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UDiTE IS A PROFESSIONAL NETWORKING ORGANISATION FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT CHIEF EXECUTIVES ACROSS EUROPE
Pilar Ortega Jiménez |
The European Federation Local Authority Chief Executive Officers is a European umbrella body that brings together European professional associations for local authority chief executives and in Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, Malta, Spain, Portugal and Romania. The aim of the association is to promote relations between the professional associations of Chief Executives and managing European local authorities, to develop exchanges of information, share professional experiences, to continually advance the role and function of local authorities and to contribute to democracy and territorial policymaking in the European Union. Take a read of our latest Presidency activity report for 2021-2024. The UDITE Presidency is currently held by Pilar Ortega Jiménez president of the Consejo General de Secretarios, Interventores y Tesoreros de Administración Local, for three years until December 2027. |
As 2024 draws to a close and we look forward, European countries are facing economic, social, environmental and political crises and their competitiveness is threatened. Relations between governments are changing, globalisation is fading away as a struggle between the two largest economies on the planet looms.
The search for technological autonomy is a challenge for the European continent, as is the search for energy supplies. We must incorporate parameters that go beyond cost in our decision-making models, identifying critical infrastructures. The debate on state aid is back on the table.
And to all this instability, associated with a time of change, the use of Artificial Intelligence is added, an area in which Europe is a pioneer in establishing standards. The Draghi Report quantifies the investment effort that Europe must make to maintain its competitive position against the US and China, and thereby sustain its welfare state, at 800 billion euros per year. The driving force of European action must be fuelled by collaborative innovation: among the ten most innovative economies on the planet, there are 7 in Europe (Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Austria, the Netherlands, all EU members, and Switzerland that has recently signed a renewed cooperation agreement), whilst individually are too small, can have an impact through EU wide collaboration. Europe has an excellent scientific base, driven by Horizon Europe but it urgently needs to orient it towards social and economic applications through its Next Generation planning for the 2028-34 period that will be on the table in 2025 in Brussels.
We Europe’s local authority Chief Executives must strengthen our training, and also our relationships, to shape, take advantage and deliver on the objectives that this next generation of funding programmes will set. We must also identify possible areas for improving the performance of the European institutions and offer our knowledge to achieve this. In 2025, we will strengthen our influence as an association through the dissemination of content related to the application of European regulations, and the presentation of initiatives to work together by sharing our professional experience.
In the meantime, all that remains for me to do is to wish you and all of your families a Happy New Year 2025.
Pilar Ortega Jiménez
President UDITE
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