will be held by all of us, not only commission, not the council, not the parliament, but also community of the regions. Each one of us with our own valuable contribution and role in the process. I began my speech with the word partnership, and I will end it by saying that you have a partner in me as vice president for democracy and demography. I will come back again. I will try to again discuss the demographic challenges that we must tackle together. This is another part of my portfolio, which is also very, very important. For now, I would like to hear from you the voices of the regions across European Union about the conference on the future of Europe, and I may answer some of your questions. So thank you once again. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Vice President. I think that we should now start with our political group representatives first, Mr. Geblevich from the EPP. Dear Vice President, welcome. Dobro Doshli on behalf of EPP, COR Group. As someone who has the experience of managing cities requests in your city, you have the full legitimacy to lead the way forward on the future of Europe, and you have our full support on that. We in the EPP, COR, see a great need for shared ownership in this conference between different levels of governance in Europe and in all EU institutions and bodies. So I appreciate that this is the way you are going to work. This requires a lot of coordination and consensus. I am optimistic that we will achieve it in the name of our citizens for prosperity of our regions and for the future of our Union. Therefore, EPP supports the idea of joint declaration on the conference, but we think that the COR should consign this text, because democracy is not only European issue. It has its European, national, as well as local dimension. So it is our expectation, I would say. Madam Vice President, in the front of you, you stand a House of Members, not House of Cards, House of Members, who are directly accountable to the people and stand close to their concerns. I believe that the input of the COR will be one of the pillars to transform the conference from there and inter-institutional into a truly bottom-up consultation. So thank you for your declarations that you see it in the same way. Besides that, we can count, as our President in you said, for more than one million of regional, local elected representatives in the EU, in our regional councils, assemblies and parliaments. And we will support them to organize town hall events with the citizens. So thank you for your declarations that you will now be together with us in our cities. Thank you very much. Many of our regions and cities have established new participative tools to engage people in their policy choices. APPCOR is of the opinion that the time has come to recognize those tools and to use them in public consultations in the next two years. And this will be also a way to bring back the interests of young people in the European Union and our ability to reform. Dear colleagues, I believe that the COR with its six commissions should use its competences to structure the output of citizens' consultations in proposal for action. This will help us to produce long-term tangible and concrete ideas which could evolve into legislative proposals. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Gimlevich. I would like now to move to the PES representative, Mr. Mrs. Honej. Brigitte. Dear Mrs. Commissioner Schwiezer, thank you very much for the presentation of your plans. In the name of my SPE, I am curious about the progress of the negotiations between the European Council, the European Parliament and the Commission on the Conference on the Future of the EU. I hope that the proposals for the functionalization of the conference will be further concretized, not ultimately on the role of subnational and non-governmental organisations and the ADR. Our president has also pointed out that the issues that the Commission has proposed are a good starting point for the discussion of the future. Of course, the list must be open so that citizens can act effectively. The same applies to the regional and national parliaments. They must be more than a platform for citizen debates. But I also believe that the fundamental question is not so much which issues people are moving. Despite all the national and maybe also regional issues, national and regional issues are far beyond the agreement. It is about the fight against climate change, which must be socially justified and set on the innovative ability of people in cities and regions. It is about the struggle of social inequalities and territorial cooperation. It is about the change of the environment, the digitalization, the migration, but also the aging processes of our society. And it is about the role of Europe in the world and about how our political, social and economic systems can react to all these changes without deepening the gap. On this background, it is clear that the conference has to deal with it which processes, policies and instruments the European Union needs to be able to answer these questions. This and nothing else awaits the citizens and citizens of us, the politicians of different levels. So it is not about self-explanation of the European Union and its institutions. But especially in the background of the joint-identified tasks, the conference has to deal especially with the question under which institutional conditions and with which resources the EU can be put into the situation to tackle the current challenges. In our opinion, it is completely clear that also debates on contract changes cannot be taboo. It is also important that from the beginning it has to be clear which kind of results should be achieved and how to deal with them. We as the SPE-Fraktion have therefore brought in a series of changes to the joint decision-making process, which are clear. The conference should have a clear goal, the formulation of specific proposals for legislation or contract changes that have to be discussed in a next step in the European elections in 2024. And then as a starting base for a future convent should be served. It is also important to us that we support the double-use of the European Parliament, namely on the one side of the conference plan, in which the institutions and also the ADR are represented, and on the other side of the system of as wide-ranging, decentralized and diverse citizens' dialogues which, on the one hand, have to be at the brink of the conference. Only this could really mobilize the conference of the citizens and the citizens to contribute to a new phase of European integration. However, we need the clear support of other institutions and not, ultimately, of the Commission in its role as the engine of the European Union. Thank you very much, Ms. Commissioner. Thank you very much. Thank you. We will now move to the representative from the Renew Europe, Mr. Dekoster. Thank you, Mr. President, Ms. Vice President, dear colleagues, so much to tell you, Ms. Vice President, the fact that Ms. Benderleyen entrusted you within the College the responsibility to discuss with the European institutions the organisation of the conference on the future of Europe has been a good news for us. We congratulate you on your journey, the Mayor of Dubrovnik, the Vice President of the Congress of the Local Powers. All of you have invited us to consider that there was a strong gesture made towards the representatives of the local and regional authorities. Unfortunately, we have no hope, no hope or disappointment when we see today the fate that has reserved us. When one European deputy on five will be seated at the plenary assembly of the conference, when 100% of the governments will be participating, of course, at the plenary assembly, and that three commissioners on 27 will be seated, only one on 100 of our members will be able to participate. That is today the way in which the partnership that you call upon your will and the support full and complete that you expect. No, Madam Vice President, we ask you to review with the European Parliament and the Council the copy. Not that we wish to defend an institutional position, but simply because we truly believe in the use, I would say, of the imperial necessity of the success of the conference, which is thus envisaged. Not only to be able to contribute to the local and regional authorities, the daily that we have shared together, a time when you were mayor, but also because we are convinced that we will then put in place a certain number of measures