CORLEAPDigest-ThelocalvoiceoftheEasternPartnershipIssue2,September2016

Dear Reader,

This e-newsletter aims to inform you three times a year about the work of the Conference of Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership (CORLEAP), the policy background and the international context in which it operates.The EU Global Strategy on foreign and security policy was presented at the European summit in June;EU Association Agreements with Georgia and the Republic of Moldova entered into force on 1st July, and the seventh Eastern Partnership Informal Partnership Dialogue on 11-12 July provided an opportunity to reflect on the implementation of the renewed European Neighbourhood Policy and to discuss ways of enhancing its effectiveness in preparation for the next EaP summit, foreseen for 2017.

Against this background, CORLEAP Digest picks relevant news for local and regional authorities. Please feel free to forward it to colleagues who may be interested. Comments and contributions can be sent to: corleap@cor.europa.eu.

Best regards, The CORLEAP secretariat

Eastern Partnership News

In this enewsletter:

1. Eastern Partnership News2. CORLEAP in Action3. Partner News4. Studies and Publications5. Calendar of Upcoming Events

Intensifying partnerships between EU and Ukrainian cities and regions

Opportunities for partnerships between EU and Ukrainian cities and regions were discussed with the occasion of the second meeting of the European Committee of the Regions' Task Force on Ukraine, taking place in Odessa on 5th July 2016. Next steps will be to identify EU peers with expertise to share and the organisation of pilot local capacity-building projects.Read more

Further steps in support of local and regional democracy in the Republic of Moldova

The President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Jean-Claude Frécon, and the Secretary General of the Government of the Republic of Moldova, Tudor Copaci, signed a roadmap for the implementation of Recommendation 322 (2012) on local and regional democracy in the Republic of Moldova in Chisinau on 7 July 2016, in the presence of Tatiana Badan, Chair of the Congress of Local Authorities of Moldova (CALM) and member of CORLEAP. Read more

Armenia-Georgia Territorial Cooperation Programme presents its results

The results of nine different projects addressing common environmental, economic and social challenges, changing people’s lives in Armenia and Georgia, were presented on 26 July in Yerevan by the EU-funded Armenia-Georgia Eastern Partnership Territorial Cooperation Programme (EaPTC). Read more

Council of Europe grant to improve transparency and communication of the Communities Association of ArmeniaA grant agreement was signed on 29 July 2016 to support the Communities Association of Armenia (CAA) in the implementation of its strategic objectives, aimed at improving communication stakeholders and enhancing with transparency. The Association’s Strategic Plan 2016-2020 was developed with support of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe within the framework of the “Institutional support to Communities Association of Armenia”. Read more

“Faces of EU Projects” Photo Exhibition in BelarusThe “Faces of EU Projects” open air photo exhibition, jointly developed by the EU Delegation to Belarus and the EU-funded OPEN Neighbourhood Programme, was launched on 15 August in Polotsk and will be touring Belarus until 8 November 2016. The exhibition reflects the many areas in which the EU has cooperated with Belarusian non-state actors, national and local authorities in order to improve the quality of life of Belarus citizens. Read more

EU increases support to rural and regional development in Azerbaijan7.2 million EUR will be disbursed to the Government of Azerbaijan in the framework of the Rural Development Support Programme (RDSP), which supports regional and rural development reforms, as announced by the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan in June.Read more

25 regions of Ukraine participate in ETF’s Torino Process 2016

Launched by the European Training Foundation in 2010, the Torino Process aims at analysing progress in vocational education and training (VET) in 28 partner countries in the east and south of the EU, according to a common analytical framework. Ukrainian regions have made their analysis of how VET meets the regional labour market demands. The regional reports will be used by the Ministry of Education to draft the national Torino Process report. While shaping the decentralisation process and education legislation, it is important to harmonise national strategies with regional implementation of the urgently needed reforms. Read more

CORLEAP in Action

CORLEAPConference of the Regionaland Local Authorities forthe Eastern Partnership

