On 31 May and 1 June, European Committee of the Regions hosted a number of representatives of local and regional authorities from Western Balkan countries and Turkey, in the framework of its annual Enlargement Day.

On 31 May, members of the European Committee of the Regions and their counterparts from enlargement countries held four meetings, namely Joint Consultative Committee meetings with Serbian, Montenegrin and Turkish local authorities, as well as a meeting of the Working Group on the Western Balkans which, in this edition, dealt with the situations in Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition to general assessments of the enlargement process in each of the respective countries, and the role of local and regional authorities in it, topics discussed included sustainable urban development, difficulties in the use of pre-accession funds, promotion of entrepreneurship and the empowering of local authorities.

During the Plenary session held on 1 June, the discussion was focused on the dynamics of the enlargement process and its importance in the stabilisation of the region, as well as on connectivity and building of transport and energy infrastructure in the Western Balkans.

Councillor Hughie McGrath (Tipperary County, Ireland), made closing remarks at the plenary session in which he called for the meetings with local and regional authorities from enlargement countries to be practical and show real value to the partners in the Western Balkans and Turkey. "We need to share our experiences – both good and bad", he said, adding that "this can be on diverse subjects, from energy efficiency to recycling; from social policy to creating local jobs." He concluded by saying that "doing this and linking it to the European Union's policy will make a real difference."

In addition to Cllr McGrath, for whom this was also the last meeting as chair of the Joint Consultative Committee with Montenegro, EA group members who took part in the meetings include Mr Tadeusz Truskolaski (City of Bialystok, Poland) in the Joint Consultative Committee with Serbia, Mr Marc Hendrickx (Mechelen, Flanders) in the Working Group on the Western Balkans, Mr Józef Kotyś (Opolskie, Poland) in the Working Group on Turkey and Mr Uno Silberg (Kose Municipality, Estonia) who is a member of the Joint Consultative Committee with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.