that will be proposed at the moment of the conference. And you will find here on these many elected members who would like to participate in the reflection of the conference. Our colleague, Rayit Pielgas, for example, is currently writing a report on the use of new technologies to strengthen participative democracy. And others. I could talk about the experiences of European correspondents that I put in place in my agglomeration. I could talk about the Erasmus programme for local elected members that I have taken many times to try to bring your predecessors to the College of Commissars. That's it, Madam Vice President. The word we are trying to make you go through today is to try to see the copy again. We think we can be useful during the conference, but above all, we think we can be useful after the conference. I thank you. Thank you very much. Let's go now to the ECR with Mr. Drobach. Dear Mr. President, thank you for the floor. Dear Madam Commissioner, I would like to welcome you today in the European Committee of the Regents on behalf of the ECR Group. I know you are here today to discuss with us the conference on the future of Europe. And I would like to make some suggestions linked to your portfolio and the severe demographic crisis which is going on in Europe. The impact of demographic change on regions needs to be one of the main topics of the conference. I represent a capital metropolitan region, to Bratislava, which is affected by demographic changes massively and dramatically. There is a huge trend of internal migration towards capital cities, which has enormous impact on infrastructures and increases the demand for quality of public services. One of the most negative consequences of demographic change is poverty. Capital regions like Bratislava have to cope with growing number of homeless people, migrants, and working poverty. According to the EU data, children are the most vulnerable group in Slovakia. The aging population in Bratislava region will double and even triple in some of the parts of the region in Slovakia will be one of the oldest EU countries in 50 years, according to the Eurostat prognosis. At the same time, 33% of jobs are threatened by automation in my country, so we need to invest in professions which are linked to human care, which can also help us to prevent further brain drain. European Commission have to empower regions with smart policies and just funding to address these difficult challenges. I hope that the conference on the future of Europe will focus to a large extent on this topic because our citizens expect debates that will help solve their real life problems. They do not want more debates on technicalities of electoral systems or other issues that are of little concern to them. The demographic crisis is something that Europeans feel very strongly about. Thank you. Thank you very much. We're going now to Ms. Haapanen from the Greens. Yes, Mr. Vice President of the Commission. When we talk about the future of Europe, we should first ask ourselves who are the real experts on designing it? The answer is, it is youth and children. And actually, they have already said what they want. They want a clean environment. They want climate change to be stopped and they want, not surprisingly, to play in peace. It means that they want a safe environment to be children and grow to become responsible adults. That is their right, and that we must guarantee as adults now and in the future. And now, when we know what the children use for the future of Europe, for their future, we need only to find the tools and methods how to get the good design to become real. I will speak in Finnish now. In the city of Oulu, we have a way of asking young people their ideas on how to develop the city. There are many ways to do this. For example, we are taking young people along with us to make decisions on our own. Also, the local politicians, in the city of Oulu, have wanted to go to school and meet up with young people to learn what young people think of the future. Young people have a lot of potential to develop new skills and to make new forms of democracy. And now in English. We, the Koreans, believe that the Committee of Regions and locally and regionally elected politicians, these million people that you are talking about, we can be one effective tool when we want participation and implementation of the good ideas and purposes in a local level. That is why the Greens, among the other parties here, it seems, we are here to encourage very much the Commission and the Council to listen with an sensitive ear what people in the regions and communities, young and old, have to say and to take into account seriously the new tools and methods for promoting democracy. Thank you. Thank you very much. The EA now, please, with Mr McCarthy. Dear voice commissioner, can I thank you for your frankness and your generous to begin with. Can I say, I think the Committee of the Regions principle worry is that we're not going to have a seat on the Conference of the Future of Europe. And I think we're all standing before you with that frustration and that concern. And you've rightly mentioned we represent one million people and even yesterday the Committee of the Regions launched a book and there's 230 pages of ideas and 25 years of experience crammed into the book. And we're just worried that you're not going to harness that and that we won't actually have a voice. And also the Conference, it'll only make sense if it actually leads to tangible results and an outcome which actually will create a positive change in citizens' lives. And I am delighted to hear that this is not what I call a box-taking exercise that this is actually taken very serious by the College of Commissioners. I'd also like to refer to the Civics Commission and a colleague of mine within the European Alliance, Maria Burrell. She's a rapporteur and she's currently preparing an opinion on establishing a permanent structured dialogue with citizens and I would ask that perhaps you actually take a read of that kind of short opinion and might help you. We think the Conference might be an ideal opportunity to pilot some of the ideas within the opinion and we are very, very happy to share your proposals once the opinion is adopted in May this year. So I would appeal to you and I know it's also something that our President and our Vice President have been calling for in the last few hours since their election that we need to cease on the Conference of the Future of Europe. And thank you for your consideration. Thank you. Thank you very much. We now go to our first Vice President, Vasco Cordero. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. Madam Commissioner, President von der Leyen stated that, and I quote, our Union's democratic system is unique, bringing together directly elected parliamentarians at local, regional, national and the European levels with elected heads of state or government. The Commission, end of quote, the Commission in its communication on subsidiarity. Sad quote. The task force on subsidiarity proposed a new way of working based on active subsidiarity and the more dynamic engagement of all stakeholders and all government levels throughout the policy cycle. These would mark an important change in the European Union's policy process, bringing together, bringing greater quality and legitimacy to the laws it adopts, end of quote. It also said, and I quote, it is essential that the 41 national parliament chambers, 74 regional legislative assemblies, the 280 regions and the 80,000 local authorities who are at the forefront of implementing EU laws are more fully engaged in the policy process. Your speech here today and all of this makes the case for the Committee of the Regions be present in the Conference of the Future of Europe with the equal status like any other institution. So, Madam Commissioner, the case is made for our presence. Madam Commission, the question is not why and how we should be in the Conference on the Future of Europe. Right now, the question is why is the Committee of the Regions being excluded from a full participation in the Conference on the Future of Europe? This is my question to you. Thank you. I would suggest that the Vice President answers so far and then we continue on with, yes. Thank you for your suggestions. Thank you for your questions. And this will be a valuable contribution to a final joint agreement on behalf of three institutions. What I wanted to tell you, let me start from the last question, which was why are you