Regions & Cities Key to Recovery Plan

16/03/2009 0:00:00

Luc Van den Brande, Committee of the Regions (CoR) President opened the recent Summit of Cities and Regions stating the financial crisis will not be resolved without the "timely involvement" of the regions and cities.

He also added that he did not feel centralisation was the basis for a dynamic and effective Europe.

In a bid to put regions and cities on a better footing to assist in alleviating the current financial crisis President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barrosa announced a much-welcomed funding package of €11.2bn for Member States, their towns and regions to help tackle the crisis.

Backing up the argument, Michael Haupl, President of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), said cooperation between towns and regions was fundamental and local and regional governments should use networks such as CEMR to exchange experience and set up joint projects to solve the current crisis.

Last Updated: 16/03/2009 15:22:47 By Charlotte Jacques