The study visit to Belgium and The Netherlands within the scope of Town Twinning between Turkey and the EU (TWIN) Project, which aimed to enhance the knowledge and experience related to town twinning, started with the first visit to Brussels on April 15th, 2019. Among the participants of the study visit, which lasted for 5 days are the Directorate for EU Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Union of Municipalities of Turkey, the Union of Provinces, Directorate General for Local Authorities of the Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation and the representatives of local authorities from different provinces in Turkey. The last two days of the study visits carried out in The Netherlands.
On the first day of the programme, the TWIN study visit team made the first study visit to the Permanent Representation of Turkey to the European Union. During the visit, the Permanent Representation of Turkey to the European Union provided the study visit team with information related to the contribution that local actors can make to the accession process of Turkey to the EU.
The second visit was made to the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR). During this visit, the study visit team was provided with the information related to the major activities conducted by CEMR in the field of town twinning and its mechanisms of support offered to local authorities in this field.
The last visit of the first day was made to the coordination office of the Covenant of Mayors in Brussels. In the briefing meeting, the local authorities which are parties to the Covenant provided the study visit team with information related to the activities conducted in line with the EU-wide targets for climate and energy and to the common 2050 vision.
On the second day of the programme, the study visit team visited the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) and CIVITAS.