In January 2015 and January 2020, Kieran was appointed by the Irish Minister for the Environment and Local Government for a five year term to be an Irish member on the European Committee of the Regions (CoR). The CoR is a formal EU institution – an assembly of local councillors, Mayors and Regional Parliamentarians with 329 members from across the 27 EU Member States. It offers formal opinions to the European Commission and European Parliament on topics, which affect the over 95,000 local authorities and regional assemblies at EU level.

READ Bringing Europe Closer to its Citizens:
The political priorities of the European Committee of the Regions 2020-2025/4325 Political Priorities Brochure.pdf

WATCH A New Mandate begins:

Kieran’s Commissions:

Kieran holds membership of the CoR’s Commission (sub-committee) for Social Policy, Education, Employment, Research and Culture (SEDEC),
Commission for Social Policy, Education, Employment, Research and Culture (SEDEC) (europa.eu)

Within SEDEC, Kieran champions the new European Bauhaus, EU Skills Agenda, informal and formal education, lifelong learning, culture and communities, the Digital Single Market, smart specialisation, science and innovation in regions and cities, cities and regions of the future, youth and sport, and socio-cultural effects of IoT.

Kieran also sits on the CoR’s COTER Commission (Cohesion Policy and Territorial Development), Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget (COTER) (europa.eu)

Within COTER, Kieran champions the the role and voice of small cities within the EU, the EU Urban Agenda and its partnerships, the sustainable development goals, interregional co-operation programmes and cross-border co-operation, and the dissemination to EU citizens of the work of EU structural funds.

Kieran’s Opinion Documents:

Kieran is CoR Rapporteur on the opinion documents, Digitising European Industry, Building a European Data Economy, and the Implementation Assessment of EU Urban Agenda, New European Bauhaus, and Small to Medium Cities and the Just Transition respectively.

• Opinion on Digitising European Industry: Opinion Factsheet (europa.eu)

• Opinion on Building a European Data Economy: Opinion Factsheet (europa.eu)

• Opinion on Implementation Assessment of the Urban Agenda for the EU:
  Opinion Factsheet (europa.eu)
• Opinion on the New European Bauhaus, Opinion Factsheet (europa.eu)
• Opinion on Small Urban Areas and the Just Transition, Opinion Factsheet (europa.eu)

Kieran’s Role Representing the European Alliance Grouping:

From January 2020 to June 2022, Kieran was President of the European Alliance (EA) political grouping at the European Committee of the Regions, and sat on the CoR’s Conference of Presidents and Bureau. Currently he is the the EA’s First Vice President.

Kieran continues to very active in championing the importance of the CoR in being a key EU institution and one where the voices of cities and regions are heard at European Commission level. He was also a COR delegate member to the Conference on the Future of Europe (2021-2022) and sat on the working group Culture, Youth, Sport, and Education.

READ more about Kieran and the European Alliance grouping here: https://web.cor.europa.eu/ea/Pages/default.aspx

CATCH Up on EA news and activities here: 
EA Newsletters (europa.eu)

Highlights of Recent Debates:

Intervention of Cllr Kieran McCarthy’s on Lifelong Learning, 153rd plenary session of the European Committee of the Regions Brussels, 9 February 2023

Presentation of Cllr Kieran McCarthy’s opinion on Small Urban Areas and the Just Transition, 152nd plenary session of the European Committee of the Regions Brussels, 1 December 2022

– Cllr Kieran McCarthy’s speech at the plenary session of the Conference on the Future of Europe 11 March 2022 Strasbourg, France

– Debate on the priorities of the French Presidency of the Council of the EU with Emmanuel Macron, president of France, 147th plenary session of the European Committee of the Regions Brussels, 1 December 2021.

– Debate with Margaritis Schinas, European Commissioner for Promoting the European Way of Life 145th plenary session of the European Committee of the Regions, 30 June 2021

– Kieran McCarthy on the Committee of the Regions’ role in the Conference on the Future of Europe, Speech delivered during the launching event of the Conference on the Future of Europe from a local and regional perspective, Strasbourg, 9 May 2021.

– Debate with Mr David Sassoli, president of the European Parliament. 144th plenary session of the European Committee of the Regions. 5 May 2021.

– Debate on “The New European Bauhaus and its territorial dimension” high-level event with Ms Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth and Ms Elisa Ferreira, European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms. 14 April 2021

– Debate with Charles Michel, President of the European Council 143rd Plenary Session of the European Committee of the Regions, 17 March 2021

– Debate on the recovery of the cultural and creative sectors and on the new European Research Area with Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, 4 February 2021.

– Debate on the European Commissions Work Programme 2021 and the first EU Strategic Foresight with Maroš Šefčovič, Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President of the European Commission for Interinstitutional Relations, 10 December 2020

– Cllr Kieran McCarthy on Brexit: “we must not penalise young people in the EU and UK”, debate with Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, 9 December 2020

– Cllr Kieran McCarthy – European Territorial Co-operation Network Webinar, 1 December 2020

– McCarthy to Merkel: “we need a fair deal between the EU and UK, time is of the essence”, intervention during debate on German Presidency priorities with Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel, 13 October 2020.

– Cllr Kieran McCarthy: “Regions and cities must be at the heart of the delivery of EU’s ambitious targets intervention”, debate on the first Annual Local and Regional Barometer with European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen, 12 October 2020

– Kieran McCarthy on smaller municipalities, cities, and communes importance in the environment debate, Discussion on the opinion ‘Towards sustainable neighborhoods and small communities – Environment policy below municipal level’, 12 February 2020.

– Leag Kieran McCarthy béim ar thábhacht na héagsúlachta cultúir agus teanga do réigiúin na hEorpa, Discussion on the opinion ‘Culture in a Union that strives for more: the role of regions and cities’, 13 February 2020.

– Cllr Kieran McCarthy, “Together we are Europe”, 5 May 2020

– Kieran McCarthy’s speech during the debate on jobs with Commissioner Schmit, Debate with Nicolas Schmit, Commissioner-designate for Jobs and Social Rights, 4 February 2020

– Kieran McCarthy warns against budget cuts to programmes with high European added value, Debate on developments in the interinstitutional negotiations on the Multiannual Financial Framework with Mr Günther Oettinger, European Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources, 8 October 2019.

– McCarthy: This time I’m voting, 15 May 2019

Kieran McCarthy (IE/EA), member of the European Committee of the Regions and rapporteur for the opinion “Implementation Assessment of the Urban Agenda for the EU”, 4 July 2018.

– Cllr Kieran McCarthy on European Year of Cultural Heritage, 16 May 2018

– Cllr Kieran McCarthy on the importance of cultural heritage and 2018 as the European Year of Cultural Heritage, 5 February 2018