Two weeks before the European Commission unveiled its long-term funding proposals for the European Union's foreign policy, ECR Member Pavel Branda together with other local and regional leaders from Eastern Partnership countries outlined their expectations as to the future EU budget.

Pavel Branda – ECR Group representative in the Conference of Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership (CORLEAP) and Deputy Mayor of Radlo in the Czech Republic – called for more funds to be allocated to cross-border and people-to-people programmes. "This type of EU programme provides clear value for people in EU and non-EU countries. It removes prejudices, encourages trade and improves our safety. However, such programmes are not easy to formulate. The most important thing is that they are adequately financed and managed in a bottom-up way. Local and regional authorities need to be given ownership of these programmes rather than see their role marginalised," said Mr Branda.

The European Committee of the Regions, which set up CORLEAP in 2010, also adopted detailed recommendations for national leaders with regard to strengthening civil society in Eastern Partnership countries. Mr Branda pointed to the fact that although it is important that politicians exchange experiences on this topic, it is not enough. In his words: "Political leaders change, local communities stay. Under the umbrella of the Eastern Partnership, the EU needs to prioritise fostering cooperation among universities, schools, disaster relief services and non-governmental organisations."

CORLEAP members who attended the meeting on 29 May included six members of the CoR and five representatives from Eastern Partnership countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine). The next CORLEAP meeting is planned for September this year and will take place in the capital of Ukraine. It will be held back-to-back with a meeting of the CoR's Ukraine Taskforce. The taskforce's most recent meeting, held in Brussels in March, led to the establishment of five city-to-city or region-to-region partnerships, managed by the German development agency GIZ and funded by the European Commission's "ULEAD with Europe" programme for Ukraine.