Press statement by President Donald Tusk after the Committee of the Regions plenary

Today, I addressed the plenary session of the Committee of the Regions and had a good  discussion with members about the key challenges facing the European Union. Cities, local communities and regions have some of the toughest jobs in Europe right now, most obviously the effort to receive and integrate people in need of international protection. Local leaders also face the task of avoiding the creation of ghettos and assisting in the fight against radicalisation in their neighbourhoods.

We cannot integrate newcomers properly while there are massive, uncontrolled migration flows across our external border. National and European politicians must now do what is necessary to end this and bring stability. This is the chief task of the next few weeks. Not only to secure the future of Schengen, but also to ensure the future cohesion of our local communities.

We must support our localities, also at the European level: from the Greek islands to Germany's cities; from the Mezzogiorno to Calais. The Committee of Regions is already very active on the migration question and works well with the institutions on radicalisation issues, where their input is particularly important.