The 7th European Summit of Regions and Cities
was officially launched on 5 April by the European
Committee of the Regions, the City of Bratislava
and the Bratislava Region.
May/June/July
LOOKING FORWARD
7th European Summit of Regions and Cities
8 – 9 July 2016, Bratislava
The 7th European Summit of Regions and Cities will be held in Bratislava on 8 and 9 July 2016. The Summit, which will
gather around 700 participants from across Europe, will be the largest event held in Bratislava during Slovakia’s EU
Presidency (read more about the event on page 6).
Dear Reader,
This newsletter provides regional and local experts with a list of the events, conferences and meetings scheduled
to take place at the European Committee of the Regions in May, June and July 2016.
The EU institutions, individual regions and associations will be holding a number of seminars in the CoR building in
order to present project results and to address topics related to the future of EU programmes.
If you wish to receive this publication on a bimonthly basis, please register here. Please feel free to forward CoR
Events Flash to colleagues in your institution who may be interested.
Comments can be sent to conferencescdr@cor.europa.eu
Kind regards,
The CoR Events unit
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Local government supporting start-ups and scale-ups
CoR co-organised conference, 2-3 May 2016, Municipal Theatre São Luis, Lisbon
Capitalising on the Grand Jury prize of the European Enterprise Promotion Award and the European Entrepreneurial
Region label awarded to Lisbon in 2015, this conference will take Lisbon’s entrepreneurship support strategy as a
starting point in order to explore how cities can best strengthen their entrepreneurial ecosystems. It will establish
dialogue between the main stakeholders of Lisbon’s business ecosystem, experts from EER regions and representatives
of the CoR and the European Commission, who will identify a toolbox of successful good practices for start-up and
scale-up support at local level and define what support the actors within local entrepreneurship ecosystems require
from the EU level. The conference is co-organised by the Municipal Council of Lisbon, the European Commission and
the European Committee of the Regions.
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More information: eer-cdr@cor.europa.eu
Smart Specialisation and Regional Innovation
Hosted conference, 12 May 2016, 09.00 – 17.00, JDE building, rooms JDE 52, 53, Atrium 5
This conference will explore the practice, challenges and opportunities of smart specialisation across the EU. The
conference brings together leading academics and policy makers to discuss the findings of a major European research
project examining regional innovation and smart specialisation. The conference will be of interest to all those engaged
in supporting the development of regional innovation and regional economic growth, and is particularly relevant to
policy makers, academics and practitioners working in the field.
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More information: healya2@cardiff.ac.uk
Fiscal decentralisation: The conditions needed to make it a success
CoR conference, 12 May 2016, 09.00 – 12.00, JDE building, room JDE 51
Although the long-term benefits of decentralisation are not in dispute, concerns have been voiced about short-term
risks, notably as concerns fiscal decentralisation. The conference would look at the factors which would steer the
process of decentralisation into a success story, including dissemination of information on funding opportunities for
local and regional authorities and addressing the difficulties faced when answering calls for proposals.
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More information: corleap@cor.europa.eu
BRIDGE - Building up Regional Initiatives to Develop
GuidancE for low-skilled adults
Hosted conference, 12 – 13 May 2016, JDE building, rooms JDE 70, 51
The event will give an overview of policies and tools to support the up-skilling of low-skilled adults in the regions.
Organised by the European Association of Regional and Local Authorities for Lifelong Learning.
More information: earlall@earlall.eu
Regional clusters promoting water efficiency through innovation in Europe
Hosted conference, 18 May 2016, 09.30 – 17.30, JDE building, room JDE 51
The WE@EU project has been set up to coordinate European innovation in water efficiency solutions applied in urban
areas through high-level trans-national cooperation by a consortium formed by research-driven clusters.
This international event will take place at the end of the project.
More information: Francisco.vigalondo@aragonexterior.es ; http://weateu.eu
Europe Day: EU institutions open their doors
28 May 2016, 10.00 - 18.00
At the European Committee of the Regions, visitors will discover the regions and cities of Europe, with activities for all
ages. This year’s event provides an opportunity to:
Visit the European Union’s Assembly of regional and local representatives and learn about its role and activities
(ground floor: stands of political groups; 5th floor: presentation of the Committee and stand)
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Experience Europe’s diversity by visiting the interactive stands of partner regions and cities and tasting a variety
of local products
Enjoy the surprises prepared by entertainers
Have your picture taken as a souvenir of your visit to the European Committee of the Regions
Visit.brussels will lay on a small train to move between the institutions on Europe Day.
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More information: http://europeday.europa.eu; opendoors@cor.europa.eu
CoR forum on the EU Urban Agenda
CoR conference, 30 May 2016, 9.00 - 18.00, Westergasfabriek, Amsterdam
The Forum on the EU Urban Agenda will bring together representatives of local and regional authorities, EU
institutions, Member States and relevant stakeholders. They will discuss the practical steps needed to implement
the EU Urban Agenda and to improve the urban dimension of EU policy making. The Forum will be held back to
back with the informal meeting of ministers responsible for urban matters, when the “Pact of Amsterdam” on the EU
Urban Agenda is expected to be adopted. It will be organised with the Association of Netherlands Municipalities, the
Association of the Provinces of the Netherlands, the City of Amsterdam and the Province of Noord-Holland.
