European Regional Organisations get closer

Organisations representing European regions must co-ordinate more among themselves: Riccardo Illy, President of the Assembly of European Regions (AER) and of Friuli Venezia Giulia, together with Claudio Martini, President of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) and of Tuscany, agreed last Saturday 17th March that it's now necessary to consolidate co-operation.
 
This co-operation should be gradual, in order to respect the history and the specificities of each regional organisation. Both Presidents also underlined how a better coordination can only strengthen the regions' role in Europe, in particular towards the EU institutions. The final goal of this cooperation, although admittedly in the long term, could also be a Confederation among the regional European associations.

The Secretaries General of the AER and the CPMR will meet in the coming weeks, in order to start comparing the work programmes of both organisations, and study joint initiatives on themes of common interest. The two major European organisations will also contact other associations working in the same field, to develop common declarations and documents.

Both President Illy and President Martini underlined how cooperation projects should on the one hand focus on common topics (for example decentralisation processes, environment, energy), while on the other hand they should highlight the particular interests and expertise of each association.

The Assembly of European Regions-AER (www.a-e-r.org) is the political organisation of Regions in Europe and their spokesperson at European and international level. Its vocation is to defend the Regions' interests In the political process and develop interregional cooperation. AER brings together 250 Regions from 32 European Countries and 14 interregional organisations.

AER Contacts: Sergio Nava, Spokesperson, s.nava@a-e-r.org - Mobile: +33 678695235, Tel.: +33 3 88 22 74 36; Francine Huhardeaux, Press Officer, f.huhardeaux@a-e-r.org - Mobile: +33 678 695203, Tel. +33 3 88 22 74 49