The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) continues the elimination of obstacles faced by citizens living in border regions, whose impact on daily lives became even more apparent during the COVID-19 crisis. We believe that it is important to maintain the opportunities that open borders offer to people even in a crisis situation. Following the experiences stemming from the COVID 19 pandemic, and in order to reflect on the future, the CoR, together with the European Cross Border Citizens’ Alliance, is working on defining the vision for a long-term cross-border cooperation.

To reach a balanced vision, the CoR launched public consultation on the joint vision of the long-term future of cross-border cooperation in the European Union. Based on the feedback received, the European Committee of the Regions will adopt a Resolution at the July 2021 plenary. The Resolution will present concrete proposals for the future of cross-border cooperation and represent the official contribution of the CoR, and the European Cross Border Citizens’ Alliance, members to the Conference on the Future of Europe.

The Joint Secretariat office in Rīga will be closed on 24-25 December, and 31 December-1 January. Branch office in Vilnius will be closed on 24-25 December, and 1 January.

We wish you Merry Christmas and prosperous New Year!

Latvia-Lithuania Programme team

By the end of the year Programme would like to share some statistics on its projects. 78 projects out of total 90 approved 1st and 2nd call projects have completed their implementation. 39 are projects that were approved during the 1st call of the Programme, while further 39 were approved during the 2nd call. Final payments were already done to 47 projects adding to the total amount of 18,7 million EUR ERDF. There are 12 projects being implemented from 1st and 2nd call that are expected to finish their activities by the end of June 2021.

Managing Authority of the Programme has been working already for more than a year on preparation of Latvia – Lithuania Cross Border Cooperation Programme 2021 – 2027. We are now inviting residents of the Programme area (Kurzeme, Zemgale and Latgale regions in Latvia; Klaipėda, Telšiai, Siauliai, Panevezys, Utena and Kaunas counties In Lithuania), non-governmental organizations, companies, local governments, state and local government institutions and other interested parties to provide their opinion on the priorities of the programme and the necessary support measures.