OREANDA-NEWS. September 25, 2012. Officials from 15 European states, representatives of the assembly of European regions, mayors and regional politicians today convened at a Conference of the Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership (CORLEAP). It is for the first time ever, when the CORLEAP meeting is held outside the EU borders.

CORLEAP co-chairman, Chisinau mayor Dorin Chirtoaca said that the political initiative has two major priorities, namely, to get the administrative and fiscal decentralization, as well as the direct access to European funds for the local and regional authorities. The priorities are to be considered within the high European forums - Parliament, Council and European Commission, in terms of including money in the EU budget for 2014-2021, which would open financing opportunities for the local and regional authorities, Chirtoaca noted.

The head of the committee of regions, the CORLEAP co-chairman, Ramon Luis Valcarcel Siso, said the first results for the benefit of the citizens are visible in the context of the implementation of two projects on European cooperation. The first project refers to provide 20 municipalities from Azerbaijan with drinking water, and the second one is related to the improvement of the medical services in the transfrontier regions from Romania, Ukraine and Moldova.

According to the organizers, the officials will approach issues dealing with the public administration reform at the local and regional level, the development of the local democracy, as well as the specific needs of the local and regional authorities that would be taken into account by the EU in its financing programmes.

The conference, set up in 2011, is aimed at establishing a platform of dialogue between the local and regional authorities from the Eastern Partnership countries and the EU. The inaugural meeting of the CORLEAP board was held in Poznan, Poland, on 8 September 2011. The platform gathers 36 mayors and regional politicians from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and the EU.