The 2025 European Week of Regions and Cities opened on Monday, 13 October, in the European Parliament’s Hemicycle in Brussels. The opening session brought together local and regional leaders from across Europe and featured keynote speeches by Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, and Raffaele Fitto, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Cohesion and Reforms. The event also included the presentation of the Annual Report on the State of Regions and Cities in the European Union by CoR President Kata Tüttő.
In her concluding remarks, Marie-Antoinette Maupertuis, President of the Corsican Assembly and of the European Alliance Group, urged EU leaders to keep regions at the heart of Europe’s future budget. “A Europe of national plans is a Europe that turns its back on its citizens,” she said. “A Europe of regions and cities is one that keeps its promise of unity in diversity.” Recalling that Cohesion Policy is one of Europe’s greatest democratic innovations, she stressed that the next Multiannual Financial Framework must invest in every region and draw on the experience of local and regional authorities that know their citizens best.
During the panel debate “Right to stay: unlocking the potential of every territory”, our member Caroline Dwane, Councillor of Laois County Council (Ireland) spoke about the need for EU policies that allow people to build their lives wherever they choose. She warned that new funding proposals risk deepening divides between territories and called on the European Commission “to keep its promise of a Europe where citizens have a right to stay.” Highlighting a local example from Portlaoise, she explained how two new bus routes have transformed the town by connecting schools, workplaces and businesses, “a small investment that knits together the fabric of our community,” she said.
The opening session took place amid a growing backlash from local and regional authorities against the European Commission’s proposal to centralise the future Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) into single national plans. Many local leaders fear that such an approach would undermine the partnership principle, reduce regional participation, and weaken the cohesion policy model that has driven balanced development and trust in the European project for decades.