Vasco Alves Cordeiro
President of the European Committee of the Regions
Biography
Vasco Alves Cordeiro is the President of the European Committee of the Regions since June 2022.
Born in the Azores, an autonomous region of Portugal and an EU outermost region, on 28 March 1973, Vasco Alves Cordeiro, lawyer, married and father of two children, is a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores.
A graduate in law from the University of Coimbra and with a postgraduate degree in regional law from the University of Lisbon and University of the Azores, Vasco Alves Cordeiro began his professional career as a lawyer in the Azores in 1995 where he practiced until 2003.
In 1996, he was elected for the first time as a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores for the Socialist Party, and led the socialist group in the regional parliament between 2000 and 2003.
Since then, he has held several positions in the regional executive, including Regional Secretary of Economy (2008-2012), Regional Secretary of the Presidency (2004-2008), responsible for European and External Affairs, and Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Fisheries (2003-2004).
In 2012, he was elected President of the Regional Government of the Azores for the first time, a position for which he was re-elected in 2016, and, in that capacity, represented the region at European and international level as a member of the European Committee of the Regions, and organisations such as the Conference of Peripheral and Maritime Regions of Europe, the Conference of Presidents of the EU Outermost Regions, the Assembly of the Regions of Europe, R20 – Regions of Climate Action, and in the framework of relations with countries that host Azorean communities, including the USA, Canada and Brazil. From 2014 to 2020, he was President of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions of Europe.
Cordeiro has been the leader of the Socialist Party of the Azores since January 2013. A strong supporter of the urgent need to tackle the issue of citizens' support for the European project, Vasco Alves Cordeiro has also dedicated himself to strengthening social, economic and territorial cohesion in the European Union, advocating for European policies that genuinely correspond to the interests and ambitions of citizens and strengthen the role of regions as bastions of the Union's internal democracy and its economic and social progress.
Member of the European Committee of the Regions since 2013 and, previously, from 2004 to 2008 as an alternate member, Cordeiro was the First Vice-President of the institution from February 2020 to June 2022.
Speaker session
Session 10 : Best practices for ensuring electoral rights for people with disabilities
- Public web-streamed session
- Public web-streamed session
TOPIC: EU citizens with disabilities continue to face barriers when exercising their electoral rights, for example in terms of insufficient accessibility, such as the limited accessibility of voting premises and ballots or insufficiently accessible information on candidates and debates. The Commission is preparing a good practice guide in this area. Exchanges will focus on the issues at stake, necessary measures and best practices to enable all persons with all types of disabilities to enjoy their right to vote and stand for elections, including by providing accessible communication and facilities.
SPEAKERS:
- Andreas Accardo, Head for Institutional Cooperation and Networks Unit at the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)
- Gunta Anca, Vice-President of the European Disability Forum
- Christophe Lefèvre, President of the Permanent Study Group on disability rights at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)
MODERATOR: Marie-Hélène Boulanger, Head of Unit for Democracy, Union Citizenship and Free Movement, DG Justice and Consumer
Interventions by Members of the European Cooperation Network on Elections
Gunta Anca
Vice-president
Riga
Biography
Organisation
European Disability Forum
Speaker session
Session 10 : Best practices for ensuring electoral rights for people with disabilities
- Public web-streamed session
- Public web-streamed session
TOPIC: EU citizens with disabilities continue to face barriers when exercising their electoral rights, for example in terms of insufficient accessibility, such as the limited accessibility of voting premises and ballots or insufficiently accessible information on candidates and debates. The Commission is preparing a good practice guide in this area. Exchanges will focus on the issues at stake, necessary measures and best practices to enable all persons with all types of disabilities to enjoy their right to vote and stand for elections, including by providing accessible communication and facilities.
SPEAKERS:
- Andreas Accardo, Head for Institutional Cooperation and Networks Unit at the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)
- Gunta Anca, Vice-President of the European Disability Forum
- Christophe Lefèvre, President of the Permanent Study Group on disability rights at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)
MODERATOR: Marie-Hélène Boulanger, Head of Unit for Democracy, Union Citizenship and Free Movement, DG Justice and Consumer
Interventions by Members of the European Cooperation Network on Elections
Iliana Balabanova
President
Varna
Biography
Iliana Balabanova has more than 25 years of work with strong expertise in the areas of gender equality, gender mainstreaming, women in decision making process, prevention and protection against violence against women and girls, women and media, women and climate changes, gender equality mechanism and standards. Over the years she has been engaged in a variety of activities and in different positions from research to project manager and coordinator in the area of Women's Human Rights and Gender Equality at national and international level.
She is co-founder and President of the Bulgarian Platform - European Women's Lobby, Member of the Experts' Forum of the EIGE, representing civil society organisations at Union level, from 16 June 2022 to 30 November 2024. Since 2023 Iliana Balabanova serves as a President of the European Women's Lobby (EWL), the largest European umbrella network of women's associations in Europe.
Organisation
European Women's Lobby
Speaker session
Session 10 : Best practices for ensuring electoral rights for people with disabilities
- Public web-streamed session
- Public web-streamed session
TOPIC: EU citizens with disabilities continue to face barriers when exercising their electoral rights, for example in terms of insufficient accessibility, such as the limited accessibility of voting premises and ballots or insufficiently accessible information on candidates and debates. The Commission is preparing a good practice guide in this area. Exchanges will focus on the issues at stake, necessary measures and best practices to enable all persons with all types of disabilities to enjoy their right to vote and stand for elections, including by providing accessible communication and facilities.
SPEAKERS:
- Andreas Accardo, Head for Institutional Cooperation and Networks Unit at the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)
- Gunta Anca, Vice-President of the European Disability Forum
- Christophe Lefèvre, President of the Permanent Study Group on disability rights at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)
MODERATOR: Marie-Hélène Boulanger, Head of Unit for Democracy, Union Citizenship and Free Movement, DG Justice and Consumer
Interventions by Members of the European Cooperation Network on Elections