excluded? You are not excluded. This is not true. If you read Commission's contribution on shaping the communication on the Conference of the Future of Europe, you quoted, yes, but we have to start from somewhere, as I said, and we have to have solid basis. So this basis will be done in this institution, Parliament, Commission and the Council, which means your respective member states, 27 of them now. If I may be open enough or sincere enough, I used to be a member of this House for six and a half years, and the resolution which was adopted here, not here but in Strasbourg on 15th of January, this resolution is very, very ambitious if I may be open enough. It is very ambitious, and the structure is relatively complex, but it is only the resolution of the European Parliament. You have another communication from the Commission on behalf of which I am in lead, together with my dear colleagues, and then we have Council, so we are looking forward to the meeting of Mr. Sasoli, Madame Ursula von der Leyen and Mr. Charles Michel in order to agree upon joint declaration or memorandum of understanding, however, we will call this, and this will be the starting point, which doesn't mean that you will be excluded, you are included, but you read from the resolution, you read this member of commissioners, Mr. Dekoster, you read member of commissioners, number of national parliamentarians, role of Committee of Regions. This doesn't mean that this will be the final document. This is the idea which was proposed by your colleagues also from your political family, and they were very happy with this. So it was adopted in European Parliament by a vast majority, which doesn't mean that it will be the final basic document. So this is how I understand this process. We don't have time to waste, as I said, we don't have time to lose, so we have to do it within the next week or two. So these three important institutions and their presidents, they will agree upon this. The other day they met in the vicinity of Paris and they started this debate, but still they haven't finalized this document. Regarding the topics, the topics are not limited. I was mentioning political guidelines of European Commission and strategic agenda of European Council. If I may repeat, I know that you know these six guidelines, but let me tell you, the first one, European Green Deal, which you were mentioning from, sorry for not knowing your name, but Mrs. Birgit Hone, you mentioned European Green Deal, that then you have digital agenda, then you have strong Europe in the world, then you have economy that works for people, you have also European way of life, whatever someone can understand under this title, and then you have new push for European Democracy. These six guidelines of this Commission, they cover almost all the topics and together with strategic agenda of European Council, but it doesn't mean that the topics are limited, so whoever wants to raise any topic will be allowed to do this. Conference itself. The title might be misleading for someone. Conference doesn't mean one conference. It means series of different conferences, roundtables, different fora, so different events which will be branded as the conference on the future of Europe. So once this will be branded as the conference, then we can proceed. I mentioned multilingual digital platform, so everything should be there, and it should be open for each and every citizen, not in capitals, not only in villages, but also on islands, on mountains, wherever, all over Europe. This is the idea. So we wouldn't have started this very, very complex exercise if we hadn't believed in its success. I have to reiterate once again. So the difference between citizens' dialogues and this conference will be feedback exercise. If we don't have tangible results in the end of the exercise, it won't be successful, but we are looking forward to the success, and this is the reason why we have to establish common guidelines. I'll tell you an example. Even living room debate can be branded as the conference on the future of Europe. So we have to believe in all institutions, we have to believe in our citizens, we have to have common guidelines, and then to have feedback which in the end can be translated into concrete legislation if necessary, into concrete political actions. I didn't want to mention treaty change here, but if you have read carefully what are the political guidelines and what was the political introductory statement from Ursula von der Leyen, if citizens think that we need treaty change, we will debate, but it will be the last option because we have enough legislation and we think that we have to use the existing legislation. Regarding institutional matters, I mentioned in my introductory speech, if we start debating institutional issues, citizens won't be happy as you are representative of citizens, and you told me now that you won't be happy if we start debating institutional things, but we have to know how are we approaching 2024, and this is the reason why one strand of this conference will be dealing with institutional issues, but the majority of issues and topics will be about daily issues, about political guidelines, about the concerns, hopes, fears of our citizens, so everything will be covered. We rely on you, without you, without the Committee of the Regions, without local and regional authorities, we would not be able to do this exercise. This exercise won't be possible. Regarding commission, the role of commission is the role of honest broker. It is the role of facilitator, so commission cannot do anything itself. So parliament is important, European parliament, but national parliaments are even more important, and of course, once we are in Belgium, regional parliaments. So they are very, very important, and we cannot avoid them. So you don't need to doubt, but we have to start from summer, and the reason for this joint declaration among three institutions is this one. So this will be the starting point. So Committee of the Regions is not neglected. As I said at the beginning, you are the most important partner, and this is what I can tell you at this stage of the process. I cannot say more at this moment, because I don't know. And once again, the preemption of the results is not possible. Nobody knows what will be the results. But we, as I said, we would like to start the conference during Creation Presidency, and we would land during French Presidency. You know that Grande Barre was going on in France. It was also successful. So one of the role models can be this. There are different role models all over Europe. I started visiting regions. I was in Estonia, in Latvia. The other day in Oipen here in Belgium. Tonight I'm travelling to Castille-Leon in Spain. So we are trying to find best practices which are already inaugurated on the ground. So that doesn't mean that this will be top-top-bottom, but it will be bottom-up exercise. And it won't be monologue, as I'm now trying to impose on you. It will be a listening exercise. We have to listen to citizens. As I said, they don't want to be heard only once in four or five years. They want to be heard all the time. This is the reason for establishing this multilingual digital platform. And we want to be in constant dialogue, but first listening. And this is what I'm assigned to do according to my mission letter, which was dedicated to me from president of the commission. So without communication, without cooperation, this exercise won't be possible and the outcome won't be success. So I'm not negative on this. I heard some maybe negative assumptions but if you read properly, the communication from commission, not only the resolution of the parliament. I see that everybody read resolution of the parliament, but some of you haven't read our communication. So we are on equal footing and let's see what will council say in a few days. And then I think we will continue this debate and don't doubt on our very frank and sincere ideas and our frank and open, and as I said, transparent approach. So thank you. Mr. Speich, please. Thank you very much, Mr. Vice President. Thank you very much that you have confirmed that the ADR should be part of the process. Now there are different types of part of the process. You can be an instrument to create range in a battalion process, but you can also be part of the strategic design of the process. And I think the members of this agreement also want to be part of the strategic design. For us, the decision is not just the listening process. For us, the decision is the consequences that you see from this process, the strategic and political consequences. And here we want to be involved and here we would like the ADR to be part of this process. