Success of EU enlargement depends on delivering results for the citizens - Hoofdinhoud

​As the results of around 70% of EU legislation depend on implementation at the local and regional level, President Markkula highlighted the importance for the aspiring EU Member States' cities and regions to take action and start preparing as early as possible to lay the foundations for the implementation of EU legislation. This will also enable their citizens to take ownership of the accession project.

"Even while facing challenging times, the European Union remains a project of security and stability for our neighbours wishing to join us," Markku Markkula, President of the European Committee of the Regions i, emphasised at the European Committee of the Regions' Enlargement Day. "Cities and regions are in many ways the gatekeepers and game changers of those hopes and aspirations, therefore reforms at the local and regional level will be critical to the success of any future enlargement of the EU. Our actions need to be focused on delivering results for the citizens - be it on local democracy, climate action or creating jobs and sustainable growth," he said.

The European Committee of the Regions' Enlargement Day conference, held on 2 June, focused on three issues at the top of the EU's agenda with local and regional authorities in the seven countries currently pursuing membership of the EU from the Balkans and Turkey: fundamental rights, money and migration.

First Vice-President Karl-Heinz Lambertz underlined that the CoR is currently campaigning for better management of migration flows and insisted on the need "to find a common response working alongside Turkey and the countries of the Western Balkans".

In an interview given to mark the event, Johannes Hahn i, the European Commissioner for the European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, said: "Local and regional authorities play a key role in the Commission's 'fundamentals first' approach" - such as sound economic governance, freedom of expression, respect for human rights, and the fight against corruption - and in "carrying out difficult reforms in core areas".

The European Committee of the Regions works with local and regional governments in all accession countries to help develop their capacity to implement EU legislation for tangible results on the ground.

Speaking on 1 June at the CoR's latest working group with Turkey, Selim Yenel, Turkey's Ambassador to the EU, said that the EU and Turkey "are entering a new phase in our relations, marked by more dialogue than ever before. I am sure that we will also find a way to upgrade the working group and find a way to improve our relations in every way."