The latest meeting of the Committee of the Regions, held in Brussels on July 6-7, 2022, focused on the further expansion of the European Union. This year's Enlargement Day finds the EU in a changed political reality with a major war and major geopolitical changes in Europe.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent EU membership applications of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova have changed the landscape of enlargement policy. What are these countries' hopes and fears, are their expectations of rapid membership realistic, and would their local and regional authorities be prepared to deal with around 70% or more of EU legislation?
And what is the situation in countries that have been in the waiting room of the EU for a long time and have their own experiences and expectations?
"Municipalities for Europe" as a success story
In this year's meeting on Enlargement Day, an informative video on the "Municipalities for Europe", a EU Funded was presented to the participants. Through it, Mr. Orlando Fusco, program manager at the EU Delegation who was invited as a speaker, made a presentation on Albania's experience.
During the session dedicated to the Western Balkans and especially Albania, a video on the achievements of the "Municipalities for Europe" project was presented as an example of best practices for countries aspiring to join the EU, especially regarding the awareness of the role that local authorities have in the EU integration process.
Municipalities for Europe is a strategic project launched in 2017 by the EU Delegation in Tirana, to strengthen the governance capacities of Albanian municipalities in relation to the EU - and also to provide citizens and local administrations with information about the European Union, its policies, programs and funds.
The initiative was immediately adopted by the partners and all municipalities have now established and staffed "EU Units". All 138 people employed by the European Integration Units have been trained by the "Municipalities for Europe" project.
Since 2018, in the infosessions with the Integration Units have engaged around 39,500 people, through more than 2,000 activities.
