Throughout the time the role of regional and domestic municipalities in the European Union has increased more important – European Commission and other EU institutions engage in a dialogue not only with national governments, but also take into consideration the opinions of regional partners on upcoming political documents and financial support instruments.
Today more than 300 cities and regions have opened their representative offices in Brussels. Right now, Brussels is the second most influential lobbying center in the world after Washington, D.C., with approximately 15 000 registered groups of interest active. Representative offices of cities and regions in EU are amongst them, working alongside with representative offices of industries, social groups etc. Riga has joined the representations family in 2004.
The goal of our representation in EU is to promote international cooperation priorities of Riga City, organizing work in 3 most important areas:
- Construction of city image
- Riga as a professional cooperation partner of the EU institutions and European regions
- Riga as an experienced city in the most important areas of development
- Riga as an attractive destination for conferences, large-scale events and tourism
- EU projects and foundations
- Awareness on available EU financing within the framework of the relevant EU multiannual financial framework
- Fostering of cooperation possibilities with other EU regions and partnerships within EU projects
- Support with the implementation of international projects
- Politics and interest representation
- Monitoring of EU events and agendas according to Riga City development priorities, as well as ensuring our voice in the drafting process of EU policy documents
- Providing feedback on EU policies and opportunities offered by EU to Riga City political representatives and executive leaders