15 June 1985 – 47 European regions and 9 interregional organisations met in Louvain-la-Neuve in Belgium to seal the commun future of the European regions. Under the Presidency of Edgar Faure, at that time President of the French region Franche-Comté, they set up the Council of the Regions of Europe (CRE), which two years later became the Assembly of European Regions.

Today, 20 years later, the AER thanks all those who participated in its creation and who supported the AER’s actions to promote the regional level as a pillar of democracy in Europe, in particular its 250 member regions and 12 interregional organisations.

The next AER General Assembly, which will be held in Strasbourg on 24 and 25 November 2005, will be partly dedicated to this anniversary. The main topics to be addressed will be innovation, creativity and the role of the regions in the European project.

On this occasion, we invite all those who have been working with the AER during these years and who have contributed to entrenching the regions in the European integration process. We hope that other regions will join us to best defend the citizens’ interests as well as the role of the regions in Europe.

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