EUROPEAN SUMMIT OF REGIONS AND CITIES
MONS
18th & 19th MARCH 2024

UDiTE Executive director Ronny Frederickx and Simon Pascoe UDiTE's Brussels representative attended the 10th European Summit of Regions and Cities, co-organised by the European Committee of the Regions in Mons on the 18th and 19th March amongst 3500 regional and local representatives. On the Summit agenda were EU investment for a just transition, digitalisation, gender equality and integration were the key topics of the first day sessions. UDiTE's stand was part of the main exhibition and contacts were made with participants from the EU Institutions and local and regional representatives from across the Europe. The Summit provided the perfect backdrop for UDiTE to prerecord a keynote intervention from Thomas Wobben for the subsequent UDiTE Siena conference that was held in Italy on the 19th & 20th April 2024.

The President of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), Vasco Alves Cordeiro, and Wallonia Region's Minister-President, Elio Di Rupo, together with more than 3500 mayors, councillors, regional ministers, representatives of the European Parliament, the European Commission, national governments, and civil society, discussed the role of regional and local authorities and the cross-cutting issues faced by local communities around the world with top representatives of the global, EU and national levels.

Contributors to the debate included Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, Fatimetou Abdel Malick, President of Nouakchott Region, Chair of the Africa Section of the World Organization of United Cities and Local Governments, Sérgio Aguiar, President of the National Union of State Legislators (Brazil), Brian Patrick Kennedy, President of the National Conference of State Legislatures (United States), Rudi Vervoort, Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region, Tetiana Yehorova-Lutsenko, Chair of the Kharkiv Regional Council (Ukraine).

The Summit was also a key moment in shaping the vision of regions and cities for the future of Europe, ahead of the European elections. The key priorities for a stronger, fairer and more resilient Europe was enshrined in a declaration that was presented to Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, representing the Belgian presidency of the EU Council.

The 10th European Summit of Regions and cities marked the 30th anniversary of the European Committee of the Regions, the political assembly of local and regional representatives within the EU institutions. Over 3500 local and regional representatives from 59 countries and all 5 continents gather to address the subnational response to overcome global challenges and to call on European leaders to ensure that all EU policies are anchored in the local and regional level, thus reinforcing the democratic legitimacy and efficiency of the EU.