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Mr. Vice President. Thank you very much, Mr. Vice President, for the visit that will be tomorrow to our community and for the planning that has been done by the conference. But I would like to remark in this brief the importance that the Committee of the Regions is present in all things, because Regions like ours, with such an important demographic challenge, Regions that have financial problems, because we have to give social services and education to 2.5 million inhabitants in 95,000 square kilometers. Regions that have those problems of equality because they cannot make investment policies in the future because they have to spend almost 70% of their budget on social services. They also have a political problem and a political problem for the European Union because these regions that have few representatives in the national parliament feel abandoned in the national parliament. And only institutions like the Committee of the Regions are able to raise the voice of these regions and avoid political problems that have emerged. Only we have to see the map of Brexit in the rural areas, in the desert areas of our Europe. Ladies and gentlemen, if we do not conclude that citizens are not the only ones who live in the cities, we will not have the future in the European Union. Thank you very much. In the future, we will talk about the demographic change and the challenges of the millennium as Mr. Drobay mentioned earlier. I will call on two things to pay attention to. The first is that when the world is increasing rapidly, in the European Union, in 2015 it happened that the number of deaths in the European Union decreased to the number of births. The European demographic of the European Union has decreased. Because the birth rate of the basic and primary population of the demographic is decreasing, it is more likely that the number of families is increasing to the number of births. The second important issue is the lack of housing, the lack of labor, and the lack of brain drain, which our colleagues have been working on for a long time. Therefore, in the future, the cohesion policy has to pay attention to the problems of the development of housing. We have to serve the existing businesses. I am sure that in the eyes of Switzerland, in the eyes of the partners, the European cities and regions in this work. Thank you. I would like to ask you, dear colleagues, to be less than one minute of the schedule of the vice president expressing us. Mr. Horta, please. Mr. Horta. Thank you very much, Mr. President. I listen to your attention, Mr. Vice President, and I would like to draw your attention to the following. Do you want the future of Europe to sit in democracy or not in the future? And when we talk about democracy, it means the development of people through the authorities and regions to resolve their problems. Therefore, our participation in the committee of regions giving voice to the municipalities and regions, I believe is the essential condition of the success of our conference. I think that there are recent lessons that we must take into account. What is happening in so many countries of Europe, fundamentally those that are so important for the European Constitution, such as Germany and France, must concern us and must give us the importance of what it is to involve people in the European project. I speak in the name of a municipality which is the second most populated in my country. I have about 400,000 people. That is where I feel that I have to respond to many of the instructions that these people have. That is where I often have to confront the government with what I understand that is the well-being of our people. All of this must be and must have a voice at the highest level in European terms. I believe that, Mr. Vice President and with this term, that the European Democracy Council must seriously concern us. I tell him, I see in the agenda a topic called Mayor's Under Pressure and with this it means everyone has problems in which our committee must not be read. Mr. Wupp, please. Mr. Vice President, I am very happy that after the White House and the Reflections Paper there will be a new impulse that is necessary for the future and is well equipped because it is set up so widely. I am still skeptical, but I hope that the Council will have a chance because it is about achieving a commitment to the process itself and above all to the results that have to be seriously implemented. What the citizens' participation is is already said. That must be discussed because we can put something in there. It is also about the discussion that the topics that are really being discussed on the Neglenbrennen and that it is structured and deeply discussed and that it is about the perspective of implementation. For us, we will certainly play a very large role in the issue of the social dimension. Thank you very much, Mr. Frey, please. Mr. Commissioner, I would like to address the importance of the citizens' participation more in the future of our community. The government of my region, the government of my region of the government, will play a big role in politics that has been heard for many years. Especially the citizens who have been chosen support and recommend and also on our changes in the framework of the resolution indications that are also supported by some of the factions, because only when citizen participation is done hand in hand well and is done seriously, then it will achieve success. By a visible participation, you would reach the detachment of the citizens of your community and the last would be a gift for the community. It is to be welcomed that the Commission and the proposal for the future conference continued to be made positive to the ambitious proposal of the Parliament. But the Commission must now to her promise to stand and this project soon with concrete content and qualitative point of view. Thank you. Thank you. Ms. Magyar. Thank you. Thank you very much. Mrs. Stanowska, please. Thank you very much. Mr. Dobrozlawicz, please. Thank you, President, President Poshtovana, President Shuica. Democracy and demography are a group of parts of the European Commission, which are on the one hand, the current and the future, and on the other hand, the transition to further development of the Member States and the European Union in the whole. I will address this on the example of demography. A large part of Europe is suffering from today's negative demographic movement. The weak growth of the state of the country has raised the old population, the aim of undeveloped areas and countries, the aim of rural areas in cities, especially those related to the education of young people. Thank you very much, Mrs. Forde, please. I have the pleasure of meeting Ms. Susha last summer at the DPP Women's Conference in Tallinn and hearing her expertise. Since subsidiarity is a core principle of the EU, I share in my colleagues' desire that adequate and vital representation from CORE is into the work of the conference on the future of Europe. I welcomed the draft resolution which calls for existing public participatory democracy tools from local and regional levels. Ireland has great examples of such work. Our Coralina Nogh, since she mentioned the youth, is a youth conference of 31 groups throughout Ireland. We have a Citizens' Assembly, public participation networks and local community development committees. In my own city of Cork, there are over 200 community organisations, pillar and public representatives involved, who can be reached at one click of a button. Imagine, with little additional resources and a clear limit, we can have real people talking about real issues and solutions which directly affect them, directly to the EU for the benefit of all. We do not need to reinvent all of the wheel. However, it is important to find the correct balance between empowering citizens and the role of elected representatives. Members who are accountable, and I urge the conference to ensure that this fine line is respected. Thank you very much. Mr Bianchi, please. Thank you, President. Our view will be essential to guarantee the involvement of the conference of all national and regional parliament, which enjoy greater democratic legitimacy. We do not believe that the only result of this conference can be defined simply