CORLEAP sixth annual meetingThe sixth annual meeting of CORLEAP will be hosted by the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) on 30 September 2016 in Brussels. Its agenda will focus on the topics of political reports prepared ahead of the next Eastern Partnership Summit. The report on "Developing civic participation as a way to strengthen local democracy in the Eastern Partnership countries" is planned to be adopted on this occasion and a first exchange will take place on "Energy efficiency: The role of the local and regional authorities". The end of the meeting will mark the hand-over of the CORLEAP co-chairmanship from Azerbaijan to Belarus.Read more

Promoting local democracy and citizens’ participation

On the initiative of Pawel Adamowicz, Mayor of the City of Gdańsk, member of the CoR and CORLEAP, a survey was conducted by the European Association for Local Democracy (ALDA) with organizations and institutions that represent civil society issues and have local offices in Eastern Partnership countries. The survey examined issues to be covered by an upcoming CORLEAP report and its findings were discussed at Gdansk in July with the occasion of a partner meeting for the establishment of a Local Democracy Agency in Odessa.Read more

Fiscal Decentralisation: The conditions needed to make it a successOn 12 May, participants in the conference accompanying the CORLEAP Bureau at the European Committee of the Regions, looked at the factors which would turn the process of decentralisation into a success story.Read more

Advancing economic development, entrepreneurship and research & innovation

The reviewed European Neighbourhood Policy encourages policy-makers to reflect on new ways of enhancing cooperation under the Eastern Partnership in the economic and social areas, as well as for research & innovation. How could legislative and regional/local policy-makers contribute to stepping up cooperation? What can be learnt from concrete experiences? Find out during the European Week of Regions and Cities, by taking part in the workshop organised by the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly and CORLEAP (workshop 11A06, Tuesday 11 October, Committee of the Regions, Brussels). Registration

Local sustainable development in Eastern Partnership countriesThe Armenian Ministry of Territorial Administration and Development will co-organise with the European Committee of the Regions and the European Commission DG NEAR a high level conference on local sustainable development, including the launching by the European Commission of the Covenant of Mayors East – Phase II and a new initiative "Mayors for Economic Growth", followed by a signature ceremony on 26 October in Yerevan.Read more

Upcoming CoR opinion on the reviewed European Neighbourhood Policy

The European Committee of the Regions will adopt an opinion on the reviewed European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and its implementation from the perspective of local and regional authorities at its plenary session in October. Its main message is that the ENP can only have an enduring impact if it brings practical benefits to all its beneficiaries and emphasises that this requires a multilevel approach, from national to regional and local level as well as regional, sub-regional and cross-border cooperation and calls for the involvement of local and regional authorities and their associations. Read more

Partner News

Dear partners,

We would like to encourage you to contribute news items on topics that are of relevance to CORLEAP. We welcome news articles about successful regional and cross-border projects, interesting studies on local governance and regional authorities, calls for project partners and announcements of workshops and informative conferences. Please, submit your proposals to corleap@cor.europa.eu. The next issue will be published in January 2017.

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EuroEast Newsportal

Policy Options for Improving Democracy Support in the EaP Region

Study on roles and responsibilities of mayors and local councillors

Studies and Publications

New Approach to theEuropean NeighbourhoodPolicy

Local Skills Matter

By East StratCom Task Force

Calendar of upcoming events (September – December 2016)

CORLEAP

The Conference of Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership (CORLEAP) was established by the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) in 2011 to bring a regional and local dimension to the EU's Eastern Partnership. CORLEAP brings together 36 regional and local politicians - 18 from the CoR, representing the EU, and 18 from the Eastern Partnership countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine).

Sixth CORLEAP Annual Meeting, Brussels30 September

CORLEAP – Euronest conference on Territorial and parliamentary cooperation, Brussels

26 October High Level Conference on local sustainable development, Yerevan

8th Annual Assembly of the EaP Civil Society Forum, Brussels

Ukraine Task Force Meeting, Brussels

11 October

28-29 November

8 December