On 16 June during the CoR Plenary session the deputy secretary general of OECD Ms. Kiviniemi took part in a debate with CoR members on future challenges of regions and cities. She presented the recent publication " Regions at a glance 2016" which consists of a wide range of data at local level, including well-being indicators.
The EA group coordinator in the COTER commission and President of Valle D'Aosta Region
Mr Augusto Rollandin thanked the OECD for carrying such interesting work as regional data are crucial in order to understand the reality and differences across regions in the EU. In his speech, while pointing out that there is certainly a trend toward urbanisation, he reiterated his call for an urban rural balance in the development of EU policies and for targeted measures for rural and mountainous regions in order to tackle demographic challenges.
The population living in rural and mountainous regions have been moving to urban centres and this reflects the EU political and economic priorities. The lack of resources makes it very difficult for rural and mountainous regions to provide basic services to local communities and need to be addressed with targeted measures and investments, for instance ensuring widespread broadband connection in remote areas.