in a greater European integration. Our citizens want to see greater respect for national sovereignty and a cooperation at the European level, only when necessary. Our citizens want to see their daily problems resolved at the level of government closer to them, and see the European Union in action only where it is necessary in respect of the principle of subsidiarity. I conclude, President, affirming that, as representatives of regional places, we must enjoy the launch of this conference to ask for a stronger role for our committee in the decision-making system of the European Union. We must ensure that the opinions of the regions are taken seriously into consideration in the European institutions, as well as the creation of a true State of the Regions of local autonomies in a way that has already been mentioned in the principle of subsidiarity. Thank you very much. Mrs. Lidl-Rossmann, please. Thank you very much, Mr. President. Mr. Vice President, of course, I also welcome the initiatives of our committee president Ursula von der Leyen. It is about our common future and we are not allowed to rely on wealth, but we are of course also allowed to engage through-the-house with the development of it. But I conclude with all speakers and speakers that it is of course also important that all measurable players, be it on the European level, on the national level, be included together at an eye-high level. Because here in the regions, the European Union is lived and understood in the smallest way and is directly confronted with the lay-offs of the citizens and the citizens. But for the future, this is also a border crossing that is increasingly important in cooperation, just like with us, for example, in the Euro-region, Tirol, South Tirol, Trendino, where you can continue many of them and have achieved partial success and in this territorial, but also macro-regional cooperation there is a very great potential for the future that we also have to use for our common future. Thank you very much. Mr. Schwarzkiffer. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Mr. Vice President. I am very happy that as a young member it is also possible to have such an important topic as the conference on the future of Europe as my first word of message. The enormous value differences within the European Union are dangerous for our future. Let's take the example of my home region, the Committee of Prana and Boronja, in the south, where you earn around 500-600 euros net. For the same work, you get at least twice as much in Western Europe and this difference causes a massive change. Our few developed regions are empty and in the small communities you don't find any youth. And what we can understand, without prospering regions, there is no prospering Europe. Developed and distributed regions can't prosper. That's why you need a rapid approach of the Lüne, West and East in Europe. So the topic of the Lune Union should be the agenda of the conference. It's about the future of my generation. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Turk. Under the President of the Commission, we will really look at the selection of this very difficult function. Knowing you as the founder of a successful city, I will share with you the clups in the Croatian Parliament a few years ago and through the Parliament function, I am not surprised that this decision was made more than qualitatively. So it is not surprising that we, in the region, since we all come from the local and regional level, as the founders of the city, the founders of the local leaders, we are constantly communicating with our leaders. And actually, the right to speak when we talk about the topic that is called the future of Europe. I will remember that you said that after the last European elections we need to use the right to speak with the high responsibility of the voters in the last European Parliament elections to respond to that challenge with the need for a part-time job. I am confident. It was my pleasure to confirm that these words are confirmed now. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Ranić. Thank you, President. Under the President, the regional election is already a long-time announcement of the importance of the dialogue of the citizens in the future of the European Union. As a member of the regional election, I support this conference because I think that European citizens want and need to be included in the decision-making process. They want to be heard by the European Union, and we must give them the opportunity to be included in various discussions. With the dialogue with the citizens we can confirm our priorities and solve the problems that our future generations are facing. By communicating with the citizens on the local and regional level we can get a wide range of different styles that keep the diversity in Europe, which can help us to create local and regional policies for the common progress of our community. I must emphasize the importance of the access to the top of the European election is very important because in this way we can solve the problems of our citizens. This conference allows us to change our mind with the European citizens to listen to them, to strengthen and return their trust in the European Union. I hope, dear Duprovka, that you will share with your colleagues as the long-time head of the Duprovnik of the European Union. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Karagiannis, please. Thank you very much, Mr. President. Mr. President, you were very right to agree that the state, the state and the local authorities have really been dialogue and dialogue with the citizens regarding the future of Europe. We were talking and sending the messages. The citizens are worried about the destruction of the natural environment, about the positive, about the negative, about foreign policy, about social problems, about solidarity with foreign people. We transfer the voice of the citizens to the European local authorities. We are the voice of the citizens to the European Union. What will you do, Mr. President, without me and the European Union and the development of the European Union. Thank you very much. Thank you. Mr. President, I want to congratulate you on your appointment and welcome to the European Committee of the Regions. I come from Cantabria, a small mountain region that has something very clear. There will be no future for Europe and its population. I want to give you a message from Cantabria. We are putting the regions into strategic marches to avoid the abandonment of rural areas. We put them at their disposal so that, from the European Commission, they can promote the exchange of good practices between the different European territories. And I want to finish asking you a question. How are the different European programs going to contribute to the consequences of the population in our regions? I want to thank the European Union and the development of policies that allow Cantabria to maintain schools, hospitals, social areas of the aging of the population and adapt it to transport policies to ensure mobility and increase the interconnectivity of the territories at risk of depopulation or practically aging. Thank you very much and we hope to see you again in the next session. