Congratulation Karl-Heinz Lambertz on becoming President of European Committee of the Regions - Main contents

I warmly congratulate Karl-Heinz Lambertz on being elected President of the Committee of the Regions, and very much look forward to continue working with him closely in the coming years.

I would also like to thank the outgoing President, Markku Markkula, for ensuring the Committee of the Regions remains at the forefront in developing the environmental agenda from the bottom up and bringing it closer to citizens, something of course at which it excels. I am confident we will continue this partnership with President Lambertz considering his support to date on issues ranging from the push for cleaner oceans, to the recent conference on the Nature Action Plan. On that front we are ready to join forces to launch our joint platform for knowledge exchange and engagement under the Nature Action Plan in the autumn. Moreover, with cities and regions playing such an important role in putting EU environmental law into action, and the theme of next year’s EU Green Week (21-25 May) being ‘Greener Cities for a Greener Future’, I very much forward to collaborating with President Lambertz on this and more in 2018.