The President of the Congress Chamber of Regions, Harald Sonderegger (Austria, EPP/CCE), underlined the areas of common interest shared between the Congress and the Conference of European Regional Legislative Assemblies (CALRE) while speaking at the Plenary Assembly of the CALRE in the Parliament of the Canary Islands in Santa Cruz de Tenerife on 26 November 2021. These include the role of the regions in the European architecture, regional identity and state integrity, and regional or minority languages, as well as the regional implementation of the UN Agenda 2030 and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
"In the particular context of the Covid-19 pandemic, we are convinced that multi-level governance and trust between citizens and their elected representatives are more necessary than ever today, as we rethink our societies in the aftermath of the health crisis," he said, recalling the commitment of regional parliaments and governments to align their recovery objectives with the need to address climate change and accelerate the ecological transition.
"At the Congress, we advocate the importance of the full application of the principle of subsidiarity in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG 13 on climate action, at local and regional level. This is an area with great potential for cooperation between our institutions," he concluded.
