Today the PES Group in the European Committee of the Regions elected Vasco Ilídio Alves Cordeiro, President of the Regional Government of the Azores (Portugal), as the Group’s candidate to the Presidency of the institution for the next term of office beginning in February 2020.
Upon his election, Vasco Cordeiro noted: “European regions and cities are a fundamental pillar of the democratic life of the European Union and must continue to assert themselves as key players for the success of its model of economic, social, territorial and environmental progress. In my journey as a socialist leader in the Azores, at the Parliament or in the Government, the part that the European Union plays in the development of all regions and cities has always been clear to me. What is equally clear is the incredible potential that European regions, towns and cities - with their weaknesses, but also their strengths - bring to this common purpose that unites us”.
Vasco Cordeiro went on to add: “The challenges facing the EU and its next leadership, in which the European socialist and progressive family must position itself as the pivotal political force to build the necessary compromises, require boldness and courage. Boldness, because Europe, like the rest of the world, is faced first of all with a truly challenging climate emergency, which requires that the EU becomes the leading force in the responses to these challenges. Boldness also because the search for the right balance between energy transition, social progress, sustainable development, digitalisation and job creation, particularly among young people and at the level of all regions and cities, begs for careful consideration of the multiplicity of regional and local realities in the EU. And we must have the courage to demand that the Union be provided with adequate resources in the 2021-2027 budget in order to prioritise economic, social and territorial cohesion as a key lever to fight inequalities, promote solidarity and enable sustainable growth, in full respect of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. We must also have the courage to face up to low voter turnout, including in European elections, and to intensify our efforts to promote effective gender equality, in particular, but not only, as regards the labour market, income and work-life balance”.
Vasco Cordeiro’s designation will be ratified by the incoming PES Group at its constitutive meeting of 3 February 2020. The decision whether he will serve as President of the European Committee of the Regions for the first half or the second half of the mandate will also be taken in February 2020.
Mr. Cordeiro is member of the European Committee of the Regions since 2013. He is also the President of the Conference of Peripheral and Maritime Regions of Europe (CPMR). His CV is available at this link.
