On 29 June, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), the EU’s assembly of local and regional representatives, elected its First Vice President to take over the presidency for the second half of the current five-year mandate. CoR is a key ICLEI Europe partner, who share a vision of ensuring the global community of local and regional governments have their voices heard on sustainability and climate action.

Vasco Alves Cordeiro, President of the Regional Government of the Azores (Portugal), who has been serving as First Vice President to Apostolos Tzitzikostas, Governor of Central Macedonia (Greece), will take over the presidency for the second half of the five year mandate. For his part, Apostolos Tzitzikostas was elected to take on the First Vice President role.

Addressing local and regional representatives at the institution’s plenary session on 29 June, President Vasco Alves Cordeiro outlined key priorities of his mandate, including focusing on strengthening democracy, defending cohesion policy, reaching the goals of the EU Green Deal and enhancing regional support for Ukraine.

ICLEI and the European Committee of the Regions have established a strong cooperation and partnership over the past years via a Memorandum of Understanding and related joint Action Plans. The 2020-2022 ICLEI – CoR Joint Action Plan outlines activities to enhance the role of cities and regions in addressing, reversing and adapting to global warming, as well as the implementation of national, EU and international environmental laws. Notably, this includes key European and international areas and processes for cooperation, such as localising the EU Green Deal, the Paris Climate Agreement and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.

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