The Liaison Office of the European Region coordinated its own interactive workshop with the aim of outlining strategies for the harmonization of cross-border rail infrastructure based on best practice examples from eight European regions. At this event, every region emphasized that it is only possible to implement successfully the European Green Deal, which was launched in 2019 by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, if there is a shift of the European transport network of passenger and freight transport from road to rail. Crucial for reaching this objective is the prove, as Tyrol´s Governor Günther Platter stated, that “rail is competitive in terms of both cost and time in freight transport”, whereby “the framework conditions for a homogeneous European railway area must finally be created”. "With the 'Brenner without borders' project launched by MEP Barbara Thaler, we want to prove that trains can run through from Munich to Verona without stopping. That would be a quantum leap when you think of today's national hurdles in rail transport," said Governor Platter. Furthermore, the new Scan-Med Corridor and the Brenner Base Tunnel under construction in Tyrol and South Tyrol, which is still considered a lighthouse project in the EU, were also emphasised as prerequisites for the success of the modal shift policy at European level. With more than 80 participants from Northern Norway to Italy, the workshop can be seen as an important piece of the puzzle for the implementation of a new long-term EU mobility strategy.
With around 10,000 participants each year and several hundred journalists involved, the European Week of Regions and Cities is the most important conference on cooperation between regional and local authorities in Europe. As in previous years, the 19th edition was once again organized in close cooperation between the European Commission (Directorate-General for Regional Policy) and the European Committee of the Regions in Brussels. In addition to the fixed events, such as the political opening event on the 11th October, the Magalizzi-Niedzielski Award for budding journalists on the 12th October and the closing ceremony on the 14th October, about 300 workshops dealt with the most diverse aspects of this year´s main theme “Together for recovery”.
You can access the recording of the representation's workshop below.