The President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, joined CoR leaders today for an exchange of views at the Conference of Presidents ahead of the CoR plenary session. During the discussion, Schulz underlined that "2015, hallmarked with tragic events in Paris, was followed by barbarian attacks in Brussels ten days ago. These attacks feed the populists' rhetoric. But although it is a serious threat, it should not blind us in our actions." He went on, stressing that "We need to continue with our common European solutions, starting by tackling radicalisation, promoting education and social inclusion, but also stepping up information exchange. By acting together at every level we can make our common European project stronger and also closer to citizens."
Representing the PES Group at the meeting, the Group's First Vice-President, Markus Töns, Member of the North Rhine-Westphalia Regional Parliament (Germany), underlined that the current crisis in Europe consists of several crises, and has weakened solidarity to a large extent, putting into question the fundamentals of the European project. "We must not allow populist and Eurosceptic forces to use this difficult situation to their advantage. Close cooperation between the Committee of the Regions and the European Parliament is therefore more important than ever to reverse the current trend." He recalled that "it is local and regional representatives who are best placed to explain the EU's benefits to citizens' daily lives. And it is in our cities and regions where we have to continue to work hard to prevent radicalisation and exclusion, and to win back people's trust and hope in Europe."
