Partnership with subnational entities is key to strengthening EU-US partnership

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​The President of the European Committee of the Regions, Vasco Alves Cordeiro, was invited to take part in the annual meeting of the US National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL), which took place from 5-7 August in Louisville, Kentucky.

Cordeiro's invitation and attendance at the NCSL meeting is part of the initiative set up by the President of the European Committee of the Regions to encourage collaboration between the CoR and its counterparts from other parts of the world. The aim is to increase awareness of the challenges that subnational authorities from across the globe face in fulfilling their role and to help them learn from each other in finding the most effective responses to their shared challenges.

"The run-up to the US presidential elections is a key moment in reaffirming transatlantic relations and, in particular, the contribution that subnational entities - municipalities, regional governments or states - on both sides of the Atlantic can make to an even greater and more successful relationship between the United States and the European Union," said Vasco Alves Cordeiro following his participation in the event.

"Many of the American states today are faced with issues that are identical to those we find in the EU at local and regional level: the housing crisis, the cost of inflation, how to improve education and training systems or to integrate all territories and communities, the impact of the climate crisis, or even how to regulate the use of Artificial Intelligence. These are challenges that can benefit from a transatlantic approach and on which we, too, in the Committee of the Regions are working and can help to build relevant responses," he added.

A year ago, the CoR and the NCSL signed a Cooperation Protocol to enhance cooperation between sub-national authorities of the European Union and the United States of America in the context of the transatlantic agenda and in areas such as the promotion of democratic principles, sustainable development and exchanges between its members and the communities they represent.

During his time in Kentucky, President Cordeiro met with the outgoing NCSL President, Brian Patrick Kennedy, as well as NCSL President-elect, Wayne A. Harper. He also met with the Ambassador of the European Union to the US, Jovita Neliupšiene, members of the Parliament of Quebec and Canada, representatives of the National Union of State Legislators and Legislators of Brazil (UNALE), and the German delegation participating in the NCSL meeting.

Note to editors:

The NCSL Summit brings together senators, congressmen, state representatives and staff members from the 50 US states, and is the largest annual summit of lawmakers in North America. This year's edition had about 5,300 participants and the involvement of 27 other organisations, regions, states and countries around the world.

Contact:

Monica Tiberi - President's Spokesperson

Tel. +32 479 51 74 43

monica.tiberi@cor.europa.eu