Council of European Municipalities and Regions

The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) has created a COVID-19 website bringing together relevant information and resources and relaying regular updates from its member associations on the situation in their countries’ local and regional communities, as well as information on their initiatives (for example, an online platform for local institutions to connect volunteers and people in need) and those from other partner associations – such as the initiative on waste management and circular economy of the Association of Cities and Regions for Sustainable Resource Management (ACR+), aimed at data collection and exchange of best practices on the different systems and solutions implemented across Europe to manage municipal waste in the current situation.

CEMR also provides information on the role of associations of local and regional authorities in facilitating an exchange of good practices between their members and ensuring co-ordination with the national level. Many CEMR member associations have set up their own systems for sharing information.

Events

CEMR has organised a number of webinars/meetings including on:

• How to advance gender equality in Europe and worldwide? aiming to examine the upheavals caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and shed light on the initiatives taken by the European Union in this area;
• Prepare “the new normal” after COVID-19 which brought together local and regional elected representatives to share their experiences on the management of COVID-19 in their territories and to exchange on CEMR's position on the subject;
• Localisation of SDG’s and decentralised cooperation in the era of COVID-19 with the presentation of the experience of CEMR President Stefano Bonaccini's region in Emilia Romagna (Italy), aimed at exchanging on how best to carry out public policies and cooperation between towns and regions.

And in particular through its PLATFORMA:

• EU global response to COVID-19 and local governments’ international action. Following this event, PLATFORMA published its reaction and made 11 recommendations to ensure a genuinely global and coordinated approach to COVID-19;
• EU Neighbourhood South: Safeguarding human rights in the post-COVID-19 context

CEMR’s PLATFORMA is organising the European Days of Local Solidarity during which cities, regions and citizens from across the continent raise awareness on sustainable development and local projects promoting international solidarity. During this event, cities and regions can co-organise events to connect with and learn about other communities in the world and educate citizens on the interdependencies between our societies – from COVID to climate change, no nation or territory is “big enough” to face these global challenges alone.

The CEMR Standing Committee for Equality organised an online seminar on 9 December 2020 to take stock of how COVID-19 has impacted policies of equality between women and men at local and regional level in Europe.

Online Resources

CEMR’s PLATFORMA has launched a survey on how international co-operation and decentralised co-operation between cities and regions can contribute to the fight against the coronavirus.

CEMR published an article on support measures taken by countries, regions or municipalities in the tourism sector, and has carried out a survey on the financial situation of local and regional authorities in Europe in the wake of the health crisis. The report underlines that national and European support will be crucial if some towns and regions are to continue to provide essential services to citizens.

CEMR and EU researchers at ESPON are collecting and studying best practices of cities and regions’ measures reacting or adapting to COVID which will be gathered and analysed in a report later.

Flo Clucas, councillor for Cheltenham (United Kingdom) and CEMR spokesperson for local finances, presented an analysis on the often dire state of local budgets in the wake of COVID-19

Statements

CEMR published a joint statement with the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EFPSU) in which they advocate for providing economic aid to communities and avoiding budget cuts for public services, while preserving social dialogue.

It addressed, in a statement, the importance of the Agenda 2030 for sustainable development, public health policies and the need for cooperation between all the levels of governance.

In a joint statement in response to the State of the Union, the CEMR representatives underlined the need to fully involve local and regional leaders in the implementation of national recovery plans.

In the framework of the EU recovery plan, Ilaria Bugetti, councillor of the region of Tuscany and CEMR's spokesperson on territorial development, has issued a statement.