On 12 February, the 329 Members of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), the EU’s assembly of local and regional representatives, elected a new President and 1st Vice President for its next five-year mandate.

The Governor of Central Macedonia (Greece), Apostolos Tzitzikostas, will lead the institution as president for the next two and half years, with Vasco Cordeiro, President of the Regional Government of the Azores (Portugal) serving as 1st Vice President.

Addressing local and regional representatives at the inaugural plenary session last month, the new president outlined several key priorities for his mandate, including focusing on regions’ and cities’ approaches to the needed transformations occurring amidst green, digital and demographic revolutions.

ICLEI and the European Committee of the Regions renewed their cooperation in a joint Action Plan in May 2019 to enhance the role of cities and regions for reversing global warming and better implementation of environmental laws. Notably, this includes key European and international areas and process for cooperation, such as the Paris Climate Agreement and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.

Alongside a new presidency, members also appointed new chairs for the six policy commissions of the Committee, including the Commission for Environment, Climate Change and Energy (ENVE), during the first sitting of the new mandate.

For more information on the election of the new presidency, click here, and for more on the ICLEI – CoR joint Action Plan, click here.