Our Vice-President, Ms Anna Magyar, has made a major step in the process of having her opinion on the 2022 Enlargement Package adopted by the European Committee of the Regions. On 18 April, the members of the CIVEX Commission have voted unanimously in favour of the draft opinion in a sign of appreciation of the complex work done by the rapporteur. The opinion is now scheduled for adoption during July's plenary session of the CoR.

The CoR rapporteur, who is also a Councillor in Csongrád-Csanád County in Hungary, noted that "there is a consensus on the EU side that enlargement policy is a strategic instrument that contributes to peace and security in Europe. The current war has only highlighted this approach". 

Ms Magyar pointed out that the most important task in the current geopolitical situation is for the Committee of the Regions to contribute to a common reflection on how the enlargement process can be put at the service of the EU's strategic objectives.

"The added value of the Committee of the Regions is that we can see what the application of EU legislation entails at the local level. This valuable knowledge must be passed on to the candidate countries, and EU institutions must be made aware of the importance of taking into account the experience of regional and local governments when making decisions" – stressed the CoR rapporteur.