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to invite the members of the European Parliament and the most active member of the community to wake up the feeling of peace with the ability to function democracy in the European Union. People began to be interested in European things in Reine and there is a light of hope that gives us strength and motivation to fight for European thought and its values. Thank you for the discussion of the European Commission of all Europeans and especially young Europeans. I have no more than a beginning of the journey to the end of which there is a real participative democracy in which the right regions as leaders of the movement from bottom to top represent the strength of change and step by step. That is why I urge you to use this forum fully. The community has the potential to influence their lives. That is why we have to create more communicative and competitive tools to strengthen those regions that do not have enough so that the community can see and feel their recognition. Thank you very much and we end our discussion with Mr. Jorgos Patoulis. Mr. President we are all here today we share a community and we have agreed that we take care of our own priorities regarding the development of the goals of the development of Europe. But it is not enough to talk about the goals of the development of Europe today if we do not accept all of our actions in our country, in our local communities to give a new life to the idea of Europe of the values that it represents. Today we live in a time with less Europe. The world is becoming less and less European and less democratic. The center of the crisis of decisions concerning the future of our people on the planet but also the future is being moved away from our source. The paradox is that even our own countries are becoming less European and less European. And the European governments are being eliminated in this state. The way in which we act is an objective of the changes that are made. The logic of the UN is not the logic of the European idea. The lack of solidarity The lack of communication with the European citizen is a threat to this situation, and in order to prevent this, we will have to take the initiative. Europe has gone through such moments before. But this is serious. We must unite all our forces in order to find our identity again, because no goal of growing up cannot exist without the power of Europe. And I am sure, Mr. President, you, the President, and all the members of the European Union, today and all the rest of the time, I will give you the right answer. Thank you very much and good luck in your work. Thank you very much, Mr. President. So, Mr. Vice President, I think the floor is yours now for your answers, your final comments on this very important debate that we had today. And thank you for staying so long. Dear ladies and gentlemen, thank you for this valuable exchange of views. This was very, very precious to me. And let me find out what all of you said was your concern about your voice in the Conference of the Future of Europe. I want to reassure you once again that your voice will be heard and the voice of citizens will be heard through you. Not to mention, again, one million of elected representatives, but not only elected representatives, but the citizens. Someone was mentioning random selected citizens. Of course, this will be one of the methods how to include citizens in this exercise. But if I may say, many of you were concerned with the demographic aspect of my portfolio with ageing and with work and life balance. So let me tell you a few words about the connection about these two words, democracy and demography. Some of my citizens and colleagues started asking me at the beginning of this term what do these two terms have in common. But they have a lot of in common. So people, there is evident demographic change all over Europe. People tend to move from rural to urban areas, as you rightly said. People tend to move from east to west, and this is really a challenge, if not to say a problem. So demographic change makes people feel left behind. And then they start blaming democracy for such status. But democracy is not guilty for demographic change. But they start not believing anymore in democratic institutions. They don't want to take part in democratic elections. But it's not democracy, it's demographic change. So we have to tackle the reasons for this demographic change. We know the reasons, but we have to start thinking how to revitalize all these rural areas, which are not now without population, and this is what I'm starting to do at this moment. At the end of March or beginning of April, it's on the agenda of the demographic impact of demography on each and every sector of life in the European Union. So this is going to be made by the end of March or beginning of April. And then we will see what is the state of play all over Europe. And then after that, we'll try to offer a toolbox. We know that this is within the member states' competence. But still, I think recommendations from the European level can help and can be acceptable. So we know that aging is a problem. In the last 20 years, according to Eurostat, we Europeans live six years more. Living six years more means that someone has to fill in pension funds. Who is going to fill these pension funds? So life expectancy is more and more. And we have to find solutions for this challenge. This is not a problem, but this is a very good opportunity to enhance silver economy. So we are thinking about this. And this will be a horizontal approach with commissioner for agriculture, commissioner for cohesion, original policy, commissioner for education, for transport. So we know that connectivity is also a problem. When we talk about rural areas, we don't talk only about infrastructure. We don't think only sewage system and waterways. We think about digital connectivity, not only the classical infrastructure. Once they have broadband internet all over Europe, you can work from your home. As it is the case at the moment in Finland, you have more than 40% of jobs which can be done remotely from their homes. So we have to think about new innovative methods in order to keep our citizens live in their homes or their regions, their villages in the country. And this is one of the big, big challenges in this commission. So we will try to do much in this area. Brain drain, or if you wish, nowadays it's politically correct to call it brain circulation. Because people go due to freedom of movement. People move freely all over Europe without having working permits. People move from different reasons, not only because of living standards, but because of education, because of gaining new skills. People move because they want to get married somewhere else. So there are different reasons for their movements. But so we cannot blame freedom of movement for this. We have to find solutions and we are trying to do our best on behalf of commission. But once I have to highlight, we know that this is member states' competence and we don't want to interfere. But still we think that we can be of help for you. Regarding your concerns that the Committee of the Regions won't be included, it will be included, but you have to bear in mind treaty. In treaty there are three co-legislators, Council, Commission and Parliament. So I have to stress this, but of course you are going to be our partner as I said. But bear in mind that treaty says that there are three co-legislators, but of course we want to be close to citizens. And if I may say a few words in my mother tongue in Croatian, I want to answer my dear Croatian colleagues. If I can answer in Croatian, my dear colleagues from Croatia. More than 50% of citizens came to this election, which was the result of the last 20 years on the European elections, which means that the citizens wanted to recommend something to us, and that's the reason why this conference is still going on. The reason why we are going to this conference is that we will be able to get close to citizens. The fact that there is a gap between us, politicians and citizens is evident. It seems very open-minded to say that there is an extremist idea, that I don't call them populist, it was at the end of the left and at the end of the right. And the reason is that we are getting close to citizens, that we will be close to see what are the problems, what are the problems, what are the fears of European citizens, and why we are not able to respond to their demands. So, what we want in this conference is to listen to them and immediately respond adequately to the path of legal activities, the path of resolution. As I said a little earlier, maybe even in a changed conversation, but that's the last measure that we would like to use. There will be a lot of legal activities that are not implemented. That's what you probably know. To conclude, I want to thank all of you for this very, very good exchange of views. This is not our last time that we meet. I'm looking forward to your next plenary meeting, and of course I will be more precise than we will know more. We will have guidelines, we will be better equipped, and I hope to start this very complex exercise on the day of Europe, symbolically enough, 75 years after the Second World War, and I think we can start together, not only Dubrovnik, but all over Europe in different municipalities, different regions, different towns, and looking forward to your contribution to this exercise. Thank you once again. Thank you very much, Vice President. Thank you. As we were saying, the resolution is... Ladies and gentlemen, let's continue with our work. Let's now move on to the debate about the resolution of the Regional Committee on exactly the conference on the future of Europe. There is a set of changes, but the