One of the topics discussed at the 141st plenary session of the European Committee of the Regions was the macro-regional strategy for the Carpathian region. ECR President Marshal Władysław Ortyl spoke on the subject, mentioning actions taken to date to frame this planned fifth EU macro-regional strategy, which – if created – would be the second such strategy for a mountainous region. Putting in place a fifth macro-regional strategy would mean additional funding for all regions in the Carpathians, both EU and non-EU such as Ukraine, Serbia and Moldova.

Mr Ortyl (Marshal of Podkarpackie region in Poland) talked about the region's particular economic characteristics, which "relies primarily on tourism, handicrafts and organic food production", and argued that the only way forward was the development of a macro-regional strategy mechanism enabling real multilevel governance, from local authorities to the European Commission.

The ECR President drew attention to the need of the region to open up to digital technologies claiming that they can "improve public service provision, facilitate interpersonal communication, increase public involvement in new and diverse ways, enhance transparency, inclusion, accountability and responsiveness within the decision-making process, while at the same time improving local governance."

In addition to a digital revolution, the need and importance of promoting cultural diversity was also highlighted by Mr Ortyl: "We must promote cultural diversity within our local, regional, national and European identities, as well as the different traditions that make up our European cultural heritage."

The Marshal also talked about the challenges of implementing the main environmental priorities of the European Green Deal: "One huge challenge is ensuring that the role of the local and regional level in the Carpathians is adequately considered when drawing up and implementing the main environmental priorities of the European Green Deal, above all in relation to biodiversity and reducing pollutant emissions. It is also critically important when framing environmental and climate policies to think about how they can be implemented in practice in different types of communities and about the particular characteristics of the macro-region."

Mr Ortyl described a macro-regional strategy as help "to level out the living standards of people living in neighbouring regions". In particular, for the Carpathian region, he declared "extra protection and support are needed, including for the traditional pastoral farming long established in the Carpathians, which is gravely threatened by the diminishing number of people in the profession and emigration of the younger generations." ​

An EU macro-regional strategy is a policy framework which allows countries located in the same region to jointly tackle and find solutions to problems or to better use the potential they have in common. The Carpathians cover a larger landmass than the Alps, stretching over 190 000 square kilometres from the Austrian-Czech border in the west to the Romanian-Serbian border in the south-east, passing through Czechia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine, with lower hills in Hungary.