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More information: COTER@cor.europa.eu; forum@cor.europa.eu
Enlargement Day
1 - 2 June 2016, JDE building
Enlargement Day is an event dedicated to raising awareness of the local and regional dimension of the enlargement
process. CoR members of the working groups and joint consultative committees will have the chance to exchange
experiences and good practices with their guests from the candidate and potential candidate countries on how to
involve local and regional authorities in EU enlargement policy.
On the first day of the event (1 June), the working groups and joint consultative committees will hold their annual
Brussels-based meetings.
The Enlargement Day event will continue on 2 June, with a plenary session meeting (room JDE 52) in which all WG
and JCC members, key speakers from partner countries and relevant stakeholder institutions involved in enlargement
policy will take part.
The main topics for discussion will be:
Fundamentals first - multi-level governance and the rule of law; freedom of expression; respect for minorities and
fighting discrimination
EU local and regional authorities’ experience of using Structural and Cohesion Funds: applying these lessons to
Pre-Accession funds.
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More information: wgs_jccs@cor.europa.eu; tel. +32 2 282 2336
[Y]Factor: [Y]our Solutions to Solve Youth Unemployment
CoR Conference, June 2016 (date tbc), JDE building
The next Y-Factor Conference organised by the trainees of the European Committee of the Regions will take place in
June 2016 and will tackle the issue of youth unemployment in Europe. This will be a solution-focused event comprising
three highly innovative phases: challenges, actions and best practices.
Sustainable societies: Health and social investment in the EU
Hosted conference, 7 June 2016, 13.00 – 17.30, Van Maerlant building, room VM1
Participants will come from a wide range of organisations working for health equity and social inclusion, and active in
the field of health and social investment. There will be speakers from the WHO, the European Commission and several
EU Member States and regions, addressing health and social investment for more sustainable societies.
More information: d.hargitt@eurohealthnet.eu
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Atlantic Strategy in Action
Conference, 8 June 2016, 09.00 – 17.30, JDE building, room JDE 51
The event is organised by the European Commission (DG MARE) and the five Member States concerned by the
strategy, in cooperation with the European Committee of the Regions.
The programme will include a morning plenary session with presentations on the state of play of the implementation
of the Atlantic Strategy and the Action Plan and on the available funding instruments, particularly “shared
management” funds. The “Support Team for the Atlantic Action Plan”, a small team supporting the implementation
of the Action Plan, will also be introduced during the plenary session. The afternoon will consist of five workshops
(one per Member State) focusing on the national implementation of Structural Funds in support of the Action Plan
for the Atlantic.
The target audience for this event is public authorities in the five Atlantic Member States who are directly involved in
the design and management of ESIF-related funding programmes and actions that can support the implementation
of the Atlantic Strategy and Action Plan.
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More information: Dimo.Stoyanov@cor.europa.eu
Europe Seminar
Hosted conference, 9 June 2016, 09.00 – 16.30, JDE building, room JDE 53
This event will discuss major policies and their financial instruments, cohesion policy, territorial issues and the urban
component of European and cross-border policies. Organised by Direction du réseau et des Territoires, Caisse des
Dépôts.
More information: christine.tiger@caissedesdepots.fr
Forum of the CoR Covenant Ambassadors: Toward the
implementation of climate and energy objectives
CoR conference - Energy Day organised during 2016 European Sustainable Energy Week, 14 June 2016,
13.00 – 15.00, JDE building, room JDE 52
Ceremonial launch of a new support network, the “Covenant Ambassadors”, as a political endorsement of local
action in implementing the objectives of the Energy Union and the commitments taken at the Paris COP. The policy
session will highlight best practice and policy recommendations in such areas as sustainable energy investment
and international cooperation. There will be particular emphasis on challenges and solutions specific to the EuroMediterranean area.
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More information: radim.dvorak@cor.europa.eu; http://cor.europa.eu/en/news/Pages/Spearheading-climate-action-withthe-CoR-and-the-Covenant-of-Mayors-.aspx
Vanguard Initiative: Technology Roadmap for “Advanced
Manufacturing for Energy Applications in harsh environments”
Hosted conference, 14 June 2016, 09.30 - 14.00, Van Maerlant building, room VM1
The workshop, capitalising on previous work under the Vanguard Initiative, will present the industrial challenges and
the technology roadmap of the ADMA/Energy pilot scheme, and will take the next steps by setting up an Industrial
Leadership Committee. The target audience will be technology experts from the VI regions and representatives from
the European Commission (DG ENER, DG REGIO, DG GROW, DG JRC- S3 Platform).
