Lille, 23 June 2025 – Our Secretary General, Sandro Gozi, took part in a meeting of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) delegation today in Lille. The CoR is an assembly that brings together municipalities and regions of the European Union. The meeting took place at the Regional Council of Hauts-de-France.
Organised at the invitation of François Decoster, Vice-President of the Hauts-de-France Region and Chair of the Renew Europe CoR Group, the meeting brought together mayors and regional leaders from thirteen EU member states, including Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia, as well as EU officials. Two Members of the European Parliament and Dan Barna, Vice-President of the European Liberal Party (ALDE), were also present. During a discussion about the current political climate in Europe, Sandro Gozi presented the EDP’s perspective, emphasising the party’s dedication to fostering a shared centrist and pro-European identity, beginning at the local level. ‘We European Democrats share a clear goal with you: to bring Europe closer to its citizens. We believe in a Union that listens to and acts at the local and regional levels because Europe is built in our communities every day.’ Gozi emphasised the central role that regional realities have always played within the EDP, from its origins with parties such as the Basque Nationalist Party and Coalición Canaria to its current structure, which guarantees equal dignity to local and national political forces: “Our party is not led by distant technocrats or the Brussels elite, but by people who have served and continue to serve their communities. This is our DNA,” added Gozi.
Among the initiatives mentioned by Gozi to strengthen dialogue between territories and European institutions were the Solutions for Europe campaign, the Mayors’ Summit at the EDP Congress, and regular meetings with CoR members in Brussels. “Europe needs your insights, your energy, and your local experience. Only in this way can we build European policies together that take into account the reality on the ground,” concluded the party’s secretary general. The EDP thus continues its work for a European policy that starts from the bottom up: from mayors; from regions; and from those who face the daily challenges of integration, sustainable growth, and inclusivity.
