FUEN attended the Open Days of the Committee of the Regions

FUEN attended the Open Days – the European Week of Regions and Cities this week.

On behalf of FUEN, Frank de Boer participated at the events and workshops organised by the European Commission and the Committee of the Regions. One of the subjects dealt with was the social inclusion of mobile EU-citizens in regions and cities of Europe, many of whom have a minority background. FUEN also used the Open Days to intensify its contacts with the representatives of European regions, and to speak about the important role that national minorities have for cross-border cooperation in Europe.

The OPEN DAYS is an annual Brussels-based four-day event during which officials from regions and cities’ administrations, as well as others like experts and e.g. representatives of civil society, can exchange good practices and know-how in the field of regional and urban development. It is also a platform for the development of EU Cohesion Policy, raising the awareness of decision-makers about the fact that regions and cities matter in EU policy-making.

The OPEN DAYS, organised by the Committee of the Regions and the European Commission, is the biggest European public event of its kind, with some 6 000 participants and 600 speakers from all over Europe and a programme of some 100 workshops, debates, exhibitions and networking events on regional and local development. Regions and cities are involved in the making of most EU policies. Sub-national public authorities in the EU are responsible for one-third of public expenditure (EUR 2 100 billion per year) and two thirds of public investments (about EUR 200 billion), the latter often to be spent in accordance with EU legal provisions.

Represented in the Committee of the Regions that are supporting FUEN financially are amongst others Schleswig-Holstein, Saxony, Brandenburg, Carinthia, the German-speaking Community in Belgium, the Autonomous Region of South Tyrol-Trentino and the Autonomous Province of Bolzano-South Tyrol.