At a conference in Yerevan organised by the Armenian government and the European Commission, the CoR, the EU's assembly of local and regional politicians, promised to help local communities in the countries that are members of the EU's Eastern Partnership – Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia – to benefit from the experience of EU cities and regions.

At a conference in Yerevan organised by the Armenian government and the European Commission, the CoR, the EU's assembly of local and regional politicians, promised to help local communities in the countries that are members of the EU's Eastern Partnership – Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia – to benefit from the experience of EU cities and regions.

The pledges, made on the first day of the “Fostering sustainable development in Eastern Partnership countries” conference, marked the official start of the Covenant of Mayors East, which extends to the Eastern Partnership a voluntary, bottom-up initiative started by local governments in the EU. In return for taking steps to cut emissions, signatories of the Covenant of Mayors, whose political sponsors include the European Committee of the Regions, receive technical support from the European Commission and easier access to funding.

The conference also saw the launch of the Mayors for Economic Growth initiative (M4EG), which applies to economic development.

The launch of the two initiatives was the centrepiece of the conference, which also focused on ways in which administrative reform and the decentralisation of powers can help local economies.

The Covenant of Mayors East and Mayors for Economic Growth are part of the Eastern Partnership Flagship Initiative on Sustainable Municipal Development created in 2015 by the European Commission, with the aim of “deepening sustainable economic development and fostering sector cooperation, including on environment and climate change”.