Republic of Srpska at the AER Committees’ Spring Plenary

The Assembly of European Regions (AER) held a plenary meeting of the working bodies on 21-23 March in London singling out "Sustainable financing for the regions" as the most important topic.

Both at European and global level, decision makers are faced with mounting political and socio-economic uncertainties. Despite a constant need for investment, public authorities, especially at the regional level, find it increasingly difficult to sustainably finance policies for innovative and resilient communities.

In order to deal with this issue, a focus was set on more specifically at the diversification of funding and financing sources. While innovation in the public sector, cooperation and skills acquisition are some of the well-known elements which support sustainable financing, it is also vital for regions to channel new funds for mid-to-long term planning.

During the meeting, experts and policy makers had the opportunity to discuss long-term investing, the Juncker Plan, impact investing in general and green investments in particular. Participants on the other hand had a chance to gain new knowledge about funding & financing mechanisms, share challenges and evaluate opportunities for their regions.

The Assembly of European Regions (AER) is the largest independent network of regions in wider Europe, gathering regions from 35 countries – from Norway to Turkey and from Russia to Portugal.

AER is present everywhere on the European continent, inside and outside the European Union.