and developing high-speed rail or making rail more accessible to people with reduced mobility. Additionally, this opinion highlights the differences in rail infrastructure between Central and Eastern Europe and Western Europe. To overcome these differences, the opinion calls on the European Commission to develop an integrated rail strategy covering the whole of the European Union. When drafting this opinion, on 8 June, Mr Stawiarski met with the European
Parliament’s rapporteur on this matter, Anna Deparnay-Grunenberg, MEP. Both rapporteurs agreed that substantial investments are needed in freight transport, high speed trains and night trains, as well as in digitalising and electrifying European rail infrastructure, while new transport corridors, such as the Amber Corridor, need to be developed. Rail also needs to be promoted as a cost- and energy-effective substitute for road and air transport. The European Commission proposed 2021 to be the “European Year of Rail”
Cross-Border public services in Europe Pavel Branda, who serves as the deputy Mayor of Rádlo in the Czech Republic, as well as the Vice President of the Association of European Border Regions, was appointed rapporteur by the European Committee of the Regions for the opinion on Cross-Border Public Services. This appointment was made by the Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and the EU Budget (COTER).
Pavel Branda delivering a speech in the European Parliament
Cross-Border Cooperation plays a key role in strengthening territorial cohesion, in line with Article 174 of the Lisbon Treaty. With as many as 40% of European citizens living and working within border regions, making crossborder public services more efficient is vital for millions of citizens. In the context of the recent coronavirus pandemic, the need to combine resources and deepen cooperation has never been more crucial.
On 24 September, Mr Branda debated with members of the COTER Commission on a wide range of topics, from the financing and legality of the policy proposals outlined in his opinion, to their practicality. In this debate, Mr Branda also discussed the effects of the coronavirus on cross-border public services, as well as other challenges he hopes will be overcome when a more efficient system of cross-border public services is established. Illustrating the need for increased coordination, Mr Branda said: “We need concrete steps at the EU level to help us better manage public services and cooperation in border regions.” In the opinion, Mr Branda calls on the EU institutions, Member States and local and regional authorities to foster a culture of cooperation among border regions and to remove obstacles that might prevent local and regional authorities from cooperating with one another. These obstacles could be related to external factors such as environmental or geographical fea-tures, but can also be
unnecessary regulations that undermine cohesion. Labour, healthcare and transport are of critical importance to the economies and daily lives of citizens living in border regions and are, therefore, negatively affected by a lack of cross-border cooperation. Mr Branda’s opinion explores how policy mechanisms such as the European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) could prove to be useful in promoting cross-border public services and could overcome obstacles. Mr Branda’s opinion on cross-border public services will be adopted by the COTER commission in November.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS Marshal Władysław Ortyl appeals to the CoR to act on the situation in Belarus On 11 September, the President of the ECR Group in the European Committee of the Regions and President of the Podkarpackie region in Poland, Władysław Ortyl addressed a letter to the President of the CoR, Apostolos Tzitzikostas and the Chair of the CIVEX commission, Mark Speich, regarding events in Belarus. Mr Ortyl calls for action and solidarity for Belarus, particularly with respect to human rights and local democracy. The situation in Belarus came to a head when, earlier in 2020, the incumbent President, Alexander Lukashenko, won an election that international observers deemed fraudulent. Lukashenko has been the autocratic leader of Belarus since 1994.
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