Brussels, 17/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - The report by Kerstin Westphal (S&D, Germany) on the urban dimension of European policies was adopted by the European Parliament's regional development (REGI) committee on Wednesday 17 June. MEPs lay great stress on the principle of subsidiarity and on the need to put in place a new multi-level governance, along with a system to monitor observance of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality.
“EU urban policy has been debated for over 20 years. I hope that, in future, it will be an integral part of European policies”, said Westphal shortly before the vote.
The report, passed by a wide majority (26 votes to 4, with 1 abstention) comes only a few days after the Riga Declaration on the EU's urban programme was adopted at the informal meeting of the Cohesion Council (see EUROPE 11333). The legislative document provides, inter alia, for a “new model of multi-level governance”, both vertical and horizontal, “combining formal governmental structures with informal flexible governance structures”. Additionally, MEPs advocate setting up an early warning mechanism, “giving the subnational government the possibility to observe whether the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality have been taken into account”.
They also call for the urban dimension to be mainstreamed at every legislative stage from drafting to implementation and for an “integrated territorial approach” with the systematic introduction of territorial impact assessments and a reduction in red tape. The report also stresses the need to make better use of the regulatory framework (LIFE initiative, Horizon 2020, Intelligent Energy Europe, etc.) and existing financial instruments (EFRD, ESF, etc.), and wants to see an information and data-sharing platform set up for urban issues.
The Commission presented a communication on the urban agenda in July 2014. In February of this year, Westphal presented her draft report. Now that it has been adopted by the REGI committee, it will be put to the vote in plenary session in September. The Council will agree a final position under the Dutch presidency in the first half of 2016. (Pascal Hansens)