#Romania2019.eu/CoR President says the fundamental message is to get closer to the citizens in order to relaunch the EU

Our fundamental message is that we have to get closer to the citizens in order to relaunch the European Union and the best way to do this thing is through the involvement of local communities, President of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) Karl-Heinz Lambertz stated at the end of the 8th European Summit of Regions and Cities, which was held on Thursday and Friday in Bucharest, at the Palace of Parliament. Karl-Heinz Lambertz told a press conference that within the two days of the summit, the regional and local officeholders debated topics included in the Bucharest Declaration adopted on Friday and called "Building the EU from the ground up with our regions and cities." The document expresses the belief of the regional and local officeholders, namely that "the European Union needs its cities and regions to the same extent that they need the European Union"' and represents the contribution of local and regional officeholders of the European Union in the preparation of the 2019-2024 strategic agenda which will be presented to the EU leaders at Sibiu on 9 May 2019. According to Karl-Heinz Lambertz, the populism represents a symptom of things not working properly. He mentions that cooperation is indispensable, thus we should be able to position ourselves in a world that has radically changed. Lambertz said that we have to convince people with the heart and the mind, and this can be done by the regional and local officeholders, but for this, they need themselves to be convinced, so that they can explain more easily to the people what are the advantages of cooperation. The Bucharest Declaration includes ten measures aimed at the consolidation of the democratic foundation of the European Union and the strengthening of the EU action at local level in order to build a better future for the European citizens. "The European Union, built on the principles of liberty, solidarity, democracy and respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law, has brought lasting peace and development to the people of Europe. Europe is being transformed at an unprecedented speed by globalisation, by the digital revolution, climate, and demographic change. If we do not want European integration to become a reversible process, these transformations, which crystalize social, economic and territorial inequalities, have to be accompanied, shaped and regulated through a concerted effort of all levels of government, in particular when one third of all public expenditure and more than half of public investment is carried out at the sub-national level," reads the declaration. AGERPRES (RO - author: Tudor Martalogu, editor: Gabriela Ionescu; EN - author: Rodica State, editor: Adina Panaitescu)