At the opening of the Committee of Regions 100th plenary, Mr Uno Silberg addressed the President of the European Parliament Martin Shulz by focusing on two burning challenges the European decision-makers are currently facing: the negotiations on the new Multiannual Financial Framework and the issue of youth unemployment.

 

Mr Silberg expressed his support for the Parliament's determination to fight for a more growth-oriented budget which will also provide the much-needed stability for local and regional authorities across Europe. In this context, he also stressed the importance of an increased and substantial financial support from European funds to initiatives which aim to tackle youth unemployment strategically at the Union level, such as the newly-introduced Youth Guarantee Scheme. Talking about the inter-institutional cooperation, Mr Silberg called for an increased collaboration between the Committee of the Regions and the European Parliament as two bodies which, being made of members directly elected by people, need to play the necessary role of the bridge between decisions taken at EU level and ordinary citizens. Link to speech in Estonian.