Regions highlight role in Ireland's EU presidency

Presidency's priorities are competitiveness, values and security.

Ireland's Presidency of the Council of the European Union was officially marked at the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) plenary on 1 July with a debate highlighting the contribution of local and regional authorities to Europe's future.

Representatives of Ireland's three Regional Assemblies, the Association of Irish Regions and the Irish delegation to the CoR stressed that the Presidency offers an opportunity to strengthen the role of regions in shaping EU policy as well as to deliver on the Presidency's three priorities: strengthening competitiveness, upholding values, and enhancing security.

Ireland's three regional assemblies - the Eastern and Midland, Northern and Western, and Southern Regional Assemblies - coordinate regional development, manage EU cohesion funding and promote regional interests at national and European level. They were represented by their leaders: David Healy, Michéal Frain, and Andrew McGuiness respectively.

Opening the debate, Gillian Coughlan (IE/Renew Europe), member of Cork County Council and head of the Irish delegation in the CoR, invoked the Irish proverb 'Ní neart go cur le chéile' ('There is no strength without unity'), saying that Europe's strength "is built from the ground up through cooperation between its institutions, its member states and its local and regional institutions".

Speakers argued that the Presidency's priorities of competitiveness, values and security will be realised in towns, cities and regions through investment, innovation, and the energy transition. They underlined the importance of cohesion policy, a balanced regional development and cross-border cooperation, while calling for regional perspectives to be fully reflected in EU decision-making.

Daithí Ó hÉalaithe of the Association of Irish Regions said the Presidency provides an opportunity to reinforce "meaningful regional input in European decision-making", while the Northern and Western Regional Assembly highlighted the importance of strengthening cooperation with Northern Ireland.

Speakers emphasised the need to ensure that European legislation reflects local realities and that the voices of communities are heard where decisions are made, and presented the Committee of the Regions as being central to the effort to ensure that the regional perspectives are recognised and reflected in European decisions.

During the Irish Presidency, the CoR's bureau will hold a meeting in Mullingar in County Westmeath in September and its Commission for Economic Policy (ECON) will meet in Galway in October.

More information:

• Recording: A recording of the debate is available on the website of the European Committee of the Regions.