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More information: aitor-mintegui@euskadi.eus
COHESIFY Launch Event
Hosted conference, 17 June 2016, 09.30 – 11.30, JDE building, room JDE 70
Round table organised to launch the COHESIFY project, a Horizon 2020 EU-funded project that aims to study the
impact of cohesion policy on European identity.
More information: info@cohesify.eu ; www.cohesify.eu
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Cost Effective Housing Policies in the EU
Hosted conference, 20 June 2016, 9.30 - 17.00, JDE building, room JDE 51
The conference is the final event of an EU project about proposing cost-effective housing policies for the Member
States of the EU. The conference aims to bring together decision makers from all levels of government (regions,
Member States, EU) that have an impact on housing policies.
More information: Julien.dijol@housingeurope.eu
iEER-project Kick off Conference
Hosted conference, 28 June 2016, 9.00 - 15.00, JDE building, room JDE 52
The event sets to: raise importance of the structural funds as source for European regions to support SMEs and startups generating growth and jobs, share the knowledge and best practise on the ground and engage wider scope
of European actors to the development of a European framework building innovative entrepreneurial systems in
Europe.
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Information: leena.kemppainen@uudenmaanliitto.fi
European Entrepreneurial Region (EER) Annual Conference
CoR conference, 29 June 2016, JDE building, room JDE 51, Ledra Street
The conference will bring together representatives of the 21 EER regions, together with CoR members, EU institutions
and external experts, in order to explore current issues in entrepreneurship and SME support, identify good practices
at regional and local level and explore future options for regional entrepreneurial policies.
More information: eer-cdr@cor.europa.eu
Good governance and successful implementation of the
global climate agreement – A territorial approach
CoR conference, 29 June 2016, 14.00 - 18.00, JDE building, room JDE 52
Six months after the adoption of a new global climate agreement, this event will discuss the place of regions and
cities in the new global climate governance, their expectations and their role in bridging the remaining carbon gap
between Nationally Determined Contributions and the objective of limiting the increase in temperature to well below
2/1.5°C. The event will also discuss cities’ and regions’ preparations in the run-up to COP22 and the key question of
financing for EU cities and regions, as well as the role of research and adaptation in comprehensive climate policies.
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More information: audrey.parizel@cor.europa.eu
PES Group photo competition ‘Imagine Europe without borders’
What are borders? How do they affect our lives? What makes them “real” or “imaginary”? How are they changing?
What does this mean for us as individuals, and as citizens of our town, region, country or the European Union?
‘Imagine Europe without borders’ invites both amateur and professional photographers to capture their interpretation
of this very topical issue in a photo.
The competition runs until 30 June 2016. Winners will be announced in October 2016.
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More information: http://pes.cor.europa.eu/Meetings/Events/Pages/noborderseu-share.aspx#share
11th European Urban and Regional Planning Awards 2015-2016
Hosted conference, 04 July 2016, 11.00 - 18.00, JDE building, room JDE51
The European Council of Spatial Planners will present the 11th European Urban and Regional Planning Awards 20152016; the work of young European planners; and a conference on “mobility and sustainable cities”.
More information: secretariat@ectp-ceu.eu
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7th European Summit of Regions and Cities
CoR Summit, 8 – 9 July 2016, Bratislava
The 7 European Summit of Regions and Cities was officially
launched on 5 April 2016 by the European Committee of the
Regions (CoR), the City of Bratislava and the Bratislava Region.
Under the title “Invest and Connect” the Summit will be held in
Bratislava on 8-9 July 2016, just a week after Slovakia takes over
the rotating six-month Presidency of the Council of the EU for the
very first time.
The President of the European Committee of the Regions, Markku Markkula, said that the Summit would be used as
a platform to find tangible solutions to the challenges facing Europe. “We need a better connected Europe which
means improving investment in people, places, resources and ideas – and this must start in its regions and cities.
That means giving the economy the fresh and innovative start it deserves. Through promoting entrepreneurship and
making the most of EU, national, local and private funds we can overcome regional inequality, contribute to tackling
broader issues such as climate change, promote community cohesion and boost competitiveness.”
The Summit, which will gather around 700 people from across Europe, will be the largest event held in Bratislava
during Slovakia’s EU Presidency. Delegates at the Summit will include the 350 members of the CoR – the EU’s assembly
of local and regional representatives – politicians from the national and European level, European Commissioners,
experts and business leaders.
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More information and registration: www.cor.europa.eu/BratislavaSummit
LOOKING BACK
THE FUTURE OF COHESION POLICY BEYOND 2020
This conference was organised by the European Committee of the Regions on 3 March 2016, and was the final
conference of a series of three, discussing the challenges and prospects for EU cohesion policy post-2020.
Speakers included CoR president Markku Markkula, president of COTER commission Raffaele Cattaneo, CoR Members,
representatives of the European Parliament and the upcoming Slovak Presidency of the Council of the EU, as well as
academics and policy experts.