debate is open if someone wants to intervene, but beyond everything that has already been said. There are no interventions, let's move on to the proposals for the change. Thus, we have the first change proposal. Let's vote it. Who votes in favour of this change proposal? We have a problem with the translation. We're going to vote amendment number one. Who votes for the amendment? Don't be shy. Thank you. Who votes against the amendment? Thank you. Abstention? It's rejected, amendment number one. The information I have is that the second change proposal was removed. Confirmed, very good. Let's move on to the number three change proposal. Who votes in favour? Thank you very much. Who votes against it? The number three change proposal was rejected. Proposal number four. Who votes in favour? Thank you very much. Who votes against it? Proposal number five. Who votes in favour? Thank you very much. Who votes against it? Let's move on to the electronic vote. For the existence of our Secretary-General. The vote is closed. The proposal was rejected. We move on to proposal number six. Who votes in favour? Thank you very much. Who votes against it? Thank you very much. Who votes against it? The proposal was rejected. Proposal number seven was rejected. Proposal number eight. Who votes in favour? Proposal number seven. Thank you very much. Who votes against it? Who votes against it? Proposal number eight was rejected. We move on to proposal number nine. Who votes in favour? Thank you very much for voting against it. The proposal was approved. Proposal number 10. Who votes in favour? Thank you very much for voting against it. Thank you very much for the abstentions. Proposal number 11. Who votes in favour? Thank you very much for voting against it. Proposal number 12. Who votes in favour? No, we do not. The only vote against it is in favour of the abstentions. Proposal number 13. Who votes in favour? Thank you very much for voting in favour of the abstentions. Proposal number 13. Who votes in favour? The text of the changes is to be rewritten in half. I'll read it to you. It begins, to be able to implement the results of the conference should also be able to follow changes to the EU contracts. And we agreed that the changes should be taken at the end of Act 13, 12, could be removed. Very well, what we have is a proposal of an oral commitment that, to be approved, will fall into Act 13. We passed the vote of Act 12 with the formulation given by the oral commitment. Who votes in favour? Thank you very much. Who votes against? Who votes against? The proposal was approved. It falls into Act 13. We passed to Act 14. Who votes in favour? Thank you very much. Who votes against? Who voted? The proposal is Has-supplied. The proposal is Has-supplied. Who votes in favour? Who votes against? The proposal was approved. The proposal is Has-supplied. Who votes behind? Who votes in favour? 17. Who votes in favour? Who votes against? 18. Who votes in favour? Who votes against? 19. Who votes in favour? Who votes against? Electronical vote We can close the vote. The proposal was accepted. Proposal number 20. Who votes in favour? Who votes against? Proposal rejected. Proposal 21. Who votes in favour? Who votes against? Who votes against? Proposal rejected. We now vote the final resolution, the final test, including the proposals. Who votes in favour of the final test? Thank you very much. Who votes against? Who votes against? The resolution on the future conference of Europe was approved. Thank you very much. For unanimity. Ms. Masvout. Let's go back a little bit to the point 19. To our partner on the brain drain in the EU addressing the challenge at all levels. I ask our reporter, Emil Boc, to take your place, to present your report. Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, thank you. Brain drain. The brain drain is affecting many countries, regions, and local communities in the European Union. If it's not properly treated, the brain drain may affect the sustainability of the European Union. If it's not properly treated, the brain drain may affect the sustainability of the European project and may destroy the quality of life in both sending and receiving countries. Left unaddressed, it will have long-term and permanent effects on the future of the European Union and is likely to become a strategic threat. The issue of brain drain in the European Union is complex, calling for a pragmatic policy response from the European Union, local and regional authorities. Local and regional authorities play a crucial role in addressing this issue. Since local communities are the ones that are directly affected by the consequences of brain drain. Let's talk a little bit about the history of brain drain. This is not a new issue. It's a very old issue. Migration of educated people is more than 2,000 years old. For example, a few years ago, there was a brain drain from Athens to Alexandria in the context of policies promoted by Ptolemy the first sauteer. Later, the history of the first European universities is related to brain drain circulation and measures tried to stop the brain drain using even the death penalty. But no chance. The University of Arezzo, the University of Pisa, 1343 149 were founded after migration from the University of Bologna. Also in the 1970s, the Bagwati tax proposed a tax on the income earned by the skilled migrants in the destination country to the benefit of the source country. But of course this measure also didn't work. Even is still present in the political discourse. So today what is the solution? There is no universal solution. We can discuss now about brain drain in the context of brain gain and brain circulation and Commissioner Svitsa already mentioned. And we have another advantage in this very moment. Yes, the freedom of movement is a fundamental value of the EU. It's a religion. We cannot debate about the vulnerability of the freedom of movement, but always about what is the main point. We have to respect the freedom of movement but everyone is free to move voluntarily inside the European Union but no one should be forced to leave the country to the poverty and other economic reasons. I think this is the key. How can we respect the freedom of movement, but no one should be forced due to the economical conditions to leave his own country reason or village or so on. So if we do not properly trigger the brain drain we have a potential threat to the future of the European project. You know that the countries below the EU 28 average GDP per capita are mostly sending countries of skilled workers like Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Croatia or Poland. On the other side the countries above the EU 28 average GDP per capita are the main destination countries of skilled EU movers like Germany, UK, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Ireland and so on. So in this very context we do have to take in consideration the positive and the negative impacts of the brain drain. Solutions. How can we tackle the brain drain and I will be very limited due to the time which I have it. First, multi-level governments and multi-level approach. European and state level, local and regional level. Second, political commitment for cohesion policy. It's a must to keep at least the same amount of money for cohesion policy because this cohesion policy should remain a long-term investment for all regions and it's the main instrument to keep Europe together and to deal with brain drain. Third, education, education, education. That's the main source, the main advantage to keep people home. And you have a lot of examples of good results. Best practice is a local regional level from this point of view. In the end, we have to deal with brain drain. Having in mind we have to fight against a continuous excessive brain drain. This is causing a great danger to our countries, to our region. Excessive continuous brain drain and you have to know the people who are living in the country, their ultimate dream is to come back. And they have to take an account of this and we need to work together to deal with brain drain. In the end I would like to give special thanks to my expert, Professor Hinsa from Babish Bay University, one international expert in the field of brain drain. Also to the Croatian presidency for establishing as a priority the Council of European Union Education for all your support. Last but not least that's the deck and the staff. Thank you. Marcula, you are the floor. Mr President, dear Emil Pock, I just want to congratulate but bring an additional idea as a follow-up because this is really a crucial topic and your opinion is very well prepared. So first thing that we definitely need is in the SEDEC, the follow-up activities of that and one of those that we actually discussed last week with several of the members actually in Spain in Navarra when there was organized the Knowledge Exchange platform which was about 12 different regions from different parts of Europe were discussing about the social economy but especially how to encourage the local collaboration mentality and I challenged the local media as well so that we need and they need more investments on this let's say joint ecosystem towards more innovativeness and share the ideas and good progress with the rest of Europe and on that so what we have this instrument, Knowledge Exchange platform, I think our colleague Micheli Rujo from Navarra he will explain that later on not today but in the coming weeks and months with the SEDEC so how to move on with the... Thank you, Marco. And so on that we can get good progress on that. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. In fact I had already thought about intervening before Marco's intervention with whom we could share last week a Knowledge Exchange platform in Navarra about social innovation which is exactly the same about these issues. Here only two aspects for the limitation of time. One, which is an issue that obviously affects the rural world but which is affecting those cities that are not big enough more than 80% of the talent of all Europe. It is a trend, let's say, that is very worrying and also worthy of study. It affects only the rural world and medium cities that do not reach populations of several million people. This is a contrasted fact. The second, obviously, to be an intelligent region I think it would be more interesting to be able to align with several of the policies that are developing the European Union as the future digital program that can be very developed especially in rural and medium-sized rural cities. Thank you. Thank you very much. I do not have a record of more requests for the word. Let's move on to voting for the changes. Let's vote. Change proposal number one. Who votes in favor? Thank you very much. Who votes in favor? Who votes in favor? Who votes in favor? Who votes in favor? Who is in favor? Who's in favor? Who's in favor now? The proposal was accepted. Let's move on to proposal number 3. Who votes in favor? Who votes against? Electrical voting. We can close the vote. The proposal was accepted. We now move on to the vote of the Global Final Test, who votes in favor. Thank you very much. Who votes against? Who abstains? Approved by unanimity. Thank you very much, Anil Block. Thank you. We now move on to the resolution point about the work program, 21, the work program of the European Commission. The debate is open. There are no interventions. We have to... Mr McCarty, please. Thank you, Mr President. Can I just say, looking through the European Commission work program and the device commissioner, actually let us through some of the five or six strands of the program, many of them actually overlap with the work of the Committee of the Regions and its networks, and especially its networks, like RBAC to Interreg, Urban Innovative Action, the European Capital's kind of program, and so on and so on. So it's very, very important for us to weave our workload and present our workload and keep presenting it to the European Commission so that we can actually be effective in our work kind of moving forward. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Mr President. Thank you very much for the word. I can now hand over my position to the Austrian delegation. We have studied and discussed this agreement very intensively and also with great seriousness. It contains numerous essential and supportive elements. And yet I would like to bring our thoughts to an end, especially to the point 3 of this agreement, where it is about to fix and manifest a concrete number for the contribution payments at this point in time. We know that the negotiations for the medium-term financial framework are intensively scheduled. Hopefully, they will also be brought to an imminent end and will also be able to see movements there. Thank you, ma'am. I close my speech and say that we can therefore, because we can't keep it as an opportunity to name a fixed number here. Thank you. Thank you. I have no more small words. We can now move on to the vote of the proposals for the change. We have about 20 proposals for the change. Let's start with the vote. Karl Heinz, you have the floor. I would like to only point out to the financial framework that we have already done countless times in the past and that the demand that is now being raised would not have been logical if we didn't continue our own name, which, by the way, remains coherent with the European Parliament. Thank you very much. Mr. John, you have the floor. Thank you, Chair. I thought I was also just one of the speakers, but well, never mind. The ECR Group welcomes the European Commission Work Program. Regarding the resolution, we agree with most of the points that are made. Nevertheless, we tabled amendments by which we aim to make sure that EU regulations are more proportional and calling for the revision of the EU climate targets without any impact assessment would not be wise. And the same goes for eliminating subsidies for fossil fuels. What about transition from coal to gas? If subsidies for gas are eliminated, this will have a negative impact on ore air quality. We believe that the mechanism to monitor the application of rule of law in member states can only be compliant with the treaties if it was limited to assessing the application of the EU law. And finally, our members have different views over the desired size of the EU budget. And I hope that most of our amendments will be accepted, and if so, we will be able to support the resolution in the final vote. Thank you so much. Who votes against... Proposals for change, approved. Proposals for change, number 5, if approved, then it's against the change number 6. Who votes in favor of the visitors' proposal, number 5. Thank you very much. Who votes against it? Electronics' vote. Can we close the vote? Proposals for change, rejected. Proposals for change, 6, Who votes against? Who abstains? Proposes to the process of change, approved. 7, Who votes against? Who voting against? Who abstains? Proposes to the process of change, approved. Proposals number 8. Who votes in favour? Who votes against? Who is abstain? Proposals number 9. Mr. Royon, ask for the floor. Yes, Mr. President, we propose a rejection, not on the floor, but because in reality the content of this amendment is already integrated into the point 65. It should have already been removed. Mr. Royon, what do you intend to vote against or remove the proposal? Either he withdraws it or we vote against because the element is already in the other point. Thank you very much. So let's vote. Who votes in favour of proposal number 9? Thank you very much. Who votes against? Electronical vote. The vote is closed. The proposal was accepted. Let's move on to the vote of proposal number 10. If this proposal was approved, the proposal number 11 falls. Proposals number 10. Who votes in favour? Who votes against? Who is abstain? The proposal was approved. Proposals number 12. Who votes in favour? Who votes against? Who is abstain? The proposal was approved. Proposals number 13. Who votes in favour? Who votes against? Who is abstain? Proposals were approved. Proposals 14. Who votes in favour? Who votes against? Who is abstain? Proposals were rejected. Proposals number 15. Who votes in favour? Who votes against? Who is abstain? Proposals were approved. Proposals number 16. Who votes in favour? Who votes against? Who is abstain? Proposals were approved. Proposals 17. Who votes in favour? Who votes against? Who votes Proposta 18, quem vota a favor? who votes against? Proposta 19, quem vota a favor? Proposta 20, quem vota a favor? The proposal was rejected. We now vote for the final document. Who votes in favour? Who votes against? Who abstains? Proposed approved by the majority. We now move on to the point of other matters. There are no other matters? Great. Data from the next meeting. The next meeting is scheduled for the 26th, the plenary meeting, for the 26th and 27th of March. And so, dear friends, I declare this plenary session of the Committee of Regions closed. Thank you very much.